<p>My current SAT superscore is (CR: 650, W: 720, M: 760) and I'm planning on taking SAT II french, math II and literature.
I think I will get +750 for math and french.</p>
<p>I'm an IB student and my cumulative GPA is 3.56, current senior GPA: 3.64.
My essay is not bad, many teachers said its good but I think it is not great.
Recommendation letters are good; they are unique and tell about me (according to the counselor)
My ECs are good compared to students in my school. A lot of leadership, service, and sports</p>
<p>I've currently applied to some universities, mostly safe and meet schools for early action (Kalamazoo, Dickinson, Tulane). I applied to one reach school for early decision. And I'm planning on studying Economics. Also, I need some financial aid.</p>
<p>Today, one of Princeton alumni visited our school and said SAT scores are not everything. I did some search and found out that there are students who got into schools even though their SAT scores are below the school's average.</p>
<p>So I was wondering if I could apply to colleges that have CR: 720 as their minimum average such as Brown, UPenn, Williams, Pomona, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, Amherst, and so on.</p>
<p>Do I have a chance?
Also, could you recommend me some schools I might want to consider?</p>
<p>What on earth is a ‘minimum average’? Top schools do not have cutoffs: 720 is a cutoff for getting into these schools. More importantly, for top schools, SAT scores can break an application, but can’t make it. So if you don’t get into Princeton, it’s probably not because of your test scores; your test scores are fine. Indeed, the competition at these schools is so high that grades and test scores only scratch the surface. You need something ‘exceptional’ to get in.</p>
<p>Princeton would be a pretty high reach, and probably not worth applying to. If you want to add some more schools, I think you would be better off picking schools that are not quite that selective and are more realistic reaches. There are a lot of great schools that are in-between Princeton/Penn/Amherst and Kalmazoo/Dickinson/Tulane in selectivity. Look for schools that are good for financial aid for internationals, such as University of Richmond, </p>
<p>Are you male or female? If female, consider some of the women’s colleges. If male, consider some of the coed former women’s colleges who are trying to keep their male/female ratios not too skewed, such as Vassar. </p>