high grades and weak EC's. chance me for selective Southern public schools + UChicago

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Self:
Asian female
Highly ranked public high school. the average ACT is 24.
Tennessee
senior
Would like to study social sciences and math in college.</p>

<p>I am apply to these colleges EA:
UNC Chapel Hill, UVA Charlottesville, University of Chicago (a reach).
These colleges aren't EA, but they have really early deadlines:
Georgia Tech(Ivan Allen College for sure), UT Knoxville Honors Program.
Any suggestions for other colleges would be appreciated!</p>

<p>Extracurriculars
TSA (technology student association): 3yrs, reporter, secretary. won some state-level awards. currently building a hug machine for the Special Ed department.
National Art Honor Society: 3 years. Secretary.
Mu Alpha Theta: 2 years. I tutor Algebra 1 students and enter math competitions, but have not won anything.
National Honor Society: 2 years
Gay Straight Alliance: 2 years. Vice President. I planned Day of Silence and introduced open discussions to club meetings (we've only existed for 2 years).
Philosophy Club: this year. Founder and President.
Marching Band: 6-10th grade. Quit to focus on academics.
Art Teacher's Assistant at Knoxville Museum of Art: summer 2011-2013
Same job at Children's Museum of Oak Ridge: summer 2009-2011
School Newspaper: staff writer. Designed the new masthead.
Miscellaneous design work for school theatre department, TSA, and Prom.</p>

<p>Got admitted to Governor's Schools for Visual Arts and Emerging Technologies this year. Wish I could attend both, but chose the latter
Enrolled in CMU's precollege for architecture last year (on a large, but not full, scholarship). Absolutely loved it, but I no longer plan on going into architecture.</p>

<p>Standardized Tests
ACT: 35
SAT: 2320 second try.
PSAT: 228. National Merit Semifinalist.
US Government-4.
Computer Science-2. Canceled the score.
US History - 5
English Language - 5
Calculus BC - 5
Art 2D - 3</p>

<p>School Transcript
GPA: 4.0 unweighted. 4.5-ish weighted
top 10% of class. we don't rank.
9TH GRADE
Honors Bio (A)
Honors English (A)
Honors Ancient History (A)
Honors Spanish 2 (B+)
Art 1 (A)
Band (2 semesters)(A)
Honors Algebra 2</p>

<p>10TH GRADE
Honors Chem (A)
Honors English (A)
AP US Gov (A)
Honors Spanish 3 (A-)
Lifetime Wellness (graduation requirement)
Painting (A)
Band (A)
AP CompSci (A)
Honors Precal (A)</p>

<p>11TH GRADE
AP Calculus (A)
Drawing (A)
Spanish 4 (A)
AP Lang (A)
AP US History (A)
Honors Physics (A)
AP Art (A)</p>

<p>12TH GRADE
AP Stats (currently A)
AP Physics (currently A)
AP Literature (currently A)
Journalism (A)</p>

<p>Concerns. Valid?
extracurriculars don't quite align with intended major
have great relationships with English/History teachers. Not so much with Math/Science teachers.
GSA might decrease chance of admission</p>

2

<p>You have a great chance at all of them, even UChicago (relative to the average UofC applicant). If anything, I think GSA increases your chances…shows you have compassion?</p>

3

<p>UTN: Safety (honors or not)
GA Tech: Match
U Chicago: Reach (pay attention to the prompts)
UNC: Reach (OOS makes it about as high a reach as U Chicago)
UVA: Match</p>

4

<p>Catria, when you say “Pay attention to the prompts”, do you mean the essay prompts?
I talked to a UChicago student who graduated from my high school. Her “why chicago” essay was a dialogue between her and dead UChicago alumni.
I’m afraid I’ll have to be more straightforward with mine.</p>

5

<p>UNC Chapel Hill: High match
UVA Charlottesville: Match
University of Chicago (a reach): reach
Georgia Tech: Low match</p>

<p>I don’t know enough of the rest to say much. Up north, GSA is something great to be involved in, so keep that in your Uchicago app for sure.</p>

<p>Good luck! Chance back per chance?
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1550070-looking-some-helpful-input-chance-me.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1550070-looking-some-helpful-input-chance-me.html&lt;/a&gt; (tufts, cornell ED, uconn, umiami, rice, etc)</p>

6

<p>UNC -CH is extremely hard OOS, so the odds are about like UChicago’s.
Georgia Tech is a match but unlikely to provide enough financial aid (unless your parents can pay whatever costs).
UVA is a match.
Chicago is a “wildcard” for everyone, that is, a reach with unpredictable odds since everyone is super qualified.
Will you need financial aid? Would your parents appreciate merit aid?
Look at Emory, Rhodes, Hendrix, Davidson, Vanderbilt.
Outside the South, look at the Midwest and the MidAtlantic regions, you’re likely to find good options that would provide you with merit aid, especially since you provide “geographical diversity” there (coming from the South).
Similar to UChicago for focus on intellectual pursuits, look into Reed, Carleton, Grinnell, Swarthmore, Pomona, plus the women’s colleges like Scripps, Wellesley, Bryn Mawr.
If you’re into science/Engineering, look into Olin.
GSA will actually increase your odds at these schools (especially if at your school, it shows guts.)
You’re a shoo-in for the Presidential Scholarship at U Alabama if you don’t qualify for Financial aid and would need merit.</p>

7

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1555571-chance-me-ill-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1555571-chance-me-ill-chance-back.html&lt;/a&gt; if you can :D</p>

<p>idk much about UTN but you’re probably good
Georgia Tech probably as well</p>

<p>UNC and UVA will be match-ish but to be honest, besides GSA i do not see anything spectacular in your ECs compared to Chicago applicants, besidse GSA. and i disagree with people above because while doing one activity doesn’t say much about you, even if it’s GSA. GSA itself doesnt increase ur chances, but if you are passionate about it, it can</p>