Demographics
US citizen
New Jersey resident
Private, college-prep New England boarding school
Black/African & Caribbean American
Intended Major(s)
Economics or Computer Science (minor) if I’m feeling bold and complete a FreeCodeCamp cert lol
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Weighted HS GPA (School only shows weighted): 96/100
Class Rank: School does not rank
ACT/SAT Scores: Test optional
Coursework
10th grade: AP Euro History, AP US Gov Pol
(boarding school has no APs; honors listed below are almost equivalent)
11th grade: Honors Comp Gov, Honors English Lang
12th grade: Honors Calculus (AP Calc AB), Honors Economics, Honors Senior English (AP Lit), Honors Francophone Studies (AP French)
Awards
College Board PSAT National African-American Recognition
School award for just being a decent person and leader tbh
UChicago Summer Scholarship enrichment program
Extracurriculars
(Not in order of importance; the only ones I’m putting on Common App)
Global Affairs Magazine Editor-in-Chief
School President
Summer job @ smoothie bar
Political Awareness Club (& econ club (?) co-president
Amnesty International VP & UNICEF branch board member
Candidate for the school’s local & international service diploma program
DEI & mental/physical/sexual health teacher to 9th & 10th graders
Community Service Board member (appointed; 12 other students)
Dorm monitor (facilitate study halls for younger students; be a friend)
Captain of two JV teams lol
Essays/LORs/Other
I would venture to say they’re all strong!
Cost Constraints / Budget
Can pay about 1/4 of tuition; applying to scholarships
Schools
(According to counselor)
Safety: American University, Howard
Likely: UVA
Match: UChicago (ED)*, Northeastern (EA), Boston University, Wesleyan
Reach: Yale, Harvard, Emory, NYU, Brown (ED), UPenn, Princeton, Northwestern, Columbia
The UChicago summer scholarship program (about 20 students in mine) has an earlier ED window (August-September) just for us to apply; gives us an admissions advantage, and is the only reason why I put it as a match. If I don’t get in, I can still ED to Brown later.
It’s interesting to me you show UVA is a safety but Howard a likely.
I think it’s best you talk to your counselor. It seems your matches are reaches but you are a phenomenal candidate and you are a URM, etc - so the sky is the limit.
AU does not guarantee to meet need so not sure if you can get to your price point. You should run the net price calculator.
Why TO? I ask because you got PSAT recognition.
You might add Rutgers or a NJ state school as a safety you can afford.
One other note - you can afford to pay 25% of the tuition. But to these schools agree? Have you run their net price calculator to assure they will meet your budget.
Hopefully you’ve got great counseling at the boarding school but you certainly have a wonderful profile.
Thank you so much for your reply. You’re right about some of the schools being a bit mixed up; I started the list just by putting the schools down, and then organizing, but forgot to change some.
I’m applying TO because the SAT absolutely demolished me, but I plan to take it again with some more studying soon!
In theory this is true - but you can know what it is up front - so you don’t waste time applying to the wrong schools.
Google the school + net price calculator and have your parents answer the questions.
If Chicago is going to be $90K a year and you can only afford $20K, there’s no reason to do the essays and apply when you can put your efforts into schools that will work for you.
So really - you should do that before you have a list - for each school, have your parents determine whether these schools are affordable - especially those that have no merit aid - Wesleyan, Yale, Harvard, Brown, Princeton, Northwestern, Columbia.
Does your school have a relationship with UVA? Is that how you know it is a likely? For example, when my daughter was in HS UVA had a history of always accepting the top 2 students who applied (assuming they had the grades and test scores).
I feel that your match schools are reaches, but the only person who would know is the counselor at your boarding school. Talk to them, we do not know your school’s history.
I would use the NPC in order to determine if these schools seem affordable. Right now you don’t know if they are. Yes, you can appeal a FA decision, but you would need new, additional information to show financial need (as determined by the school). Giving them the same numbers again will not work. FA is based on what the school determines you can pay, not on what you think you can pay.
You mentioned that you will be applying for scholarships. Do you have any in mind that will pay 3/4 of the cost?
I would talk to your school counselor about this list. They would know best.
Congratulations on your accomplishments! You are a very impressive student.
I agree a good chunk of what you are paying for with your type of HS is excellent college counseling, so definitely use them!
I also agree it makes sense to investigate estimated costs before EDing anywhere.
The only additional note I would give you is 9 reaches seems like a lot to me, and I would wonder if you can really give all those applications the care they would deserve. I personally think it would make sense to really reflect on which of those schools seems like the best fit for you, and in doing that you could look at their admissions pages, specifically their “what are we looking for” page (or equivalent), and see which of those colleges most seems to be looking for someone like you.
I would definitely talk with the college counselors at your school. Additionally, have your family run the Net Price Calculators at each of them. Once you know which schools will be affordable, come back and let us know. If additional suggestions are needed to help meet budget, the board will then have a better idea of possibilities for you.
The on,y rub with the net price calculators…they are currently set for students starting fall 2023 and that is not this student. With the changes with the FAFSA starting for the 2024-2025 academic year, there isn’t a set date when these calculators will be accurate for students starting in fall 2024.
You can run the net price calculators and get an estimate…but that is what it will be…an estimate.
I think your list is a bit optimistic, but you are attending a good private prep school, and the counselors there usually have a decent pulse on acceptances for students from their school.
For American University, you will need to show significant interest in the school…or it’s not a safety.
I would look at the Naviance at your school to see where u really are. The Black/ race hook obviously wont be as potent this year as before, and your application is weak. Your 96 GPA is weighted not UW and no test scores.
I vehemently disagree. OP has a job, is school president, has leadership in sports, has school-appointed leadership positions (so respected/liked by both students and school adults), and has an “A” GPA at a private boarding school (which is quite likely to be an extremely academically rigorous institution).
It might be fair to say that there are likely to be stronger applications on paper to many of OP’s match/reach schools (which are all reach schools). But to say that OP’s application is weak is definitely a miscategorization. Posters should also remember that OP is a teenager and should think about how they would address their own teenagers.
You have a good high school record - congratulations. Since you are at a private school, your school GC will have the best sense of your chances at each of these schools (on paper most would be reaches). In terms of ED, you will not be able to ED to Brown unless you have gotten a decision from Chicago prior to November 1. Even if your cohort is allowed to apply earlier than normal, unless they give a decision much earlier than normal, you won’t be able to ED to another school (although ED2 would still be in play). Before making any decisions, however, find out what the NPC’s say for each school so you know if they will be affordable for your family. While you won’t be locked into an ED school that you can’t afford, why waste that opportunity if the finances won’t work - you’d be better off ED’ing to a school that fits into your budget (or not applying ED at all).
