Help me figure out my chances of getting acepted into my top schools!!!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi everyone! I’m an incoming senior feeling stressed about college. If you don’t mind taking the time to read all of this, I’d really appreciate getting your opinions about my chances of getting into some of the schools that are on my list. Thanks!

White female, lower to low middle income single parent household
GPA: Weighted 4.11, Unweighted 3.79
I will be taking 5 AP’s and an honors class next year, so I expect my weighted gpa to jump by at least 0.1
ACT: 32; my English scores are almost perfect and it’s my math and science that drag me down, so I’m going to study and then take it again
Course-load: I hate math and science, and normally get B’s in those classes. I love the humanities and do very well in them. Listing my AP’s: Took no AP’s freshman yeah b/c my school doesn’t allow it. Sophomore year took AP Euro. Junior year took AP Lang, APUSH, AP Psych, Italian 3h. Next year taking AP GOV, AP Econ, AP Lit, AP Environmental Sci, AP stats (may drop), and Italian 4h.
SAT Sub: 710 Lit, 750 USH (I may retake bc I don’t think my scores were very good, but lmk if you disagree)

EC’s
Activity Grade Levels
Peer mentoring 10-12
VarsityModel UN 9-12
Varsity mock trial (captain) 9-12
School swim team 10-12
Varsity debate 10
Student body council Elections commissioner- grade 12
School gymnastics team 9 . (team got canceled)

Summer activities:
intern at court access center 20hrs/week
aquatic assistant 18hrs/week

Voulenteering
Co-coordinator of a free tutoring program that tutors English Second Language students in a poorer neighborhood, was a tutor at the program last year (5hrs/week)

other things:
traumatic parents divorce 6 years ago, father is pretty inconsistant and abandoning in nature. not sure how to incorporate it into my app, but it has affected me deeply
Another thing to note is that financial aid is imperative, that will be the determining factor in where I go to college.

The schools I’m looking at

  1. barnard
  2. ivy leagues in general (mainly brown, yale, columbia)
  3. georgetown
  4. northeastern
  5. tufts
  6. boston uni
  7. vassar
    8.the seven sisters (bryn mawr, holyoke, smith specifically)
  8. UC’s (UCLA, UCB, UCSD)
  9. Claremont colleges and scrips

Intended major: probably poly sci, or something else very humanities centric

Looking forward to hearing your responses!

2

Are you a California resident?

3

For those schools that meet full need make sure you look at if they only count the custodial parents income.

4

I wouldn’t be confident in getting into any of the Ivies or UCB/UCLA; UC’s are very GPA dependent and only consider 10-11, which would not fare well for you. While you may be taking a lot of APs next year, your senior year grades may not really be considered, and if at all then through the first half of the year, so it probably won’t raise your GPA too much. Your ECs are decent, but many are commonly listed on applications, and a lack of leadership or proficiency in most. Georgetown requires 3 Subject tests, so I’d take one more, but your chances are decidedly slim there too. BU could be a possibility, with Northeastern and Tufts as reaches. I can’t really speak to the LACs listed, but I hope it all works out for you! GL!

5

yes

6

most of the full need schools do look at both parents, however i believe my dad doesn’t make too much money, so that shouldn’t be a huge problem. Also, having 100% need of both parents is better than 60% need of one parentm right?

7

@DJCURRYBEATS19 if Northeastern is a reach, then BU is also a reach…

8

@undergrad2018 You’re right, my apologies - both would be considered reaches. I mistook OP as asking about BC.

9

Your profile looks fairly similar to my DD, who is a 1st year at Barnard. Her final choice was between that and UC Berkeley, but she seriously considered Vassar and a couple of the other 7 sisters too. Several of the schools on your list weigh fit heavily, so that is not something most people on CC can give you too much of a guess on, because your stats are certainly solid and in DD’s experience, that was good enough. I do think that most of the reachy reachy schools are pretty much impossible if you are not a 1st gen, URM, recruited athlete, etc. There are just too many strong suburban students out there, especially when most top colleges are committed to increasing diversity and access on their campuses. DD also came from a divorced household, and it was tough to predict her aid packages, which ranged from full pay, to a $57K/year grant aid. Your list has some great schools, definitely consider a few of the sisters you list like Bryn Mawr and Holyoke that give merit aid, and great educational opportunities. Smith looked great except for the travel required to get there, but their package was quite skimpy for DD. For the UCs, you should be able to check on their website if you are in the state-wide, or school-wide path (top 9%). Not a guarantee, but if you are strong at your school, that will help. DD was not btw, coming from a powerhouse of a public filled with top students. Still worked out for her. Have hope, but plan wisely. We were both impressed with UC Davis, btw. May I also suggest a school like Pitt? They have rolling admissions and gave my daughter a huge merit package 10 days after she submitted her application. Huge relief for her to know she had somewhere to go. :slight_smile: Don’t discount having one in the bag on your mental state… Best of luck!