Hi, I am wondering if my current college list is balanced.
GPA: 4.4 weighted (cumulative). I’m not sure what my unweighted GPA is.
Course load: 3 honors freshman year, 4 honors sophomore year, 2 APs and 3.5 honors junior year (the .5 is due to an advanced class; my school offers regular classes, advanced classes, honors classes, and APs, and advanced classes are harder than reg classes but easier than honors classes), 2 APs and 2 honors senior year.
SAT: 2200 superscored (took it 4 times). 600 reading, 800 math, 800 writing, with 10 essay.
SAT II: 720 Biology E, will take Math Level 2 in Oct.
EC: To be honest, my ECs aren’t too impressive… I’m in a few clubs and I will be the secretary of a club next year though.
Volunteer Work: I think I have around 400+ hours so far. Not too sure though.
Rank: My school doesn’t give rankings, but I’m hoping I’m in the top 15% (my school is very competitive)
Awards: Highest Honor Roll
I’m an Asian female and my intended major is mathematics, or secondary math education.
So far, I’m planning on applying to Wellesley College, Vassar College, Boston College, NYU, Vanderbilt University, Washington University in St. Louis, Northeastern University, and The College of New Jersey (I’m from NJ).
If you would like to be in or near an urban area, then I would say your list is academically balanced and generally appropriate. However, there’s some chance you may only get into 4 or so of your current choices. Your final list should be partially determined by how disappointed you would be by this possibility.
I prefer being in a suburban area (rural is fine, though) that is still relatively close to an urban area. That’s why I’m a bit concerned about NYU and Vanderbilt, although I do believe that my preferences may change once I actually enroll.
Do you think that it is fair to say that my reach schools are Wash U, Vanderbilt, Wellesley, and Vassar, and that my match/safety schools are NYU, Boston College, TCNJ, and Northeastern? Are there any other colleges that would be good matches for me?
Yes, the way you grouped your schools is exactly how I grouped them. (Though you may prefer one of your “matches” to one of your “reaches,” or other permutations, though this is not exactly the point at this time.)
This online article could help you generate a few additional ideas: “The 25 Most Desirable Suburban Colleges” / Newsweek.
In terms of your current choices, WUStL is notably strong in math.
Hamilton is easy to recommend for math, simply because its percentage of math majors (10%) is high for colleges of any type. The school also matches your general profile.
What will be your most advanced math class pre-college, @misschoding?
You are a very impressive math student. You will be a good candidate for either a university or a LAC with a good math department. As you look through individual school’s course offerings, you should have a feeling of “yes, that’s for me.” If a school leaves you a little flat in this area, then better choices may be available.
@merc81 Thank you again! I’m still worried about my math skills, though. I feel as if my math scores/grades are high because I put in a lot of effort and study hard, but I’m not naturally gifted at math; things like the AMC and other math competitions are quite hard for me. Do you think I should be very concerned about this?
I think exactly the opposite! It’s your hard work that will redound to your benefit, not your gifts, which are relative anyway (and, not incidentally, demonstrably high).
Beyond this, think of your ability itself as being expandable, @misschoding.
I posted about the Putnam Competition recently, which is a collegiate math competition. The median score nationally for most years, out of a possible 120 points, is zero. So don’t feel alone at times of discouragement; you are bound to face many challenges when you place yourself in a rarefied world.
–What is your unweighted GPA? Best guess. (That’s an important score for admissions, so you might want to email your GC for the data, along with an approximate class rank.)
–What was the section breakdown of your four SAT exams? I’m curious about your CR scores and how they might look to admissions. You might be wise to add a few tech-oriented schools that have lower CR scores.
@Dunboyne I will ask my new GC about my rank when school reopens. I’m not sure if it will be available though, because my GC retired this June and I don’t know how things will work out with a new GC. My school doesn’t report unweighted GPA, but I’ll list my grades from junior year, if that’ll help.
Precalc Honors: A+
Chinese 4 Honors: A
Chemistry Honors: A-
US History Advanced: B+
AP Language and Comp: B+
Child Development: A+
AP Statistic: A-
Gym/ Health: A
Here are my SAT scores:
Feb 2015 (I signed up for the Jan test but it was moved to Feb): CR 580, M 700, W 800 (10 essay) --> total 2080
March 2015: CR 590, M 690, W 720 (10 essay) --> total 2000
May 2015: CR 600, M 720, W 670 (10 essay) --> total 1990
June 2015: CR 590, M 800, W 720 (10 essay) --> total 2110
I am actually really worried because my CR score is so low from the rest. I actually really studied hard for the SAT too, but unfortunately, my reading skills in general are not good. However, I am still a bit hopeful, because I am majoring in math, not English. What do you think are good matches for the tech-oriented schools?
Your u/w GPA will likely be fine for most schools, but query your GC about calculating it. Your super-score paints a different picture – with your 800 M and 800 W – than your averages of 2045 C and ~725 M. Noteworthy jump in M and decline in W. You show consistency with CR, even if on the low side, which is a positive.
I’m not sure about your current list at the moment. You might want to set a cap on 25th percentile CR. Vandy and WUSL are up there at 700+.
For tech schools, check out Rensselaer, Case Western (urban), Stevens Tech (urban). Carnegie Mellon (urban) would be a reach, but same idea with slightly lower CR scores. Look at U Rochester, too, which has solid math and is a good all-round science school. Don’t add any of these just because you’re worried about your CR, though. Research them thoroughly. You have to like them, after all, or you won’t attend.
–Are you positive that all of the schools on your list super-score the SAT? I know Wellesley and Vassar do. That would be a big consideration with your SAT profile.
–Have you ruled out Rutgers? Pretty good for math.
–What about finances? Have you run any Net Price Calculators? How much can you pay per year? What is your typical Expected Family Contribution? Each school on your list should be affordable.
If you can afford out-of-state costs, you could also consider a top public, where your EC’s wouldn’t be scrutinized as closely, plus many of them have excellent math. This is providing you’re ok with the larger size, which looks like a concern from your current list.
I also noticed the inconsistencies for writing and math, too. Honestly, the 800 on writing was very unexpected, as I had taken many practice tests and my highest was around a 750. For math, I usually scored in the 700s, and even got a 770 on the PSAT. Yes, I looked up all the 8 colleges I’m thinking of applying, and they all super-score, so I figured that the inconsistencies shouldn’t be too big of a problem. I’m not too sure anymore, though.
Yes, I am fully aware that Vandy and Wash U are high reaches, but I still wanted to apply to one or two reaches. I may apply to just Vandy though, because I like Vandy more than Wash U.
Thank you for the list of tech schools; they’re all great schools for math/science. However, I am also considering majoring in math and minoring in education, because ever since sophomore year, I have wanted to teach middle or high school math. So I’m not too interested in schools that don’t offer teaching certificates or education minors that lead to certification (Northeastern is an exception; it doesn’t have any undergrad for education, but I really like its co-op program)
I haven’t ruled out Rutgers; it’s in-state and it’s a good school, so I may end up applying. Do you mean public schools like UMich or UVa?
I haven’t used the Net Price Calculator yet, and even though I’m worried about financial aid, my parents told me to worry about it after I get accepted to colleges. @Dunboyne
“I’m not too interested in schools that don’t offer teaching certificates”
Elite – or “elite” – colleges seem to have, for whatever reason, for the most part collectively decided that teaching certification is best attained as a post-graduate. (They do, however, often offer a major in education studies.) If you adhere too closely to your stated criterion, you may inadvertently eliminate colleges that could otherwise be top choices for you.
First, you are doing great and have such a bright future!
Second, the comment “my parents told me to worry about it after I get accepted to colleges” is wrong-footed. Are they prepared to pay $63K+ per year, plus travel expenses, if you are admitted to Vandy? The last thing you want to do is to get admitted, and then have to turn down an acceptance due to finances.
If your family is blessed financially, and money truly is not an issue, then you can ignore my comment.
@merc81 Okay, thanks again. If you were me, would you get rid of Vandy/ Wash U and add CMU, RPI, Case Western, Stevens, and University of Rochester instead? Given my low reading scores, do you think that liberal arts schools would be hard for me, even if my math/ writing scores are good?
@ColdinMinny My family isn’t blessed financially, actually. A lot of private schools are expensive, though, so I don’t want to completely eliminate them from my list before applying. I understand what you mean though. Thank you
Yes, I meant public research unis, pending finances.
It’s better to worry about affordability now, as you construct your list. As @ColdinMinny suggested, it’s really unfortunate to discover that an acceptance is unaffordable. I can understand applying to a favorite school when all indications (via the NPC) are that the cost will either be affordable or very close to affordable, but it’s amazing how many families just wing it and hope for the best, with most of the list being a financial unknown. Going down that road might be far less work for the parents, but the student is left with a giant waste of application time and a huge heartache in April. Maybe your family is in solid financial shape, I hope so, but you’d do well to approach them on it and get them to spell out the details. I can tell you that if you ever required even $5,000 in merit aid, you’d be in trouble with your current list. You’re an excellent student, so don’t fall into that trap!
I think @Dunboyne suggested some very good schools for you. However, also as suggested, your having a strategic admissions advantage at these schools should not be a reason by itself to pursue them. As it stands, you are highly qualified for a range of schools and should not feel any need to make compromises (excepting the yet to be determined consideration of finances).
You should think about whether your education would be optimized by staying within your strengths throughout your college years. Colleges can ànd do teach, that’s why people go to them. If you go to the right college, you would leave very advanced in math, but you will also have learned to analyze, provide citations, and read, speak and generally think with clarity. (This is idealized, but represents the goal.) Beyond this, you would have the opportunity to pick up skills in subjects ranging from languages to studio art to geoscience. Your current reading score (which would be high at many colleges anyway) is just one element of where you are starting from; it is not a limit on where you will be in several years.
That said, I might replace Vandy with CMU, simply because CMU is amazing in math, and your chances of admission there would be greater than at Vandy. URochester, Case Western and RPI would be fine to excellent for you. RPI would be the most technically oriented of these schools, which really does not relate in any determinative way to the study of undergraduate math.
Regarding post #16, don’t add any school (let alone a handful) casually. Research. Visit if possible. If you’re adding a school simply because you have better odds, stats-wise, what happens to your essays? Your essays (and interview) end up being uninspired, and there goes any admissions advantage that you might have had.
