<p>First of all thanks for even reading. So I'll be a senior this fall, and I've put together a preliminary list. Looking for a reality check/advice on how to make an actual list.</p>
<p>Pakistani Male at a prestigious midwestern private school that doesn't do class rank. Top 10% gets cum laude though (I didn't).</p>
<p>UW GPA: 3.53
ACT: 33 (36R, 34W, 34S, 29M)</p>
<p>APs
US History: 5
Chem: 5
Calc AB: 5
English Lit: 5
English Lang: 5
Spanish Lang: 4</p>
<p>Senior courseload: AP Bio, Post-AP Spanish Lit, AP Calc BC, Econ CIS (college in school), Constitutional Studies, Post AP Calc with Differential Equations, Shakespearean Literature, Comedy in Literature</p>
<p>ECs are pretty good. Basketball, lax. Science Olympiad 2 yrs, captain one. Model UN four years, president one. Community Service Board 3 years, leader one. Two summer internships at the leading non profit hospital in Pakistan, one summer internship at the leading non profit mental health hospital in Pakistan. My essays are going to be 9/10 and up probably.</p>
<p>Planning to major in literature and then go to med school.</p>
<p>Chances at...</p>
<p>Yale
Swarthmore
Williams
U Penn
Amherst
Brown
U Chicago
Northwestern
Dartmouth
Cornell
Tufts
Georgetown
Vassar
Colgate
Boston College
BU
NYU
Skidmore
Brandeis
George Washington U
U of M?</p>
<p>One way to start making a list that may be slightly more realistic is to use Naviance to see the stats of students from those schools who got accepted to the college you are looking into. A 3.53 UW GPA is low for the schools you are considering and those who aren’t in the top 10% are usually recruited athletes or have some other significant hook to make up for it. Your internships are impressive, but that alone won’t get you into these schools as many of them are highly selective. (Also note that some like Georgetown require significantly more effort - 3 subject tests, an interview, and doesn’t use common app, while others like Tufts have 3 supplements) Your current list, with the exception of BC, Brandeis, Skidmore, NYU and GW seems to be made up of mostly reaches.</p>
<p>You could start by building up matches and safeties that are strong in what you are interested in and build up from there. Especially for literature and med school, the prestige of the school doesn’t matter, as long as you do well in whatever school you are at. Hence, there is no need to have that many highly selective schools on your list. If going to med school is a priority, minimizing debt is a must, which means you should add more affordable schools or ones that offer merit scholarships (almost none of the ones you mentioned above offer merit) as matches and safeties.</p>
<p>Thanks for replying! I have been using Naviance, and I’m seeing a lot of my desired schools with average admitted GPAs to the tune of 3.75+. Something like 5-10 students from each class of my hs have grades that high…I’m wondering if that’s just what you need to get in, or if those numbers are inflated?</p>
<p>Also- does that mean that BC, Brandeis etc match to my stats?</p>
<p>As far as finding the right matches and safeties, I understand that that’s a personal burden, but would you have any suggestions? </p>
<p>Yeah, the GPAs pretty abysmal. I didn’t really try in my first two years Wish I could go back haha.</p>
<p>Fresh: 3.25
Soph: 3.44
Jr: 3.94</p>
<p>People say positive trend helps, though I doubt it will make up for such a lack of effort. I’ve also taken essentially the most rigorous course load possible, and really plan on getting a 4.0 in sr year.</p>
<p>Your GPA does have a positive trend. It’s certainly better than having great grades freshman year and then going downhill…I’d say BC, BU, GWU, Brandeis, Skidmore, and NYU are all matches. Your ACT score certainly shines. Yale and Swarthmore as well as the other Ivies are high reaches. Remember, though, that it’s your essays that truly count. Don’t give up! I’ve seen people with low-ish GPAs get into top schools because they can write.</p>
Wish I could go back haha.</p>