<p>Hi everyone, having been deferred at UM and UChicago, I am beginning to worry about my college list. Could anyone recommend some good likely schools for me </p>
<p>Sat subject tests
720: Math 2
660: Us history
640: Physics</p>
<p>Aps: [Euro, Comp Sci]-10th, [physics b, us history, psych]-11th, [gov, micro econ, stat, calc ab , chinese, english lang,] = 11</p>
<p>taken 8 honors courses</p>
<p>also took sociology from a local JC</p>
<p>ECS:
started system of book and school supply donations to an underprivileged school</p>
<p>Answer phones at a non profit crisis helpline, we deal with everything from suicide calls to depression, we are the suicide hotlines referral #
i personally have dealt with 3 suicidal callers (happy to say they all hung up very alive)
invited to a seat on the Advisory Board and to teach training course
over 150 hours</p>
<p>personal car lighting business fabricating custom led fixtures for the insides of car headlights
made aprox 1k but didnt put how much on app</p>
<p>Hm, I usually don’t do these, but here’s my two cents.</p>
<p>Personally, I’m impressed by your unique ECs. The difference between your weighted and unweighted GPA is huge and means you took a very rigorous course load. Did you take the SAT Is? How did you do on the AP tests? If I don’t respond very soon, these are all things that may be taken into consideration.</p>
<p>I’m not so sure about your SAT II scores. They’re not bad, but they’re disproportionate to the rest of your application. How about your essay? Are your ECs relevant to one conclusion (profession) and how is this related to what you’re going to do in university? Your ECs are very diverse but they are also inconclusive. Some would say this is good, some would argue otherwise- it is a debatable topic.</p>
<p>These are all fundamental questions I think you should ask yourself in your applications. Look at the UCs, Boston College, NYU, etc. you’re in a good range with that high weighted GPA!</p>
<p>What’s on your list now? Check the Common Data Set (Section C) to see how you compare academically to admitted students. Your GPA (unweighted) is low for U Chicago and UM and I’m guessing that your class rank is below the top 10% too, as a result. Also, does your GPA show an upward trend? If it’s showing a downward trend, that too will hurt you. </p>
<p>Your EC are interesting, but no one is going to read about them if you don’t meet the minimum academic threshold.</p>
<p>On order to recommend some other schools we need to know what colleges besides UMich and Chicago you applied to. Most importantly what can your family afford?</p>
<p>i also intend to apply to: northwestern, wash u, colgate, carleton, william and mary, ucla ucb uci ucsd (in state), macalester, cornell, USC, Georgetown</p>
<p>my intended field is business (marketing), my common app essay was about how community helpline showed me how interested i am in what motivates people, ive decided to apply that to my love of business</p>
<p>also i should add for ecs i was a camp counselor at a summer camp for mentally challenged children and i also attended CTY (center for talented youth) summer camp held by Johns hopkins for 3 summers</p>
<p>also i just this past week linked community helpline together with my highschool, setting up a system where us listeners can serve as counselors to our fellow students when tragic events happen (death of a friend, teacher, loved one)</p>
<p>my gpa has an upward trend sort of
around 4.4 9th grade, 4.0 10th (horrible year), 4.5 11th, on track for a 4.75 this semester</p>
<p>You realize that Carleton and Macalester don’t offer business majors, right? And Carleton doesn’t offer merit money. Also, per the common data set, more than 70% of admitted students at Carleton were in the top 10% of their class - with a 3.4 GPA, you are a long shot. I think this is also true at many of the other schools on your list (check the common data set to verify.)</p>
<p>Take a look at some schools like Elon, Denison, College of Charleston, etc…</p>
<p>With a 3.45 that’s a very tough list of schools; I’m concerned that your list is very “reachy”. The only one that feels sort of “safe” is Macalester. Also understand that Michigan (I’m assuming that’s who you mean by UM) is very cheap when it comes to out-of-state aid. Others to consider (quickly):</p>
<p>Indiana (Bloomington) - Very good undergrad B-School
University of Miami (Coral Gables)</p>
<p>Macalester is not safe - academic GPA is highest rated with class rigor on the CDS. [Macalester</a> Common Data Set](<a href=“http://www.macalester.edu/ir/cds/cds.htm#CCC]Macalester”>http://www.macalester.edu/ir/cds/cds.htm#CCC) As vinceh stated UMich is very competitive for merit aid and the OP would not be in that group. I think the only safety I see in the group is UCI. IUB does have an excellent business school but will cost $45K/year (less than UMich and some other schools). Maybe consider a catholic school like U Dayton which offers merit aid?</p>
<p>ErinsDad, true about IUB, though they have some stats-based automatic scholarships (up to $10k/year) for OOS. My concern is that those are probably close to being gone at this point of the admissions cycle.</p>
<p>I agree that your list is very reachy for someone not in the top 10%. I would add Cal Poly SLO to your list. It’s a financial safety and not super hard to get into.</p>