<p>Hi everyone, I'm new to CC, so it's nice to meet you all.</p>
<p>I will keep this post brief. I know it might be a bit hard to chance based on so little information, but I'm looking more for a sort of "yes, you should bother applying / no you shouldn't bother" type deal. I'm thinking about going into museum studies/art history/art business, something of that sort.</p>
<p>I'm currently a junior, and what I'm planning on is having a 3.9 GPA unweighted and at least a 5.2 GPA weighted midway through senior year. Unfortunately, it seems that a lot of ivies only go for perfect 4.0 GPAs. </p>
<p>Some more stats:
2320 SAT, 5s on all APs taken (AP Enviro, AP Art History, AP World History, AP Calc AB)
800 Chinese SAT II, 730 Math II
233 PSAT
Not really any notable ECs (it's hard to get in like 500+ volunteer hours when you go to a very challenging boarding school), but I did volunteer regularly for a local nonprofit and I plan on doing an internship this summer as well as some sort of arts/humanities program. </p>
<p>My dream schools are Columbia and Yale, but I'll most likely also be applying to Brown and Princeton. Harvard would be a definite crapshoot for me.</p>
<p>Thank you very much! I’m really nervous about my GPA, and so many people have a much higher SAT. My SAT was done in one sitting, but I’m thinking about superscoring to get a higher grade. Hopefully I can strengthen my ECs, since I do have quite a few leadership positions and I did start my own club.</p>
<p>ECs are where you lack, not GPA or SAT. Do something you’re passionate about, do it very well (as in, incredibly well) and write an essay about it. I think that would leave you with “decent” chances (if such a thing exists for HYP).</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply and encouragement! I’m just extremely nervous about not getting all As.
My ECs are somewhat limited, because I’m not really into the whole STEM scene what with Siemens and Intel and such. Would you have any recommendations for a humanities/arts based person? I’m trying for TASP but that’s really not all that likely.</p>
<p>Have you considered Smith College (if you are a girl–i’m not sure from your post)? It is excellent for art. And I think that University of Delaware has a world-renowned program in art restoration (very applicable to working in the top art museums). I don’t know if it is as strong in undergrad art studies as it is in grad studies, but you may want to look into it. From our visit to Williams I learned that Williams also has a very strong art department. You may want to consider some of these very strong, selective smaller schools if there art is stronger than a large Ivy. However, your grades and scores are fantastic for either!</p>
<p>Smith is awesome, it’s where I’m going for the fall, but it’s certainly not for everyone. If you’re a girl, check it out, you might end up loving it as much as I did. If your username’s from the bucket head I’m thinking of, I’m going to guess you’re not a girl, though XD </p>
<p>Your GPA and test scores are excellent, a 4.0 is not needed. You’re just lacking ECs, but you seem to be working on that. Try to find ECs you’re passionate about, that’s more important than having a bunch of them. Work hard on your essays and you’ll be in the running. Ivy admissions are crapshoots for anyone, but you’re certainly qualified.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! I’ll definitely take a look at Williams and Smith. And yes, I am a girl, haha! I love all these New England colleges. I’ll probably go college touring over spring break.</p>
<p>Thank you for all of the advice and suggestions!! They are really helpful!</p>
<p>I concur with everybody above. I can not and will not give “chances” (I am in no position to, considering I am just another high school applicant), but your objective stats are certainly within the range of Ivy League schools. I would advise against taking the SAT again – your scores are already completely good enough, and raising a 2320 to something marginally higher will not, in all reality, be a deciding factor in your admissions chances. Instead, take the time you would have spent studying for a retake on the SAT and invest it into pursuing some extracurricular activities you love. Look at it this way: every Ivy League has tens of thousands of applicants. About 90% of them are academically qualified. Thus, admission committees need to look at other factors, such as extracurricular activities, essays, teacher recs, ect., to differentiate the applicant pool and ultimately decide who to admit. All of this means that you should find something to separate you from the rest. Whatever EC’s you currently have, continue to pursue them and see if you can attain leadership positions within them.</p>
<p>Apply to any and every Ivy League you feel like you would fit in well at. They are almost all reaches for you – but they are basically reaches (or at the very least should be considered as such) for EVERY other applicant, too. And, ultimately, some people get in, and you might just be one of them.</p>
<p>If you write some killer essays, you have a very realistic shot. What would really help you is if you could find an EC that you’re passionate about. Numbers wise, you’re fine.</p>
Write a killer essay</p>