Help Please!!!!

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>Hi! I'm new to this site but I see that generally when people post their statistics that people reply with colleges that they think are suitable for them. I really need help because I feel like all of the schools I am applying to are far reaches and I am so paranoid that I am not going to be accepted anywhere! So here goes:</p>

<p>Female from South Florida in a respectable private Catholic school with less than 1000 students.
-GPA: 4.1 weighted (3.7 unweighted)
-Class Rank: 24 out of 205
-ACT: 31 Composite
-Very Rigorous course schedule</p>

<p>-Honor roll for all academic quarters in high school, Who's Who Among America's High School Students, National Society of High School Scholars, National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine, National Young Leaders Conference, Excellence in Community Service Award</p>

<p>-Competitive Dancer since age 3 with over 150 awards earned since the beginning of high school including National Dancer of the Year (...it's a really prestigious award) at least 25 hrs devoted to dance every week, Religous Education Teacher for 1st and 3rd graders (5 hrs/wk), Altar Server, Altar Server of the Year Award, Youth Group Coordinator, Doctors of Tomorrow President, Science Club President, National Honor Society Member, Florida Math League Competitor, Math Club, History Club, Spanish Club</p>

<p>-Over 375 hours of community service (in organizations including Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Christ Child Society, Altar Serving, Teaching Religious Education, Habitat for Humanity, etc)</p>

<p>-Work: Dance teacher (tap, jazz, ballet) approximately 15 hrs/wk</p>

<p>-I also have really great recommendations
-No legacies except for a brother attending Boston College</p>

<p>And my schools are:
Johns Hopkins U
Vanderbilt
Boston College
Brown
Skidmore
George Washington U
Tulane
Colgate
Rhodes
Cornell
Bucknell
Lehigh
SMU
Carnegie Mellon
Tufts</p>

<p>.. those are all of my main schools. Please let me know which ones I have a possibility of getting into and if you have any other suggestions about schools which I should apply then please let me know! (preferably east coast, and cost doesn't matter) Thank you so much!!</p>

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<p>Johns Hopkins U--Match
Vanderbilt--Match to Slight Reach
Boston College--Match
Brown--Slight Reach
Skidmore--Safety to Safe Match
George Washington U--Match
Tulane--Safe Match to Match
Colgate--Match to Slight Reach
Rhodes--Match
Cornell--Match
Bucknell--Safety
Lehigh--Safe Match
SMU--Safety to Safe Match
Carnegie Mellon--Match
Tufts--Match to Slight Reach</p>

<p>If you want to major in dance, I would also consider NYU because of its dance program. (Top-notch). If you want to go to a religious school, I would also consider Georgetown.</p>

<p>I would drop Tulane (not east coast--it's in Louisiana), and Bucknell (not up to your standards, nor does it fit your profile).</p>

<p>P.S. Don't list "Who's Who" on your application--it's considered a scam by most admissions officers. (You pay to be listed).</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

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<p>thanks so much for your opinion!! wow i didn't even know that i paid to be in Who's Who haha i don't remember that!! thanks again though</p>

<p>anyone else?? i really appreciate everyone's honest opinions!</p>

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<p>Maybe your parents sent it in for you. LOL. Who knows? Anyway, as you can see, you should have a choice of schools to decide between.</p>

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<p>haha maybe!! you're right, who knows?? and thanks again for your opinion-- it makes me feel a lot better!! =]</p>

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<p>Brown a slight reach with a 31 and not being in top 10%? Calcruzer at it again!</p>

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<p>haha yeah i know brown is up there for me.. i'm really not all that interested in going there (although i'm sure i would if i got in) but i figured i would just see what happens! and the not top 10% deal.. yeah it sucks but my school is REALLY competitive! ugh! oh well! i think i will be by graduation and that's all that matters to me!</p>

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<p>BUMP!! anyone.. please??</p>

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<p>anyone at all??? lol PLEASE i am the most paranoid person alive!!</p>

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<p>Don't dismiss Tulane as Calcruzer mentions above. If community service is important to you, as it appears to be by your high school achievements, you will not get a better opportunity to make a real tangible contribution, than in New Orleans right now. All the current Tulane students have a requirement to do this. If this doesn't interest you, then move on.</p>

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<p>thanks for your input! i didn't dismiss tulane beacause to me, LA is still east coast (regardless of the fact that it isn't actually on the EAST coast), you know what i mean! community service is important to me and i hadn't really though about all of the opportunities in New Orleans right now. thanks! =]</p>

<p>anyone else?
--also, any colleges not on the list that you think might interest me?
thanks!!</p>

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<p>bobby100, the candidate is 3.7UW and has tons of ECs, Brown cares more about this than most schools--and FYI, 10% of those accepted to Brown were not in the top 10% at their school. She is going for a "weak" major, and is practically a professional in her particular field. Because of this particular expertise, she would even have a fair chance at a school like Stanford. Besides, you may notice I said she was "slight reach", not that she was "match".</p>

<p>Also, a 31 ACT, is the equivalent of a SAT I of 695/695/695--and Brown's average SAT scores are 690/700/695, so she can't get any closer to the averages than that. Also, if you go by the ACT averages, Brown's average ACT is only 29, so she is actually above average. This is per Princeton Review.</p>

<p>I'll stick with my "slight reach" estimate.</p>

<p>P.S. I was accepted to Brown myself, so I do have a little insight into their admissions process. </p>

<p>Oh, and lewmin, I wasn't trying to dismiss Tulane's value (note that I discussed Bucknell as lower standard but not Tulane). I just wanted to point out that it wasn't east coast, which is what was originally requested by the OP. I wasn't sure she knew where it was located. Apparently, she was aware of Tulane's location. Additionally, she had 15 schools on her list, was asking for more, and obviously was not about to apply to 17 schools--so some schools will have to be eliminated.</p>

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<p>Gee Calcruzer, what year was that?</p>

<p>Who do you think the 10% not in the top 10% are? A non URM, non athlete would not be my guess. BTW, on the whole, Brown does not admit by major.</p>

<p>I stand by my statement that I can't wait to see your outcomes in April. I this you are the most optimistically misguided poster on CC.</p>

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<p>Since the OP has said she is not applying to Brown, we won't see anything in April. But it's funny you say I'm the most optimistic, since I've had others criticize me for being too hard in judging chances. </p>

<p>My suggestion to you is, that if you think I'm being too lenient, then you are welcome to post your views on why that's the case. I would ask that you post some stats to support your opinion (you'll notice I usually post stats, although I do get tired of repeating some of the same ones over and over again).</p>

<p>It's easy to be a critic, but a reasonable opinion supported by stats is all anyone on here wants--including myself. I'm not infallible, and I'm not on an admissions committee. I'm just posting my best estimates. You're welcome to do the same.</p>

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<p>At the risk of sounding stupid, what's a URM?</p>

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<p>URM = Underrepresented Minority</p>

<p>Johns Hopkins U - Slight Reach
Vanderbilt - Match
Boston College - Match
Brown - Slight Reach / Reach
Cornell - Slight Reach / Reach
Lehigh - Match
Carnegie Mellon - Match
Tufts - Match / Slight Reach</p>

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<p>Calcruzer, I don't think stats are the central consideration for top colleges, they are simply the initial test. The AI you like to rely on, IMO, are used to eliminate candidates, not to accept them.</p>

<p>I've been around the block too. I was rejected from Harvard and then accepted as a transfer. Then I taught at SSP there, meeting and counseling myriad applicants.</p>

<p>IMHO it's pretty easy to eyeball what's presented here and take a good guess when it comes to who's getting in the top 15 or so hools. After that it's harder and there are more exceptions.</p>

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<p>bobby100, I totally agree with your statements here, both concerning the AI usage, and the fact that you can usually tell who is getting into the top 15 schools and who isn't.</p>

<p>It has never been my contention that the AI determines who gets in, but as you point out, it is a good barometer for determining who isn't going to get in.</p>

<p>I do not use it as indicating who is getting in (at least I try not to), but I do use it for two purposes--one, to tell who should even be applying to a school; and two, where it is that people need to improve if they want to be competitive.</p>

<p>Lots of times I may say something like "you have an AI of 217, which is good enough for the lower Ivies, but not the upper ones". This statement is not meant to imply that they will automatically be accepted at all the lower Ivies (Brown, UPenn, and Cornell), but rather that, when looked at in conjunction with their extracurriculars being sufficiently impressive, or having a hook, these students at least have some chance of acceptance at these schools--maybe 35% to 40% or more--compared to the average applicant who has maybe a 17% to 25% chance of acceptance. In other words, I'm using it as a measure of automatic rejection if they are not in certain ranges--which is exactly what you stated in your post is the way it should be used. I think the problem is that I'm not clear enough in my communication to not allow the implication to be made that these people WILL get in--even when I tell them--as in the case above, that they are "slight reach".</p>

<p>I have posted on here many, many times that for a me a slight reach is someone who has a 40% or slightly greater chance of acceptance, but definitely less than 50%.</p>

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<p>AHHH sorry guys i didn't mean for my stats to turn into an argument!!
BUT i must say...
i DID get my new ACT score from the September test and i got a 35!! YAY=]</p>

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<p>yay BUMP!!!!!</p>