I'm new at this...Chance me, please!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey there! I'm starting to get really nervous about college...I feel like I'm applying to my colleges with a blindfold on. Can someone please tell me if I'm in good shape for these colleges? </p>

<p>Here are my stats:</p>

<p>GPA: UW: 95.5, W: 96.33<br>
Top 10% of my senior class
SAT: (First Attempt) - CR: 650 M: 630 W: 800 (2080)
(Second Attempt) - CR: 710 M: 600 W: 800 (2110)</p>

<p>Superscore: 2140</p>

<p>SAT2s: World History - 680<br>
US History - 770
Spanish (without listening) - 800
Math I - 610 (yuck)</p>

<p>Sex: Female
Race: Multiracial (50% Dominican, 50% German) I think I qualify as Hispanic, then? </p>

<p>Academics: All honors classes, 4 AP classes: AP World (5 on exam), AP US (5 on exam); currently taking AP US Government and Politics and AP Spanish Language. I will probably take AP Macro in the spring. Currently taking two college classes at a nearby community college. The only flaw on my schedule is Pre-Calc...I had the opportunity to skip from Trig to AP Calc, but I decided to stick with Pre-Calc instead. Good thing I did: the people who did skip find the class impossible.</p>

<p>Extracurricular Activities:
Spanish Club (member) - three years
Glamour Girls Club (member) - one year
Glee Club (member) - one term
9/11 Memorial Project (one of the committee heads) - one year
Beginning Band/Intermediate Band/Concert Band (Third Clarinet, First Clarinet) - four years
Jazz Ensemble (I taught myself the alto saxophone; currently second alto) - one year
The International Music Club (Founder/President) - one year</p>

<p>Community Service: 100 hours as an assistant secretary at a church rectory
100 hours of tutoring at a local private school
12 hours of working with senior citizens</p>

<p>Travels (If this counts for anything): Japan, Canada, Mexico, Holland, The Dominican Republic, Germany, France, Aruba, the Bahamas, Mexico </p>

<p>Awards: National Hispanic Recognition Scholar, Gold Medallion for Business (regional) - Hispanic Heritage Youth Awards, National Honor Society, NY Science Honor Society</p>

<p>Fluent in Spanish</p>

<p>Recommendations: All from excellent teachers who know me on a personal and academic level.</p>

<p>Essay: I'm still revising it, but I think it's pretty solid. </p>

<p>Here is my list of colleges:</p>

<p>Babson College
Binghamton University
Dartmouth College
Fordham University
Harvard College
NYU Stern (I know that my SAT math isn't great, but I have a rather high math transcript average)
UNC - Chapel Hill
University of Pennsylvania (Huntsman Program, or the College of Arts and Sciences if all fails)
University of Virginia
Washington and Lee University
Penn State Smeal</p>

<p>Also, what are my chances of financial aid? My mother is a single parent who earns below $60,000, though above $55,000. My sister and I will be attending college at the same time, which means double the tuition. </p>

<p>Thanks in advance for any advice/opinions!</p>

2

<p>You have a nice list of schools. Some reaches, some targets, and some that are probably safety.</p>

<p>The Ivy’s and maybe Stern may be a reach, given your SAT math. However, if you qualify an URM (I’m assuming you will), I wouldn’t rule out any of these schools per se.</p>

<p>Others, probably begin to look like matches and safeties.</p>

<p>At the end of the day you should go to a really great school.</p>

<p>I would search for the Financial Aid calculators. I think there’s one on the College Board Site, My guess is with your Mother’s income and two kids in college, that you should qualify for significant financial aid at most places.</p>

3

<p>Thanks so much! I feel a little bit more confident about my list now.</p>

<p>What if I replace Washington and Lee University with Georgetown University? My teacher suggested that I add Georgetown because of my interest in Government. The only problem is: adding Georgetown would be just adding another reach to my list. I don’t want to get so many rejection letters in one month, haha.</p>