Is this list well balanced?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Schools:
Georgia Tech (legacy)
Elon
Wake Forest
Duke
UVA (in state)
University of Richmond
Boston College
Tufts
Fordham
Tulane
Vanderbilt
Yale</p>

<p>Stats:
Classes:
- 8th grade: Algebra 1 HN (A), Spanish 1 (A)
- Freshman year: World History 1 HN (A), Biology HN (B+), English 9 HN (A), Geometry HN (A-), Art (A), Gym (A), Spanish 2 (A)
- Sophomore year: AP World History (A), Chemistry HN (A-), English 10 HN (A), Algebra 2 HN (A-), Fashion Marketing (A), Gym (A), Spanish 3 (A-)
- Junior year (this year, the grades in paranthesis are my expected grades): AP US History (A), Physics HN (A), AP Lang (A), Precalc/Trig HN (A), SGA (A), AP Economics (A), Spanish 4 (B+)
- Senior year (classes I have signed up for): AP Comp Gov, AP Lit, AP Calc BC, AP Environmental Science, AP Spanish, SGA, Applied History (unique class to my school)
My weighted GPA is 4.29 and unweighted is 3.91. We don't do class ranks but I think I would probably be in at least the top 10% of my class.</p>

<p>ACT: 32 (I've taken the SAT, but my ACT is much better)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
-Girl Scouts since I was 5. I've earned my Bronze and Silver Awards and I am currently working on my Gold Award (making an educational booklet for Mount Vernon).
-Competitive Dance (think 15-20 hours a week, 6 days a week) since I was 4.
-I played field hockey in 9th and 10th grade but had to stop because of an ACL injury
-Math League 10th grade
-DECA 10th grade
-I joined Key Club, History Honor Society, National Honor Society, Student Government, and Model UN (I'm vice president) this year.
-I will be on Student Advisory Council next year (rep for my school's SGA in the county and with the school board)</p>

<p>Other:
-I won first place at the school, regional, and state level for National History Day
-I was a Girl Scout Congressional Aide last summer (a mini internship at a congressman's office)
-I went on a Girl Scout service trip to Costa Rica this summer</p>

<p>Recs:
- One is from my APUSH teacher who has known me since I was in 7th grade, I was very close friends with her daughter so she knows me on a personal level very well
- One is from my AP Lang teacher who has seen me grow as a writer. I'm one of her favorite students (has actually told her other classes about me), her recs are supposed to be phenomenal. </p>

<p>Essay:
- Either an essay about my trip to Costa Rica, my passion for dance, or a funny essay on hurting my ACL and all my trips to the doctors</p>

<p>I would ideally like to double major in Economics and International Relations in college. Thanks for any help! :)</p>

2

<p>FCPS?</p>

3

<p>Yeah!</p>

4

<p>The grades in parenthesis for junior year are the grades I got… I was copying this from one of my older threads an forget to take out that description </p>

5

<p>bump</p>

6

<p>I think you have really solid and well balanced credentials. Your grades and test scores are there and your extracurricular activities show some clear interest in economics and international relations (i.e. Model UN, Student Gov, Student Advisory Council). The only real advice I can give is to not goof up your senior year and write a personal, articulate essay. I’d say avoid talking about your Costa Rica trip (it can sound VERY generic to an admissions counselor) and if you are going to talk about your torn ACL, don’t try to be funny too hard as you can come off sounding obnoxious or just not that funny. Your best bet would be to talk about the passion for dance, maybe your commitment, love for the spotlight, something of that nature. Also, here is a bit more inaccurate, but more straight forward and usual “Chance Me” response:</p>

<p>Georgia Tech (legacy): safety
Elon: low match
Wake Forest: match
Duke: reach
UVA (in state): match
University of Richmond: high match
Boston College: high match
Tufts: low reach
Fordham: match
Tulane: match
Vanderbilt: low reach
Yale: reach</p>

<p>Good luck with your senior year and I hope you get into your top choice. I’m also a rising senior.</p>

7

<p>id actually say richmond is a low match for you! apply by the richmond scholars deadline of dec 1st. its full tuition if you get it. (Im an artist scholar class of 2018)</p>

8

<p>Dude how do you get on the student advisory committee in fcps lol I can’t find out</p>

9

<p>you get voted on (at my school you run for it just like sga). my friend was the school board rep last year and there have been several over the years from my school.</p>

10

<p>@afroninja26 You run and get voted in, at my school we do it at the same as SGA officer and class officer elections</p>

11

<p>Yes, do you have a safety school that you are sure to get a merit scholarship in or can 100% afford? If not, definitely add one onto the list.</p>

<p>Aside from that, is there any reason you are not considering the College of William and Mary? You should at least take a visit if you haven’t already. They are really strong in the two fields you specified: economics and international relations and it is fantastic that you are instate. They even have a center for international relations center on campus where undergrads can do research and a research journal of international studies, exclusively for undergrads to publish it. Definitely check it out. If you do a quick search of William and Mary and international relations you will find that many students have had amazing opportunities with IR at the undergrad level with W&M, and due to their small size and multiple opportunities open to students, have been able to do some pretty incredible things. Being instate is just another reason you should consider it, as you have great choices.</p>

12

<p>Fordham would be my financial safety, between the GI Bill and the Yellow Ribbon Program it would be completely paid for. I have looked at William and Mary, but I don’t think I could see myself there. Thank you for your suggestion though @shawnspencer</p>

13

<p>bump</p>

14

<p>I have to say that Vanderbilt is also a reach, and Yale an extreme reach. Vanderbilt is notorious for its emphasis on test scores, and yours are just at the 25th percentile there. Yale is a reach for everyone, and your versatile resume might just appeal to them. Otherwise, it appears to be a pretty balanced, realistic list.</p>

15

<p>Since you are OOS for GTech and they do not consider “legacy” as an important criteria for admission, I will consider GTech as a “Match”…definitely not a “Safety”. The “admit rate” has fallen from 55% to 33% in 2 years and the SAT/ACT scores for the mid 50% are in the same range of other elite publics - UVA, UMich and UCB.</p>

<p>This is the 2014 Freshman class profile for GTech.
<a href=“Blow the Whistle! (404 error: page not found) | Undergraduate Admission”>Blow the Whistle! (404 error: page not found) | Undergraduate Admission;

<p>For 2014 UCB
<a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/berkeley/freshman-profile/”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/campuses/berkeley/freshman-profile/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>For 2013 Univ of Richmond
<a href=“http://admissions.richmond.edu/studentprofile/academics.html”>http://admissions.richmond.edu/studentprofile/academics.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>It is better to check out the websites of your college choices as USNWR data is a little dated (2012-13).</p>

<p>Good luck !</p>

16

<p>@i012575 For GTech is not considering legacy new this year. I know for a fact that it was considered last year for admissions, and since I’m a girl would that factor in as well considering the gender balance is very skewed toward guys</p>

17

<p>@maymay5678‌ </p>

<p>GTech (and others) scales Academic and Non-academic selection factors into 4 categories - Very Imp, Imp, Considered, Not considered.</p>

<p>Examples (provided for GTech)
Very Imp - Rigor of secondary school record, GPA, ECs
Imp - Standardized test scores, App essay, State residency
Considered - Race/ethnicity, legacy
Not considered - Class rank, Interview, Religion</p>

<p>So though “legacy” is considered for selection, it is not as important as some of the other criteria.</p>

<p>As for whether being a girl helps in admission, I would say so but do not have any data to back it up. All I can say is my D2 has just joined as a freshman to study ChemE but her stats are anyway in the top 25 percentile of her joining class and we too are from OOS. Another gut feel, the non-Engg streams at GTech will not be as selective as the Engg. and Comp Science streams. If so, that will go in your favor as well.</p>