Do I even have a reasonable chance of getting into "Ivy-Caliber" schools?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Ivy-Caliber referring to Ivy League in addition to...
Williams College, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Amherst, etc., but NOT referring to slightly lower tier schools such as William and Mary, U Michigan, or Carleton
What sort of tier (giving a list of schools for clarification would be great) should I be applying to if Ivy applications are not worth it?
Stats:
Graduation: Early Summer, 2014, no grades "skipped"
3.63 GPA, previous two years had pre-IB, honors, and AP classes, yielding a 4.1 weighted GPA (assuming Pre-IB classes as well as honors had only a 0.5 point bonus). Electives are not honors and thus tended to reduce my GPA even though I had A's in them.
Junior Year: First semester--3.7 GPA--ALL IB/AP classes
Other notable courses: Taking Calc AB junior year, will take "double-math" in senior year--Calc BC and Statistics; Taking double science sophmore (physics honors and chemistry pre-ib) and for junior/senior years (Chemistry IB and Biology IB--Both had A's Junior year [B's for pre-IB chemistry in sophomore year)
SAT: (No subject tests)--750 M, 710 R, 700 W--2160 Composite--Not superscored--the scores were all from my first SAT test, and I haven't taken it a second time yet.
"Commended Scholar" on PSAT (probable, based upon a score of 203)</p>

<p>Member of the Joe Berg Society, Sophomore through Senior year</p>

<p>Latin Club 2010-2011, 2012-2013</p>

<p>National Science Honor Society member</p>

<p>4th Place for regional science fair Mathematics; Special Award from the US Army at NEFRSEF</p>

<p>Participated in the February 2012 Regional MAO Competition </p>

<p>2011-2012 School newspaper Contributor</p>

<p>IB Magazine (School newspaper/magazine reserved for IB students) Contributor 2012-2013</p>

<p>IB Magazine Poetry Editor 2013-2014</p>

<p>Yahoo! Voices Contributor (2012-2013)</p>

<p>2nd Place World Quest for Regional Competition (Fall 2012)</p>

<p>1st place in Hellenic History, 1st place in Greek Literature in Regional Latin Forum (February 2013 Competition)</p>

<p>Florida Junior Classical League (2013, First year competing): 1st Place Greek Literature (Advanced) (Best of Show, indicating best score among all levels [1, 2, and Advanced]) 8th place History of the Roman Republic (Advanced) </p>

<p>Participated in the Regional ICME (International Crisis Meeting Excercise) under Jacksonville's World Affairs Council on Mali, as "Council to the President"</p>

<p>National Honor Society Member</p>

<p>National Latin Honor Society Member (2011-2013)</p>

<p>Great Decisions Member, serving as National Security Advisor</p>

<p>President of the Stanton Young Democrats, 2011-2012, Member for the 2012-2013 school year</p>

<p>Participated in 2013 US Biology Olympiad competition</p>

<p>Volunteering:
Mayo Clinic, St. Vincent's Medical Center, Humane Society, and the public library</p>

2

<p>Sorry bud, but there are tons of applicants who are better.</p>

3

<p>Class rank: roughly 15% or above (was 16% at the end of 10th grade, but grades improved for junior year while most others’ grades went down)
Also Jjoy, if Ivy schools are too high, are schools like W&M and UCLA the highest I’ll ever get into?</p>

4

<p>alphaprime11: You can make it anywhere. You just have to put in hard work and dedication. Don’t listen to my negativity. Any college is within your reach so work for what you believe. :)</p>

5

<p>Hate to be curt about it, but you don’t seem to have any awards above the regional level - that’s a downside. </p>

<p>Your GPA and test scores are too low. I have a 4.0 (in IB + AP) and got a full score on ACT but there’s still no guarantee into any of the Ivies.</p>

<p>Unless you have some crazy good hook or are an URM, there’s not a HUGE chance. Although if you do write some great essays that show passion for what you do, and maybe if you find one EC to do SUPER great and have a lot of dedication to, then there’s a slightly higher chance. </p>

<p>UCLA and W&M are great schools, I would recommend looking into what major you’re considering and find which colleges have good departments in those areas. There are some less known colleges that actually have VERY good departments but people don’t look there b/c they don’t have the big name.</p>

6

<p>I don’t see any test score.</p>

<p>Sent from my NookColor using CC</p>

7

<p>Would placing in the top 10 nationally for an NJCL competition and getting an essay, or several essays, published (probably in a literary journal; publication by a media outlet on a national level is too unlikely) push me over the edge, or should I stick to UCLA/UM/W&M/etc.?
Also, there I received 1st place in Greek Literature and 8th in History of the Roman Republic at FJCL, which is state level, just in case you were referring to city/county level, rather than state level, when you said “regional.”</p>

8

<p>@alphaprime11 - both placing nationally and getting essays published would be huge accomplishments that might push you over the edge. But I would recommend still taking the SAT again and seeing if you do better (or doing ACT and see if that’s your style more.) I also think a lot of the ivies require subject tests. (I don’t remember.)</p>

<p>I guess I’d say that you should apply to a couple top-tier schools, b/c you have a relatively good resume and you might regret it if you don’t apply.</p>

9

<p>You’ll make it into at least 1 ivy with those stats. however, your ECs are really generic and dont really show any focus or passion, so that may hurt your chances a bit.</p>

10

<p>Are you passionate about all of those activities?
If so, you might have a shot if you show it in your essays and interviews (and you show your passion for learning in school, so that your teacher recommendations and counselor recommendations are good).</p>

11

<p>Now I see your SAT score on my computer. It got buried in the long text. Anyway, 2160 in SAT and GPA 3.63 are below average for ivies. I would say those would be reach for you.</p>

12

<p>I hate chancing for all the Ivies at once since a few are markedly different, but I’d say they’re all solid reaches for you. 3.63 is very low for an Ivy and 2160 is pretty low too, although that’s less of an issue – one not-great test day vs. not being motivated to achieve in classes – so GPA is a bigger concern.</p>

<p>DON’T list all those things as ECs on your application. Being a contributor to the school paper – as in writing an article – isn’t at all important unless you were more than just that (i.e. if you were on staff/worked every week/had your own column – if it was important to you, it counts). Something you did for only 1 year doesn’t deserve a spot on an application unless it was the FOCUS of that year (and you should have an excellent reason that it wasn’t for more than one year).</p>

<p>Basically, having 20 ECs that you’ve participated in but only one (if that) that you’ve done for 4 years indicates to a college that you’re trying to impress them with your well-roundedness, but you’re not dedicated/reliable. They don’t want someone who does a little of everything so much as someone who does a LOT of something. Your thing seems to be classics; I’d definitely make sure you make that a focus of your application. If you love other clubs, stay in them for sure, and participate fully – but don’t stay in a club you don’t care about, because admissions people can tell.</p>

13

<p>By the way, GPA at 3.63 and SAT 2160 would be a high match to low reach for UMich (average GPA 3.83; average SAT 2120). You may pick a few reach schools you really like to apply, but definitely put more match schools and at least one safety on the list.</p>