Do I have a chance of getting into highly selective colleges?

Applying to College
1

<p>Goodmorning, I am applying to highly selective colleges such as Johns Hopkins ED, NYU, USC, Cornell, UChicago, Rice, etc.. and was wondering if I have any chance of getting into one of them. I will try my best to write all the information about myself so you can have a vivid picture of my profile.</p>

<p>I am in 12th grade (Female)
I plan on double-majoring in Chemistry and Spanish and will be Pre-med</p>

<p>I got a 27 on my ACT
science 31
reading 26
math 26
english 26
essay: 8</p>

<p>GPA: weighted- 4.47 unweighted- 3.64
I am ranked 25 out of 642- top 3%</p>

<p>I am involved in 3 clubs (honor society)-
President of the Foreign Language Honor Society
Vice-President of the National English Honor Soicety
Secretary of the Science National Honor Society</p>

<p>I had a job 10th grade and another one in 11th but an currently unemployed</p>

<p>I have been an active volunteer at the Museum of Discovery and Science (300+ hours)</p>

<p>I have taken AP Spanish and AP English (received A's in both) and took Dual-enrollment American History (in case some may not know, dual-enrollment is credited as an AP class but it is a class at a local college with undergraduate college students)
I am currently enrolled in AP Human Geography and 3 dual-enrollment classes
and next semester I will take AP Chemistry, AP Government and 2 Dual-enrollmeny classes</p>

<p>I messed up a bit my Freshman year, i received 2 c's and several B's, but sophmore year I received mostly A's and junior year I received all A's except for a B in Algebra 2.</p>

<p>Over the summer I was enrolled in a Summer Undergraduate class at the Univeristy of Chicago for a Spanish class and received an A
I also was in the Discover Hopkins program at Johns Hopkins and passed (pass/fail class)</p>

<p>My UChicago teacher is writing me a letter of reccomendation and my High school human anatomy teacher is writing one as well.</p>

<p>I feel i have written strong essays on my common application.</p>

<p>I played Ice Hockey for 7 years outside of school (my school does not have a team)</p>

<p>In 11th grade I received 1st place in my category for the school science fair
I was also given a local award for outstanding achievement in Spanish</p>

<p>I believe I have said everything there is to know must I may be mistaken. My parents tell me that I have a slim chance of getting into the highly selective schools and are making me apply to many back drop schools. I would appreciate your honest opinion. (Be harsh if you must!) Thank You.</p>

2

<p>yeh low chances. Look at schools like BU.</p>

3

<p>your ACT seems awfully low, considering that you are in the top 3% of your class</p>

<p>I would retake.</p>

<p>My son raised his ACT from a 31 to a 34, with zero studying.</p>

<p>Whenever I personally see someone with top high school grades but low standardized test scores, I think that perhaps their high school is not that great, or that there is grade inflation.</p>

<p>Plus, your ECs are not the almost super-human ECs often seen on CC.</p>

4

<p>I know it is low but i’ve taken it twice and that is the highest. I am not a super genius that can take it and get a 34 I study my ass off all summer and end up with a 27 so that unfortunately will not happen. I was hoping my EC would make up for it but i guess those are not good either. Thought they were.</p>

5

<p>mango:</p>

<p>When I said your ECs were not that great, I only say that because I see kids on cc that have incredible ECs.</p>

<p>My son, except for debate, is not strong on ECs. </p>

<p>Not that you can’t still apply to the tip top schools, but I would also apply to some schools ranked #25 through #50 as well.</p>

<p>The acceptance rates at the schools you mentioned are very low, even if you had a 32 ACT. </p>

<p>Also, at least down here in Florida, it seems that the flagship state universities seem to care more about grades than standardized test scores. So apply to your flagship.</p>

<p>Also, there is a list out there somewhere of SAT optional schools, and some of the schools on that list are top schools, so you may want to apply to some of those schools as well. Play in a game where the rules favor YOU.</p>

6

<p>Yes you are right. I live in Florida as well but UM is the only Florida school I am applying to. But I am applying to BU and Syracuse and several other lower ranked schools. Thank you for your honest opinion!</p>

7

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</p>

<p>Mango, I’m afraid that just isn’t how it works. Colleges look first for applicants who meet or exceed their academic expectations. Then, if a college considers extracurricular activities much at all, it uses them to distinguish among those applicants who are academically well qualified.</p>

<p>At many of your target institutions, there will be very many applicants with higher test scores and unweighted GPA. Your class rank is quite good (but not quite as good as you think; top 3% of your class would be 19th or above). You may well be good enough to attend many of these institutions, but I fear a lot of them will have filled their entering classes before they’d get around to admitting you. I’d have to say they’re long shots.</p>

<p>But floridadad gave you some good advice: you could investigate test-optional schools. There’s a list of them here: [SAT/ACT</a> Optional 4-Year Universities | FairTest](<a href=“http://fairtest.org/university/optional]SAT/ACT”>ACT/SAT Optional List - Fairtest).</p>

8

<p>You should apply to some other FL schools. What will you do if UMiami doesn’t admit you? Even if admitted, can you afford Miami? How do you plan to pay for privates/OOS schools? Florida students get one of the best deals in the country when they go to a state school. Costs are relatively low (although are starting to rise quite a bit).</p>

<p>You can always turn down an in-state admission if you get an affordable OOS/private option, but what will you do if all your applications turn out to be unaffordable?</p>