<p>I am a rising senior, part of the graduating class of 2014. I was not born in the U.S., but am about 2-3 months away from receiving my U.S. residence. Born in Mexico, if the info helps.
My Stats:
- Very likely to be valedictorian of the first graduating class of a charter college prep school
- GPA: 3.98
- SAT Combined: 1950 Math 610/Critical Reading 670/Writing 670
(** I will take the SAT one last time on October, aiming for 700's)
- 6 AP Classes taken by the end of high school (of a total of 8 offered)
- 5 in Spanish, 3 in World History (2 in Environmental Science)
- A's and B's throughout high school
- Varsity Soccer Team (4 yrs.), Cross Country (4 yrs.), Track (2 Yrs.)
- Founding Member of Honor Committee (Student government organization)
- Shopkeeper for the school store (1 yr.)
- Member of the Art club for a year.
- Various community service work (Senior year I plan to volunteer at a retirement home twice a week)
- Have participated at various leadership programs throughout summer.</p>
<p>My top interests are Business Administration and Neuroscience, and would like to double major or dual degree if possible. At this point I am deciding whether to do Early Action or Early Decision. If I decide to do Early Action, then I would be applying to Stanford, Yale, and University of Chicago. Stanford is my dream university. Also I will meet two Stanford graduates this year, and might be able to know them well enough for recommendations. However, U Penn has great programs for Business (obviously) and Neuroscience. If I were to do Early Decision, then it would most likely be to U Penn (my #2 top choice). So I would like input from you guys on what would be the smartest way to go about this. Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>You need to improve your test scores, your current list is high reaches</p>
<p>What would be the ideal scores for the schools I mentioned? I never studied too hard for the SAT. However, this summer I’ve drilled lots for the SAT. On some practice tests I managed to score in the low 700s (710-730). Hopefully I’ll be able to improve the scores on October.</p>
<p>You need 2200+ SAT, 34+ ACT to get in the ballpark. Even with that schools like Stanford/Yale reject many kids with near perfect scores. Not to sound discouraging but you should have realistic expectations of what is needed. </p>
<p>If you raise your SATs to 2100, I think you would be competitive for schools like Michigan. You may also want to look at Wake Forest which is SAT optional.</p>
<p>Another thing:
If I manage to raise the scores to 2100, do you think that I would become a strong candidate for Emory and Amherst? I have visited Emory and love the campus and school. I feel like I would be a good fit at Amherst as well, and academics are quite good (their neuroscience is top notch).</p>
<p>Emory has a program called Oxford College at Emory where you attend for two years and then automatically transfer to Emory University. If you get 2100, I think you would be competitive for Emory (you may even get in directly). </p>
<p>Amherst is much more difficult and would be a reach.</p>
<p>If you love Emory I think that would be reasonable target to shoot for. They also really care about demonstrated interest so you should show them you really care about the school.</p>
<p>How do I do that? Should I send some emails asking about programs? I am on their mailing list and respond to some emails I have received. I had not really heard about demonstrated interest, so I am bit puzzled.</p>
<p>It’s really hard to get a sense of what your admissions prospects are. </p>
<p>It would matter if your class is 50 kids vs 800 kids. It would matter if your “A’s and B’s” were a lot more A’s or a lot more B’s. It would matter if you are a recruited athlete. It matters that you’re Hispanic. However, the 5 in AP Spanish is less impressive because of it. It matters if you’re disadvantaged or if your parents went to college. If your a first generation college student, it’s an advantage. </p>
<p>You shouldn’t apply EA to Stanford or Yale. There is little advantage in doing so. You’re not likely to get in SCEA. Your situation has enough question marks, that they would likely wait until they see the entire pool. </p>
<p>Applying EA to Chicago makes sense, because it’s unrestricted and there is no downside. If Stanford is your dream school, you should not apply ED anywhere. UChicago is really hard. </p>
<p>My suggestion is to not have a dream school, but to have a dream life. The school you go to is one of many possible avenues to that dream life. </p>
<p>I would compile a much broader list. The schools you mentioned are difficult to gain admissions to. I like the suggestion of Oxford College. That would give you a supportive opportunity to improve your academic game before you had to swim in the big pond that is Emory.</p>
<p>FIrst of all, if you are not a permanent resident or citizen, that will affect your admissions chances at some schools if you have financial need. If you don’t have need, that’s one thing, but if you are looking for financial aid, that can be a big sticking point. You cannot count on having that green card in time to not be categorized as an international student. I know many, many, many people who have been just a couple of months from getting such a card for years. And without it, even the day before it is issued, until you have the card number to give, you are an international applicant.</p>
<p>If financial aid is not an issue at all, then go to it,but start looking at some schools where you are in the top 25% test score wise, as well as all of those high reaches you are considering. It’s a lottery getting accepted in to those schools and your test scores do not give you much of a chance.</p>
<p>If you do not have a clear first choice school, or you want to be able to compare various schools’ financial aid and net price before deciding where to attend, then do not apply early decision.</p>
<p>Applying to Stanford and Yale early action means you agree not to apply early action to other private schools (though applying early action to public schools and applying early to rolling admissions schools is ok). But get the SAT or ACT score up if you want a chance at your reach schools.</p>
<p>Don’t forget to find your safeties first. Be sure that the safeties are affordable for sure (check net price calculators).</p>
<p>My graduating class is 73 people, so I’m guessing it isn’t as big of a deal. I won’t be recruited for sports, and I will be a first gen graduating student. My grades were mostly A’s, with a couple of B’s here and there. And my parents do not make much money (mom cleans offices, dad paints houses), so I would consider that disadvantaged.
Thanks for the advice of having a dream life, it makes a lot of sense.</p>
<p>And as for the issue of money, it is an issue for my family. So I would really like to get a full ride or a school that will meet most of my need. I will look into those calculators that have been mentioned, and will consider some other colleges. I will reconsider my schools and try to get some better SAT scores so that I have better chances at those reach schools. But paying anything over $5000-6000 for college is out of the question for my family.</p>
<p>You should surely checkout Questbridge. [QuestBridge</a> Home](<a href=“http://www.questbridge.org/]QuestBridge”>http://www.questbridge.org/)</p>
<p>For more options, go to the “financial aid and scholarships” section of these forums and look at the sticky threads at the top for a list of full tuition to full ride merit scholarships (some of the automatic ones can be safety candidates).</p>
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<p>On the other hand, applying early decision to a school like Emory is a hell of a way to demonstrate interest and does improve your chances of getting in. You are only bound by the ED agreement if they offer you a financial package that you can afford. If not you can request a release and keep open or submit other applications.</p>
<p>dizzy, I think you’ll be a person of interest to many good colleges, including the most selective. </p>
<p>I’m not sure I understand what “US resident” means for admissions. Would you be considered an international student? If yes, then you should look closely at how this impacts financial aid.</p>
<p>Definitely contact Questbridge now. They will be of enormous help.</p>
<p>Take the SATI again, then don’t worry about your scores. Concentrate on getting those A’s. You’ll need some SATII’s too.</p>
<p>If you like Amherst you might also look at some other LACs that actively recruit high achieving Hispanics: Williams, Hamilton, Middlebury, Bowdoin, Carleton, Grinnell. Excellent sciences, excellent overall academics. No business degree, per se, but good economics, strong career counseling.</p>
<p>If Stanford remains your #1 choice, then apply SCEA. If you don’t you may regret it.</p>
<p>Focus your ECs a little more, concentrate on the top two. Sports are an obvious choice: what’s the number two? You mention art club. Are you interested in making art? Could you submit a portfolio? The combination of academics/sports/arts is powerful in admissions.</p>
<p>Stanford doesn’t care about level of interest. </p>
<p>SCEA doesn’t provide an admissions advantage at all and it prevents you from applying to other EA schools which could admit you, give you a great safety, and allow you to file many fewer applications. </p>
<p>I can agree with not applying ED anywhere because Stanford is your #1 choice, but I can’t see eliminating all of the other EA schools are that you have a chance at. The chances for Stanford are small for everyone. Chicago, Georgetown and Boston College are just some of the fine institutions that have unrestricted EA.</p>
<p>Yeah, the lack of a U.S. residency is definitely an obstacle. If my green card does not come in the time that I hope it will, It might not even be recommendable to apply to any sort of early decision/action (because I wouldn’t receive as much benefits). I am unsure about what I would have to do to apply without a residency, and I still need to speak to my college counselor about that. But in all likeliness, I would have to apply as an international student (I think).</p>
<p>As for my list of colleges, I have adjusted it and thrown some safety schools in. Stanford, Yale, U Penn, and University of Chicago are still there. However, those universities are my reach schools and I understand that now. Depending on my status at the time, I’ll probably apply EA to Chicago.</p>
<p>Also, I received an email from questbridge yesterday, and I had not requested any info yet (they got my information through collegeboard). So I feel if that is a good sign, and I’ll apply to Questbridge as well.</p>
<p>If you aren’t able to leverage the hispanic or first in family hook, you should consider schools that are highly competitive, not very competitive, but ones that have generous endowments to cover financial aid, perhaps U of Richmond (strong business program) and it’s ilk. Business and neuroscience are an interesting combination, I suppose you could eventually use both in work for a pharmaceutical company. for example. Try to appear focused in your applications.</p>