IMSA Applicant Class of 2020

@lsutiger25 I don’t think easy classes would be logical as I am taking two APs and honors Precalc etc honors French 2 and so on . I guess the decisions were made based on the school’s requirement for the year

I have a question about taking all honors classes.

Can you put that in the awards section? I don’t have a lot of awards, but it seems like taking all honors classes in Freshman year ought to count for something!

I’m surprised there are so few people commenting on this 2020 thread. There seemed to be many more comments on the 2019 and 2018 thread.

Are there fewer applicants this year?

This is probably an odd question, but is there anyone who is applying or was accepted that doesn’t have outstanding awards/ ecs ? I’m most likely not going to apply, but I’m kinda curious about this.

Anyone else get Sat results today? I got a 640 in reading and a 750 in math. Hopefully I can bring up my reading score in January.

@XxSwegLordxX Got my first scores today too. 740 Reading, 660 Math. I’m almost the opposite of you, and am trying to up my math scores for the January date, hopefully by another 30-40 points. Anybody else got any scores?

Okay, so I was reading through IMSA’s reviews on Niche and Yelp and GreatSchools. In general, the more recent reviews say that the school is going downhill, and that it was a lot better a few years ago, but is slowly losing all the things that make it great. I was just wondering if any current students have anything to say about that.Thanks!

Hey guys! So I’m a white girl that’s going to be a sophomore next year and I’m really hoping that I get acceptated to IMSA! I go to St.Charles East which is like a hour away from Chicago
SATS
I’m taking it in Janruary but in school we took the PSAT 8/9 and I got 1390/1440
GRADES
I’ve gotten all As in middle school and hopefully this semester. I’m taking all honors and Ap Human Geography and Spanish 2
CLUBS ETC.
Im very serious about volleyball and I play at the vball club Sports Performance that is widely known for their committed players and prestigious program for 3 years
Also played school vball made jv as only freshman
Science Olympiad
Scholascitc bowl
Student council VP
Orchestra for 7 yrs.- played in a competitive orchestra in middle school (Pro Arte)
Polish school for 10 yes (where u learn about history and culture but you speak polish the whole time)
Volunteer time in various places
WEB Leaders (selective students that are the leaders of my middle school)
AWARDS/ACHIEVEMENTS
kinda lack in them…
Graduated Polish school and got deploma 4 years early
All As Honoral
Team Captain for vball
One a couple tournaments in vball
ESSAYS/TEACHER RECOMMENDATIONS
I think I’ll be fine with them
What do you guys think? Honest feedback! Also I’m interested in biomedical engineering

Also I’m in honors integrated Chem and Bio

@Alyssa8
You seem like you’re pretty accomplished and I envy your obvious aptitude for volleyball, but I’ll be honest, you are a little lacking in STEM related stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure any college would be happy to have you and you have a lot of great leadership positions, but you are applying to a science and math school, and really the only explicitly science and math thing you have on there is Science Olympiad. However, I don’t know much about your school, and if they don’t offer a ton of STEM stuff, the admissions people might be willing to cut you some slack. On the other hand, google maps says your school is only about half an hour from IMSA, and so the competition from your area will be very fierce. Honestly, it seems like you are banking on your good grades, but all A’s in honors classes is the norm for an IMSA applicant. However, I don’t really know the conversion for the PSAT8/9 to real SAT, so I would advise you to take a Khan Academy practice SAT and see what you get. You seem to have done very well on the PSAT, but it is a test designed for your grade level, so a better measure would be to take the practice SAT and see what you get on each section. Again, you seem like a really great human being in general, and if you do as well on your SAT as you did on your PSAT you have a shot, but in my opinion you need a lot more STEM stuff.

How to get into IMSA with a bad gpa + bad sat score from the chicagoland area while being Asian :-?

Basically, praying on waitlist acceptance

Hello,

I’m an asian freshman girl from Chicagoland applying this year. Just wondering if I am lacking in any of my academics, ecs, awards, etc. and if there are chances I could go to IMSA. I don’t believe anyone will apply from my school.

ACADEMICS
SATs - math is 760, English is 630
GPA - classes are all high honors, when unweighted is 3.6-ish…

ECs/AWARDS (not listing all awards though)

  • SciOly: 7th-8th; multiple medals at regionals/sectionals and a 4th place at state in 8th
  • MATHCOUNTs/math team: 5th-9th
  • Computer Science club 9th
  • FLL: 6th grade
  • FTC/Girl Scouts (my team is affiliated with gs): 8th-9th grade; went to state last year
  • cross country 8th-9th
  • orchestra 5th-9th (violin)
  • piano since I was 4; multiple local awards

Thanks!

@birdie02 Wow, you seem super well rounded with high SAT’s, so I would say you’ve got a really good shot. Your math is over a hundred points above the average acceptance score, so I would say you’re pretty safe there, and you’ve got a fair amount of STEM stuff with some sports, so that seems good. Basically, I would say make sure your teachers like you and spend time on your essays, and hopefully that will overcome your slightly challenged GPA.

@corrjayna Lol is it possible to get in with a 680 CR and 620 Math from the chicagoland area. hehe xd rawr

@lsutiger25
Possible? Yes. Probable? Maybe.
If your scores were flipped, that we be much better, but in general, if you’re really strong in all other areas, I would say you have a shot. Your CR score is strong enough, but math is a little low. The average CR score was 602 and 668 average math for ACCEPTED students of class of 2017 (which was on the old SAT), so if you’re looking for something to shoot for, those would be a good place to start. Source : https://www.imsa.edu/sites/default/files/upload/admissions_class_of_2017_presentation_0.pdf

I dunno, what are your EC’s and GPA like? Ethnicity?

@corrjayna My GPA is sorta not the best as well. In 7th grade, I did pretty crappy but then in 8th and 9th I got straight A’s or close to straight A’s. So, theres an upward curve I guess. Im counting on my ECs, Teacher Recs, and essays though because I think these items are my best qualities when compared to gpa and sat. I also heard that with IMSA usually people can get in with stellar gpa and sat but not as great other stats or vice versa. So do you think if I have pretty great ecs, recs, and essays but not as great gpa and sat I can still get in?

Is it just me or does it seem like there is less people applying this year when compared to previous years :>

@corrjayna Like @imsa2020, do you think I can get onto waitlist and then luck out and get accepted?

@lsutiger25 Well, there’s nothing you can do to bring up your GPA now, and it’s good that at least you brought it up a little bit, but some people say that at the very beginning, they weed out people based mostly on stats alone, and if that’s true, then you are at a huge disadvantage. However, as you said, it is possible to get in with really good everything else. I mean, it is possible for something in your essays to endear you to the admissions people, but it would really help if you had good stats to go with it. Best of luck, and if you can, you should try and take the January SAT and see if you can bring up your score.

Yeah, it does seem like either there are a lot less people this year, or fewer people are posting on this site. If there truly are less people this year, then that works well for us!

I mean, it all depends on so many different factors. What if there are 240 spots and 400 applicants? Those are pretty good odds. What if the new SAT is harder, and so previous years’ averages are much higher than what it will be this year? Then you might just be right where you need to be for SAT scores. Traditionally, 15-35 accepted people decline. What if this year that number is 45? Besides, just because you are a little lacking in stats doesn’t mean you won’t get accepted right off the bat. If you’re really strong in all other areas, and few people from your school are applying, than you have a fair shot.

I dunno, don’t put all your eggs in one basket, and make sure you have a plan for if you don’t get accepted (so pick good classes and stuff), but in my opinion (but what do I know), you aren’t out of the running yet.

Seriously though, how do we only have 12 pages on this thread? The 2019 one had at least 50 pages by this point. Maybe less people are applying, but at the preview day it seemed like there were so many. :-?