<p>I know my GPA isn't that great, but it shows an upward trend after I began taking AP classes.</p>
<p>This is what my portfolio will look like as of next fall:</p>
<p>GPA: UW: 3.6 W: 3.67
ACT: 31
SAT: 2060 (720 CR/690 M/610 W) will retake, hoping for 2100+
SAT IIs: Literature:700 Biology:710</p>
<p>APs taken w/ projected scores:</p>
<p>Biology: 4/5
Literature: 5
Language: 4/5</p>
<p>Next Year will be taking:</p>
<p>AP Chinese (I am not a native speaker, nor am I very good)
AP Macro
AP Micro
AP Calc AB</p>
<p>ECs:
4 years varsity swimming, section qualifier 3 yrs.
Year round swimming during offseason, 2 hours a day
Attending Prestigious Summer Science Program, working on hematopoetic stem cells in relation with the heart.
Volunteering: 300+ hrs at hospital and helping underprivileged kids w/ homework
Piano: 5 yrs</p>
<p>Essays should be verygood, recs should be good too, with probably one outstanding</p>
<p>I think all of them except maybe colgate are reaches, especially Dartmouth and Williams. You should probably consider schools like Bucknell, BC, Villonova, Lafeyette, BU, etc as matches.</p>
<p>I agree with Jman21, Dartmouth is a big reach, and the others you have a decent chance at but nothing strong. If you get over a 2100, your chances may go up, but I think you should add in some safeties.</p>
<p>If you were my kid, I would tell you to look at different schools. I wouldn't apply to any of them except maybe Colgate, even that is not very likely unless you write some great essays.</p>
<p>Yeah, I don't think I'd apply to Dartmouth or Yale, even if you got a 2200. As of right now, Tufts and Williams are very long shots, but you stand a reasonable shot at Haverford and Colgate, invest some time looking for some more safeties/matches if you haven't already</p>
<p>Thanks! I thought Haverford was harder to get into than Tufts? I do have legacy at Tufts.</p>
<p>Also, I forgot to mention that I do research during the school year, and I am also doing research this summer on hematopoetic stem cells. I also got word last week that a paper I co-authored will be published in a UK journal. I don't know if this will make a difference.</p>
<p>As you obviously know, I have no experience with getting into college since I'm in the same grade you are. I think everyone's said the necessary things, but I will add this: I think swimming will help a lot. I have a friend whose stats were very good but not great, and he got into Dartmouth early on his swimming mostly, I think. Make sure you promote it.
You are going to be published? Congrats! What journal? I personally think that's going to look very good on your app, but I'm not sure where you can put that on your CommonApp. Additional info I guess?</p>
<p>Your friend got into Dartmouth for swimming because he was recruited. The swimming coach used his quata to get your friend in. Most recruited atheletes get in during ED/EA. They get likely letters as early Oct. They'll be able to get in as long as they meet a certain academic index.</p>
<p>OP - apply ED to Tufts if you are legacy. Many schools view ED for legacies as use it or loose it, which means your legacy status would mean a lot less during the RD round.</p>
<p>Y'know, I just looked up Haverford in the Princeton review, and they're a lot more selective than I had thought, I'm sorry. I still think that if you brought up your writing score by 40-50 points you'd have a decent shot there.</p>
<p>p.s. I think 720+690+610= 2020, but I didn't know whether you had already known that.</p>