I am a high school senior looking to apply to selective schools like Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, and UVA. UChicago is my stretch school, and University of Tennessee, Wofford, and Appalachian State are my back-up schools. I am applying to Vanderbilt Early decision because it’s by far my number one pick (and in-state), and I heard applying early decision increases your chances a lot. I have already interviewed at Wake Forest and plan to do an Alumni Interview after I apply to Vanderbilt. My GPA is a 4.0 out of 4.0 (unweighted). My school doesn’t give the option of unweighted GPAs, but I have made straight As all throughout high school. My current ACT score is a 33 (35 science, 35 english, 33 reading, 30 math). I plan to take the ACT two more times to hopefully increase my score to a 34 or 35. I am in the top 5% of my high school class of 580 students. I will be a Graduate of Distinction, Honors Graduate, and I will receive the Senior Academic Achievement Award for my school. I have good recommendation letters from my Honors Chem teacher and my BC Calc teacher (who was also my teacher for Trig and Pre-Calc Honors).
Freshman year classes:
Orchestra
Algebra 1 Honors
World History and Geography Honors
Biology Honors
Wellness
English Honors
Sophomore year classes:
Orchestra
Geometry Honors
Advanced Algebra 2
Honors English 2
Chemistry Honors
Spanish 1
Spanish 2
Junior year classes:
Orchestra
AP Chemistry (3 on AP exam)
Advanced Algebra and Trigonometry Honors
Pre-Calculus Honors
U.S. History
English 3
Senior year classes:
DE English Comp 1
DE English Comp 2
AP Economics
AP Government
AP BC Calculus
Peer Tutoring
Human Anatomy and Physiology
I have quite a few extracurriculars, but I’m not sure my leadership is up to par. I was a student ambassador overseas for People to People Ambassadors and spent three weeks in Austria, Italy, Switzerland, and France. I was a first violin in orchestra for 6 years and was on track to make Principal 1st Violin my senior year, but had to give it up to take BC Calc. I also participated in the Milligan College Orchestra with college students. I take weekly violin lessons as well to continue my violin education. I completed a pharmacy internship over the summer of my senior year, and I am a member of Mu Alpha Theta and National Beta Club, where we do community service for others. I am a Peer Tutor and am a mentor/caretaker for my younger cousin (pick her up from school and help her with homework everyday). In 2017, I was accepted as an alternate for University of Tennessee Governor’s School for the Sciences and Engineering. I have about 100 hours of community service.
If you have any insight on whether I have a chance at Vanderbilt or Wake Forest, please let me know!