Concerned High School Senior

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>First time poster and (obviously) concerned high school senior here. I'm finishing up my applications for colleges and am kind of panicking because I am second-guessing whether or not I will be able to get into the schools I'm looking at. If I could be chanced that would be very helpful to me. Here we go!</p>

<p>Demographics:
1/2 Hispanic, 1/2 various European ethnicities, mainly Slovenian
Gay (IDK if that matters, but it will impact what I do in college)
Female</p>

<p>Grades:
My high school, for whatever reason, rates the GPA on a 5.0 scale, so these will be the 5.0 rank/the approx. 4.0 rank
-Unweighted= 4.80/3.84
UW class rank= 57/671 (8.4%)
-Weighted= 5.3778/4.30
W class rank= 30/671 (4.5%)</p>

<p>AP classes (APt test scores)
-Human Geography (5)
-World History (4)
-US History (4)
-English Language & Composition (5)
-Chemistry (4)
-English Literature (In Progress)
-Psychology (In Progress)
-Statistics (In Progress)
German (In Progress)</p>

<p>Planned Major: English</p>

<p>ACT score: 34 composite
Math:31
Science: 34
Reading: 36
English: 35</p>

<p>SAT score: 2240 composite
CR: 730
Math: 710
Writing: 800</p>

<p>Extracurriculurs:
National Honor Society member-1 year
School Newspaper Editor - 1 year
Marching Band member - 4 years, section leader of the mellophone section
Badminton team member - 2 years, Fresh & Soph
Pit orchestra member - 1 year
Have played the oboe for 9 years, involved in the school concert band</p>

<p>Honors:
Highest Honor Roll all semesters of HS
National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholar/Winner
Commended Status from National Merit Scholar Program
AP Scholar with Distinction</p>

<p>Volunteerism:
NHS member
Shavee for the St. Baldrick's Foundation - 4 years, have raised >$2,000
Blessings in a Backpack - 8 months, once a month</p>

<p>These are the schools I plan to apply to:
-Columbia Univ. NY
-Yale Univ.
- New York Univ.
-Brown Univ.
-Harvard Univ.
-Univ. of Kansas
-Northwestern Univ. (?)
-Washington Univ. in St. Louis
-George Washington Univ. (?)</p>

<p>Please let me know if there is other info to provide and what schools you think I might be able to get into/what I can do to increase my chances. And yes, I know that to some extent getting into the Ivies is a crapshoot, but I'd like to know if I'm just wasting my time and money or not.</p>

2

<p>You won’t get into all the schools you are looking at.</p>

<p>You likely will get into at least one maybe a few more of the top schools, especially as a URM (half a URM = a URM).</p>

<p>As for time and money to apply, if you know you would go to all of them, you could apply to all. But what we did is try to narrow down the safety schools, and take some off the list. A few have rolling admissions, so no reason to consider them unless things get desperate.</p>

<p>Are you really interested in all those schools? Have you or your parents run NPCs on each of them?</p>

<p>(NFN, we would never send my son to Kansas because of our religious beliefs (none), as everything points to their lack of tolerance in that area of the country. You might want to take into account both campus environment as well as the local area’s tolerance for diversity. I encourage Kansans to disabuse me of this stereotype.)</p>

<p>(Also - you said that you mentioned being gay as impacting what you’ll do in college - are you seeking out a gender or women’s studies program? Or do you mean more informally in terms of campus diversity and support?)</p>

3

<p>Thanks for your advice. I know that I won’t get into all of the schools, which is why I’m looking at so many. The reason for KU is that they will give me quite a bit of money and I needed a safety school with a solid financial plan, as I have a twin sister who will be in college at the same time I am and want to lighten my parents’ load as little as possible and still let my sister have the best education she can. I am a gay atheist, so that is definitely info for me to keep in mind. However, I am trying my hardest not to have to go to KU.</p>

<p>By the way, would you mind defining the terms URM and NPC? I don’t want to just Google it and then have the wrong impression about what you’re trying to say.</p>

<p>As far as my sexuality’s impact, I hope to join the school’s LGBT+ organization, but I also obviously want to be on a diverse and accepting campus.</p>

4

<p>I kinda feel obnoxious doing this, but bump</p>

5

<p>Underrepresented Minority IE Hispanic
Net-price calculator IE how much the school will cost you</p>

6

<p>Hello, from a fellow Avengers fan. </p>

7

<p>While it’s not on your list, have you thought about University of Michigan? Ann Arbor is extremely liberal. If your finances allow, it might be a very good choice. Aside from being an excellent school, they have a great marching band, wonderful music programs to participate in while you’re there AND just an overall great campus and education. If you haven’t, it’s WELL worth a visit.</p>

<p>There are scholarships in the Liberal Arts and Sciences, so with your 800 in writing, plus your great stats, maybe you could score some $$ to help: <a href=“http://www.lsa.umich.edu/students/scholarships/prospectivestudent”>http://www.lsa.umich.edu/students/scholarships/prospectivestudent&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Here’s a Marching Band link for fun: <a href=“http://mmb.music.umich.edu/”>http://mmb.music.umich.edu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Others to think about as well : <a href=“http://www.collegemagazine.com/editorial/1780/The-Top-10-LGBT-Friendly-Universities”>http://www.collegemagazine.com/editorial/1780/The-Top-10-LGBT-Friendly-Universities&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>While you probably already know, keep in mind that college will present its challenges regardless of sexual orientation and people of all colors and persuasions will be equally impacted; just in different ways. Some kids will deal with their sexuality, others with chemical and alcohol dependency, others with general depression. Some will fail in their classes for the first time. And on and on. It will be what you make of it.</p>

<p>Your music background sounds like it could be a great vehicle for finding friends and a way around in a new world. And your experience and talent in writing offer many other options.</p>

<p>And, since you asked about whether you’re wasting time applying to so many schools, I’m not a fan of applying ‘just to see’ – apply to the places with which you find a fit.</p>

<p>Best wishes!!!</p>

8

<p>Thanks so much for the suggestions and help! Also, shout out to fellow Avengers nerd onlythebest13 </p>

9

<p>As an update (thanks to everyone for commenting) I have applied to NYU, Columbia, Brown, Wash. U, Univ. of Kansas, and ASU. I have been accepted to the last two with scholarships of 10,500/yr for KU and full tuition & fees for ASU, both renewable for 4 years. I’ll be applying to Yale by the end of the week as week. Thanks again!</p>