Hey everyone, I’m a rising senior and I’ve never done one of these threads before, but I thought “what the heck.” I just got my transcript from my school and I figured doing this would be a good idea.
Home State: AZ
Race: Asian (Indian)
Male
I don't know if this makes a difference, but I go to a top 5 high school nationwide.
SAT Subject Tests: US History (700), Math 2 (770), Biology E (710)
GPA: 3.98 UW, 4.75 W
AP's: Microeconomics (5), Macroeconomics (5), Government (5), Euro (4), Calc AB (5), Bio (4), Language (4), APUSH (5), Chem (4), Literature (4), Calc BC (5)
Extracurriculars:
Member of the Economics Club, 3rd place in Econ Challenge (9th)
2 sessions of a basketball academy (9th)
Summer volunteer at the local library (10th)
Peer tutor for Calculus (10th - 11th)
Volunteered at the VA hospital (11th)
Piano for 8 years
I know my EC’s are weak, but that’s just kind of who I am
What would my chances be at the following schools?
USC
UCSD
Pomona
Rice
WUSTL
Northwestern
Boston University
Northeastern
NYU
Carnegie Mellon
Johns Hopkins
Virginia
Duke
Brown
Note: I’m guaranteed acceptance to Arizona, and financial aid will probably be little to none.
All of these schools are either statistic matches/ safeties for you, but since your ECs will be very weak compared to others applying to top universities, your competitiveness will decrease.
USC: low reach (high match if ECs were better)
UCSD: match
Pomona: reach/ high reach (again, ECs)
Rice: high reach
WUSTL: low reach/ high match (this school is very statistics driven so that's good for you)
Northwestern: reach
Boston University: match/ low match
Northeastern: low match/ high safety
NYU: match
Carnegie Mellon: high match
Johns Hopkins: low reach
Virginia: UVA I'm guessing... Reach b/c they heavily favor in state kids
Duke: reach
Brown: high reach (they really look into ECs and essays so I'd say your chances here are pretty low. If you write great essays that may save you).
The only true weakness in your app is the lack of ECs. I’m not going to lie… That will hurt you during admissions.
Also important to note: How many kids are sent to top universities from your school? Use their outcomes as a prediction for yours (it’s going to be hard to do that if you don’t know their ECs though).
Thanks for the reply, it was helpful! And yeah, I agree that my EC’s are lacking. I just don’t have any real passions or interests that colleges find attractive. In response to your question, my school consistently sends students to the ivies and other highly ranked universities.
Would you have any recommendations for colleges that I might want to look into based on my stats? I’m definitely a more STEM oriented person, but I also want a breadth of major options. An urban or suburban setting is also something I’d like.
@inthegarden I have looked at that school, yes, but I there’s just something about it…I don’t really know what, that puts me off. I’ve heard that it is very fratty and the students can be cold/uninviting. Also, this might sound like a stupid reason, but I despise the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Honestly the quality/amount of ECs aren’t week the amount of time you seemed to have spent on them are. They all show shallow involvement you should try to stress the piano because you did that the longest. Colleges don’t really care what the passions or interests are… just as long as you have them.
What are your cost constraints? You say you won’t get FA from your in state schools but you will get merit aid with those stats from UofA, ASU or NAU. Will your parents pay for UCSD if you get in? We are from AZ and our competitive public high school gets a significant # of kids into the UC’s every year, but few actually go because of the cost. I do think the UC’s like full pay OOS students with high stats. If you’re a STEM person, also look at Cal Poly SLO. I’ve heard admission there is very stats-driven, and it’s slightly less expensive for OOS than the UC’s.
If you want to go out of state, there a plenty of schools below the top tier that don’t care about EC’s. Also, since your HS is so highly rated, it must have a good guidance department. Check with your GC for suggestions and your school’s track record of getting students with your profile admitted.
@a20171 “… just as long as you have them.” And there’s my problem - I don’t have any.
@Corinthian Sorry if it was a bit unclear, but the two things I said in the note were unrelated. My parents’ income level is too high for any significant financial aid from any school, not just the U of A. My parents would pay if I decide to attend UCSD. My school also does send a pretty sizable amount of students to UCLA, Cal, and UCSD. Regarding Cal Poly SLO, this might also sound like a stupid reason but I’ve heard the air there smells like cow poop. And I will definitely do what you said about talking to the counselor during the school year, I just wanted to get an idea of where I stand before school starts. Thanks!
Re: CalPoly SLO, I only drove through campus once and I know they have a college of agriculture but I didn’t actually smell cow poop, ha ha! They also they require you to declare your major when you apply so it’s probably not the best if you’re uncertain about your major. Beautiful wine country out there and excellent beaches nearby as well. Anyway, good luck.
@Ariz0na Where do you stand in terms of class rank? And as mentioned before, maybe focus more on your time playing piano, since that was the only truly consistent EC that you have. Besides EC’s, GPA and tests look great. Work hard on your essay, and good luck!!