Do I have a balanced list of schools?

College Search & Selection
1

Stats:
SAT I: 2060 (700 math, 690 CR, 670 writing; single sitting, taking again in fall)
SAT IIs: 740 math II, 680 U.S. history, 670 Spanish
GPA: Transferred halfway through high school (public to catholic): 3.89 UW, 4.25 W (Total)
Public School (9-10): 3.91 UW, 4.20 W
Catholic School (11-present): 3.81 UW, 4.31 W
Class Rank: top 10%
Ethnicity: Hispanic/Latino

1 AP sophomore year, 2 junior, 4 senior (have to test into AP/honors at Catholic school) (9 HN total)

Extracurriculars (See leadership below):
Tutor in school’s writing center
FBLA
Chess/Game Club
School Newspaper

Leadership:
Eagle Scout
Organized fundraising projects for cancer
Student Activities Director (chosen after just 1 year at new school)
School newspaper social media manager (Hopefully editor-in-chief this year)
Writing Center technology director

Honor Societies:
NHS
Spanish Honor Society (1 year)

Sports:
4 years varsity swimming, swim at club level year-round, recruited D3
Rec-league basketball

Summer Programs/Internships:
Brown Pre-College
ALSF SLA
JHU CTY

Work experience:
3 Years Swim Coach (year-round)
Virtual Internship with cancer fundraising non-profit (Social Media Manager)

Volunteering (mother passed from cancer just before high school started, which is why I became involved with healthcare and fundraising):
Relay for life
Bike race to fundraise for cancer
Service team at school
Founded fundraising program for cancer patients at school ($$$)
Blood drive volunteer
Organized bake sale + service project for middle school’s special ed. Department
Alex’s Lemonade Stand Student Ambassador ($$$)
American Cancer Society virtual advocate

Awards:
Saint Michael’s College Book Award
Public school minority achievement (grand gpa x2)
AP Scholar
Scholar-Athlete
Placed in State swim meet
Academic Scholar (School-based)

Recommendations:
8/10 From junior year English teacher
7/10 From junior year history teacher
9/10 from Vice Principal/elective teacher

Weaknesses:
Spanish credits didn’t transfer when I changed schools, ended up retaking Spanish 3 as an honors course junior year and getting an A-, but am able to skip Spanish 4 and go straight to honors level 5 senior year, which evens out
Catholic school does not allow many AP’s to first-year students

Hooks:
Raised in single parent, Hispanic home? Mother passing away, which lead to organizing the fundraising + cancer fundraising involvement, success after transfer to a more difficult school halfway through high school. Plus I do my own laundry.

Plan on applying to:

UVA (CAS)(I’m in-state)
Villanova (VSB)
Boston College (CSOM)
Wake Forest
Pitt
American
Cornell (Dyson) or Dartmouth?
UNC Chapel Hill or Georgetown?
James Madison

Is this a balanced list? Which schools should I drop, and are there any other schools I should consider?

2

Temple and TCNJ are supposed to have good business schools, I would add them.

Temple gives full tuition with 3.8 GPA and 1420 CR&M SAT or ACT 32

3

I honestly think that you have a good shot at each one of those schools. You seem to be very well rounded with good test scores. All of the community service/volunteering are really good and I think using something like that for an essay would be great.

4

I would try to get your sat up a hundred points or so in order to increase your chances at some of those top schools. If you can do that, you have a great shot at every one of those schools. As it stands now, your chances are low at cornell and dartmouth, but you have a good shot at schools like American.

5

Thanks! Update: I am ranked in the top 5%.

6

Your scores are a bit low, but I think Notre Dame could be a good fit. It would be a reach, but something about your profile makes me think you might have a shot, especially if you do retake the SAT and improve your scores.

7

Did you already retake SAT? With the 5% class rank and being Hispanic I think merit at Pitt is possible.

8

Interesting, thank you

9

might look at Holy Cross in Massachusetts.

10

“Plus I do my own laundry.”
Made me laugh. I think if you were to bring your SAT up to like… 2070 or higher you’d be in good shape for BC, Nova, and UNC. You’re gonna want like a 2150 for Dartmouth/Cornell and maybe Georgetown. So basically higher SAT and you’re good

11

Her SAT is already 2060… It says she will retake in fall, OP did you retake already?

12

Sorry, saw the Eagle Scout reference, so you are probably a “he”.

13

@mommdc yes I retook…2070

14

So sorry to hear about the loss of your mom.

Have you talked to your dad about how much he’ll pay per year? Have you had him run the NPC?

What is your financial safety? (school that will accept you AND you know all costs are covered.)

15

@Foldingchair, what was CR&M of this latest SAT?

16

@mommdc 1400
@mom2coIIegekids thank you. yes i have several

17

@FoldingChair, how much was math, how much reading?

18

@mommdc 710 math 690 cr

19

So math went up a bit. I wanted to see the breakdown, in case the CR on the second test was higher. Pitt superscores and uses the highest subsection from each test. Did you send your latest scores to Pitt? I’m hoping for merit for you.
How much can your dad contribute to the cost?