Hi, I am really interested in Binghamton University and i was wondering if you thought I could get in…
I’m going to be a senior, and I’m from Oceanside, New York (Long Island)
GPA: 92 with about five AP classes and several honors throughout my high school years
SAT: 1870 (CR: 630 M: 540 W: 700) ((i know, I have to get my math up))
ACT: 27
I also have ex’s some of which include 4 years of tennis, 4 years of bowling, 3 years of badminton, National Honor Society and World Language Honor society (also a bunch of volunteer work that I don’t feel like writing)
so, what do you think my chances are? Any and all responses will be greatly appreciated, thanks!
What does your school’s Naviance indicate? That is the best predictor of the likelihood of your being admitted or not. Also, which school within Binghamton do you plan to apply to? Based on your gpa and SAT and ACT i think you are borderline for Harpur College (if you apply early action you likely will be deferred to regular decision) and you would not get into the School of Management or Watson Engineering which are both more difficult to get admitted to. You should take both the SAT and ACT one more time in the Fall and try to get scores up to at least 1250 (math and critical reading)–Bing does not consider the Writing score in its admission decision, and try to raise your ACT score to 29. If you can do that then i think you are in. Also, make sure you write a good essay and have a very good letter of recommendation.
Unless there is something unique about a particular high school, the best data to use is not the high schools data on Naviance. The best data to use is listed on the university’s CDS. That is because the high school’s Naviance site will have only a few data points each year for each school. So error is heightened when the N is so small. The danger of the site is the same as the problem with our tendency to believe anecdotal stories over results of large studies. As in, “I know the studies of 10,000 students suggest X but my friend Suzy says…”. But, if there is something very special about the school, that might be a different story. So, if your high school has a special relationship with Harvard or your high school does not give grades, then the data from the CDS might provide you with very little information about how your credential compare to those who are offered admission. In that case, Naviance will probably be more informative. So, information from the CDS is useful to the extent that you and your school are likely to be similar to the larger pool. If very divergent, then Naviance may be more helpful.