Given my current stats, what are some schools I should apply to?

College Search & Selection
1

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 1430 (760 Math, 670 English, 18 Essay)
Will take again until I break 1500, my highest score on a practice SAT is 1510

SAT II: 800 Math 2
Will take literature
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.88
AP (place score in parenthesis): Biology, Chemistry, Calc AB, Statistics (Didn’t take AP exams)
Senior Year Course Load: AP English, AP Calc BC, AP Comp Sci Principles, AP Gov/Econ, Choir, Lacrosse/Soccer
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Disney Dreamers Academy 2017, Presidents Award for 100 hours community service, Certificate of Recognition for helping my community achieve the Helen Putnam Award

Subjective:

Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Varsity Soccer, Varsity Lacrosse (Captain), Club Lacrosse A-Team, Investors Club (President), FBLA Chapter (Founder and President), Water Conservation Club (Founder and President), NHS, Tri-M Music Community, Chamber Choir (Tenor Section Leader), Male A Capella Group, Church Youth Group, Small Business Owner
Job/Work Experience: Summer Internship with my city treasurer
Volunteer/Community service: AYSO Youth Referee, Special Olympics Soccer Referee, Athlete on Athlete tutoring, Director of Social Media for local non-profit
Summer Activities: Summer School, Travel, Internship
Essays: 8/10
Teacher Recommendation: 7/10 (From my freshman/sophomore english teacher, and my junior english teacher)
Counselor Rec: 6/10 generic
Additional Rec: 9/10 from my school districts superintendent
8/10 from my city treasurer
Interview: probably will be good

Other

State (if domestic applicant):California
Country (if international applicant): USA
Intended major(s): economics
School Type: competitive public
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: > $200k

Reflection
Strengths & Weaknesses: My SAT score and GPA are not very good and I’m not sure about my extracurriculars. I would say my application is just average

IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO TO STRENGTHEN MY APPLICATION BEFORE NOVEMBER 1st?

2

GPA is actually good, but yes you should try to get a better score on the SAT. Don’t try to take the SAT more than 3 times. If the score doesn’t improve significantly try the ACT.

Any reason for not taking AP tests? They are not absolutely necessary but a passing score earns credits/allows you to skip to the next class in the sequence. Also a score of 4 or 5 may offset a lower grade whereas a high grade/low AP score may indicate the class was taught badly.

Talk to your guidance counselor or check Naviance if your school uses it to see how you compare to other applicants.

Your counselor is the best resource for seeing what schools you should apply to. Right now, I would suggest the following:

USC
Boston College
Boston University
Some mid tier UCs (Davis, Irvine, San Diego, Santa Barbara)

If the standardized test scores improve you can target some Top 20 schools.

3

UC GPA (capped weighted): https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

Your unweighted looks fine. SAT II is great and your SAT I score is within range for the UC’s listed.

4

Duke since it’s ur dream… But I think it depends on how big that “small business” is… Care to provide details?

5

Some thoughts:

  • Boston University

The people that I know that applied there had stats similar to the OP’s, and got in with no financial aid. IMHO I don’t think that BU is worth full pay. Results may vary.

  • Some mid tier UCs (Davis, Irvine, San Diego, Santa Barbara)

I agree completely. I would think that any UC other than UCLA and UCB would be a good choice. There have been some discussions this year about people from California being turned down unexpectedly at UCs, so probably a variety of UCs would make sense.

6

Based partly on your interest in economics, look into Williams, Middlebury, Wesleyan, Colgate, Hamilton and Claremont McKenna for one or two match colleges:

https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.uslacecon.html

https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.usecondept.html

This site appears current with respect to standardized scoring ranges:

http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/college-profiles-new-sat/

7

Take two more subject tests and apply to Bowdoin and Hamilton with those :slight_smile:
Usc and Tufts would be good reaches, American a good safety.
Ask your parents what they’re willing to pay for you - don’t assume, run the npc on UC’s, usc, McKenna, someone the above, and discuss the results with them.