Do I have a chance at top universities like Duke or USC?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello everyone, I am current high school junior. Before I hadn’t planned on applying anywhere big, but some of my dreams are becoming more of a possibility over a dream.

Here is the rundown:

GPA: 4.0 (4.39 weighted)
Class Rank: 1

ACT: I kind of choked on the one sitting I’ve taken. I practiced a lot and just did awful on the actual thing. I had to guess on a the last few on reading and science. I am predicting (30-32E, 31-33M, 26-28R, 26-28S). I am aiming for a 34, but my last sitting of the ACT was pretty discouraging.

AP/IB: I am a full IB diploma candidate. SL: Math, Physics, Spanish. HL: Chemistry, History, English
I took math and physics recently. Hoping for a 6 on both.

Junior work load: IB Physics SL, IB Psychology SL, IB Bio 1, IB TOK, IB Calculus 1 SL, IB English 11, IB Spanish 4, IB History of the Americas

Senior work load (should be): Adv. Leadership, gov/econ, IB Chemistry HL, IB English 12, IB Modern World History, IB Spanish 5, IB Calculus 2 HL

Work Experience:
Founded a new organization: this is an organization started by some friends and myself. I serve as the vice president and we hope to show youth the business procedures for bringing an idea to market. We are bringing an idea to market ourselves to represent ourselves as a pilot program. We are led by my friend’s father who is a Harvard MBA graduate.

Site Council: Back in middle school I served on a committee (1 of 2 students) to give the student perspective of minority inclusion and common core improvement. Here, I also served the privilege of being on the interviewer board for incoming principal candidates for my middle school. (This was a much bigger thing than just student council, or ordinary school student govt.)

Bowling Alley Employee: I also am working at a bowling alley almost 20 hours a week to support my bills on a car, etc. (This can become difficult with full IB…)

Intern: I recently landed an internship this Summer to conduct research at a health and science institute. I will be conducting research with a doctor (I haven’t received my mentor yet, but it will be someone who has a PhD in something very specific). This is a huge opportunity for me and was extremely selective. I will be receiving pay and a bus pass. If I’m lucky, I may also be publishing a paper with my mentor.

Community service:
Key Club (+25 hrs)
Library volunteer (+25 hrs)
National Honor Society (55+ hrs)

Extra curricular:
VP of the student business program
Student Leadership: Senior class officer (was selected for next year’s leadership, might be able to land president)
NHS - Officer: Project manager
JV Summer Basketball
Speech and Debate
Astronomy Club
Tutoring Club

Possible hooks?:
Mom passed away in 2005, my father is a single parent with an income of less than $50k (Janitor)
First generation college student

If you read through everything, I very much appreciate it. All responses, critique and praise alike, will be read carefully with full consideration. Thank you!

2

You look like a very qualified candidate for top schools but your SAT scores are also a factor so please provide those if you have already taken it

3

A word on the ACT: it’s all about speed, and practice makes a difference. The library will have all the various study guides with full tests in them. Try doing full timed timed tests on a Saturday morning, in the library, starting at whatever time the exams start at your school. Best tip collegekid2 got on the ACT was to always read the questions first on the science section questions- very often you can answer the question from the chart without reading the whole paragraph with it.

Have you tried the SAT? collegekid1 aced the SAT but got nowhere with the ACT- although the new SAT is designed to be more like the ACT, it is still a different beast.

Are you on Questbridge? if not, check it out.

Also check out the colleges on [url=<a href=“http://blog.collegegreenlight.com/blog/colleges-that-meet-100-of-student-financial-need/#sthash.41KpmRza.dpbs%5Dthis%5B/url”>http://blog.collegegreenlight.com/blog/colleges-that-meet-100-of-student-financial-need/#sthash.41KpmRza.dpbs]this[/url] list: they all promise to meet full need.

Oh yes: the answer to your original question! yes, of course you have a chance. No idea how big a chance, but based on what you have put up here you look like a viable candidate for those- and many other- selective colleges.

4

disregard my comment i didn’t read the part about the ACT totally skipped that

5

@collegemom3717

Firstly, I appreciate the response. I will definitely consider practicing for the SAT. About the suggestion about the library, I actually practiced very often at home with practice tests from ■■■■■■■■.com. For the amount of practice I took, it’s honestly somewhat discouraging considering my performance on the actual exam. On practices I was getting around 32E, 33M, 29R, 35S.

For Questbridge, I have checked it out! I actually recently applied as a college prep scholar and unfortunately did not make it through. I think a big part of it was my commitment to my Summer internship (or so I’ll tell myself, haha).

Thank you for the resources!