Do I even have a shot?!?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi. You guys know the story. Senior year. Looking at colleges. Wondering what schools will even accept me. Here are my stats:</p>

<p>White Male from a Nebraska high school with about 2,400 kids.</p>

<p>PSAT - 223 (80 CR, 63 M, 80 W)
SAT - Haven't taken yet, am taking 2 or 3 times this fall/winter in order to get National Merit Finalist.
ACT - 33 (33 E, 36 R, 34 M, 29 S,) --- Took it with writing, got 29 composite and 11 writing. When I took it and got a 33 I didn't take writing. I am planning to take it in October and get 33-36 with a good writing score as well. Think a 36 could be possible if I do practice tests this time.
SAT II - Haven't taken yet, am probably going to take Math II and Biology in order to apply to schools like CMU.
GPA - 4.021 W, 3.938 UW (an A in an AP class is weighted as 5.0 instead of 4.0) 4.0 freshman and sophomore years and 3 B's junior year.
AP Exams - US History 5, Lang and Comp - 4</p>

<p>I am taking AP Bio, Calc AB, European History, Comp. Gov and Politics, Human Geography, and Lit and Comp this year. I don't know if I should take AP tests in all of them or if colleges care about AP tests that aren't going to happen until spring of senior year. What do you guys think I should do about these?</p>

<p>Clubs and Activities: Varsity Tennis team 3 years (got cut freshman year, 40 people tried out), Deca junior year (didn't really do much, should I put it down?), Political Roundtable 2 years, Newspaper (only did it junior year, didn't have room for it this year because of all the AP's, should I still include it?)</p>

<p>Awards: National Merit...and that's it. I know it's sad.</p>

<p>As you can see, I lack a breadth of EC's. I have never entered any science competitions, and didn't volunteer at NASA. I spend most of my spare time playing video games, reading internet news, reading books, and playing guitar. How could I pose myself in the best light possible? The only reason I'd even consider applying at some of the schools I want to is because I think I could write some good essays.</p>

<p>I want to major in Computer Science. The schools I'm interested in are:</p>

<p>Stanford - yeah I know...I'm a good essay writer :/...am I hopeless?
Cornell - same as above.
CMU
Harvey Mudd
WashU
Emory
Grinnell
Rice
Duke
UMich</p>

<p>my safeties are University of Nebraska @ Omaha, and @ Lincoln.</p>

<p>National Merit Finalists are supposed to be able to get good deals at Oklahoma, and at other colleges as well, I don't really know if any good Comp Sci. schools care about it though.</p>

<p>If you know of a school not on my list that you think would fit me, by all means suggest it as well.</p>

<p>Thank you to any who respond.</p>

2

<p>B
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3

<p>Yeah Stanford is a bit of a reach, but I actually think you have a pretty good chance at a lot of the colleges you listed, your GPA and scores are great. And also there probably won't be too many people from Nebraska applying to these colleges so that could help too.</p>

<p>No you don't need to take the AP tests for all those, AP tests your senior year are for getting credit for classes in college, not college admissions. And since you don't have too many ECs, you might as well list them all.</p>

<p>Stanford: Reach, but apply EA if you really want to go
Cornell: 30-40%?
CMU: 70-80%, and this is a great college if you want to go into computer science
Harvey Mudd: 50-60%
WashU: 30-40%
Emory: 55-65%
Grinnell: safety
Rice: 50-60%
Duke: reach, maybe 15%
UMich: 90%</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

4

<p>Harvey Mudd and CMU for CS will likely be as difficult, if not more, than Cornell. I would say both are a reach for you with your current stack of ECs.</p>

5

<p>I would shoot for the stars and go for Cornell. Probably less than a 30% chance of getting in, but that's a lot better than Stanford. Any thoughts of attending MIT for computer science? They have a great program.</p>

6

<p>wow thanks for the responses guys.</p>

<p>I was under the impression that MIT was more selective than Stanford or Cornell, so that's why I left it off of my list. Is that a mistake?</p>

<p>And do you guys think I'd be eligible for merit aid at any of those schools? Unfortunately financial aid is going to be the most important factor in my decision, so if I'll go wherever I can get a full ride.</p>

<p>Hey guys, I realized I forgot one of the colleges I was wondering about, what do you think my chances are at Columbia University?</p>

7

<p>MIT is more selective, but no reason to leave it out if their program interests you!
My thoughts:
You are competitive for the Ivies (your location helps...) but not entirely "stand-out". That being said, I think it is worth applying to the Ivies on your list because their admissions procedures are completely weird and you have as much a chance as anyone else.
Second, you are 100% guaranteed at UMich (needed to be said).</p>

<p>You might want to consider Columbia (I think that they might have a computer science program, though not as good as Stanford's) and UCBerkeley (which has an amazing computer science program and is probably a low reach/high match for you, and, imo, a good fit)</p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

8

<p>MIT and Stanford are about as selective as each other, which are noticably more selective than Cornell.</p>