<p>Instead of one of those long posts with lists of extracurriculars and every standardized test ever administered, I'm going to post a general overview and hope that some of you kindly souls could tell me what schools you think could be good safeties, matches and reaches. Thanks so much in advance!</p>
<p>GRADES
4.0 unweighted
4.46 weighted this year; I don't know it cumulatively</p>
<p>ECs
Newspaper - hopefully Editor-in-Chief next year; editor since 10th grade; writer since 9th
Soccer - 4 year varsity, club soccer year round for...like 10 years
Volunteering: math tutoring, Obama campaign, Blood Bank, local library</p>
<p>ANYTHING ELSE
I skipped a grade in math, which is sort of good for a girl I think. No real hooks or anything, though. I think I'll be a National Merit Scholar. Ummm I think my teachers would write good recommendations. And I go to a very competitive public school in California.</p>
<p>Well that's me in a little nutshell. What do you think? What kind of schools seem appropriate? I already have schools I like, but would love to hear suggestions or new ideas.
(Note: preferably schools along coasts and not in the South)</p>
<p>Oh, well if that’s better I will. I just thought it’d be interesting to see what people would come up with without a list, but if that’s too hard here are some schools I like:</p>
<p>-Tufts- High Match/ Low Reach
-Brown- Reach
-Wesleyan- Match/ High Match
-Colgate- Match
-Amherst- Match/ High Match
-Yale- High Reach
-St. Andrews (Scotland)- I don’t know
-Cambridge- I honestly don’t know about it’s selectivity… although as one of the best univ’s in the world, i’d say High Reach
-UC Berkeley- In (In-State and amazing grades and SAT’s)</p>
<p>The only thing lacking in your resume is a major award/ clear passion or focus. So try and make one of your EC’s stand out in your essays.
Hope this helps!</p>
<p>How rigorous is your curriculum? Any AP/Honours/IB courses? Do you know your rank? Do you think you’re a good writer? What do you want to study?</p>
<p>Thanks so much for taking the time for little old me!</p>
<p>How rigorous is your curriculum?
Very. I go to one of the top public schools in the country and am one of the few students taking a full schedule.</p>
<p>Any AP/Honours/IB courses?
Currently in AP Calc AB and APUSH and will self study AP English Language. I’m in Honors Chemistry as well. That’s pretty much as many weighted classes as a junior can take at my school. Next year I’ll be taking 5 APs.</p>
<p>Do you know your rank?
We don’t rank, but I’d guess I’m in the top 5%.</p>
<p>Do you think you’re a good writer?
Writing is probably my strongest suit. I’ve had multiple teachers tell me I’m a good writer that so hopefully that’ll come through in my applications.</p>
<p>What do you want to study?
I’m trying to decide between History, Political Science, International Relations, International Economics. A combination thereof would be supreme.</p>
<p>Given your strong GPA, SAT score and writing skill, any school on your list is possible.</p>
<p>-Tufts - High match
-Brown - match
-Wesleyan - High match
-Colgate- High match
-Amherst - match/slight reach
-Yale - reach
-St. Andrews (Scotland)- I’ve heard conflicting opinions about St.Andrews… some say it’s a party school where people are just there spending daddy’s money, but some say they have top notch academics. So I’m not too sure what their standards are.
-Cambridge - I’m not sure if SAT matters when you apply to Cambridge. I know my cousin, who was a pretty good student (predicted 38 in IB), she applied and didn’t get in. She got perfect on her SAT biology subject test. British schools tend to have quite different standards, and AP may not be as valued. So I would assume it’s a reach.
-UC Berkeley - match</p>
<p>Honestly though, you have some great stats, and if you up the extracurricular - they look impressive, but not outstanding, you have a good chance at your reaches. 10 years of soccer is great, because it shows that you’re both well rounded and COMMITTED. It’s better to have 150 hours at one place, than 10 hours at 15 different places.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about other school’s international relations, but I know NYU’s international relations program is an interdisplinary major that combines political science, economics and region study (you get to study a region of your choice). They also have a program called Business and Political Economy, which is make up of courses in Economics, Politics, Social Impact, Liberal Arts and 8 electives that you can use on any classes. You also get to spend 3 semesters abroad (2 semester in London, 1 semester in Asia - this year it’s Shanghai). These type of programs seems perfect for you. You could look it up on NYU’s website or find other similar programs in your college of choice.</p>
<p>You have some good stats. Your scores are grades are good and you have some solid ECs. It seems like you’re really into writing. In that case, I’d apply to Northwestern and Columbia because they both have very good journalism programs. I have a friend with stats/ECs similar to yours, and she’s thinking about applying there. There’s Stanford which I believe has a good journalism program as well, but I could be mistaken. Anyway, any schools like the ones I listed would be good high matches and reaches for you. I’d also think about applying to a few safeties just in case. Good Luck</p>
<p>I forgot to mention- I’m very interested in studying abroad in the UK, if not just going to undergrad there. Do you know of US schools with good study abroad programs in England?</p>
<p>AU is a fantastic low match/safety. George Washington might be a good match, if you’re in to that sort of thing (er, being in the center of it all).</p>
<p>Some schools have exchange programs/direct enrollment programs, while others have their own campuses in London. I think one of the best UK study abroad programs is in Columbia. They offer numerous options in the UK, including Oxford, Cambridge, University College London and Imperial. Northwestern also have a direct enrollment program with UCL. I believe Tufts have study abroad options with UCL and Oxford. Brown also has a lot of study abroad options including Oxford, Cambridge, King’s College London, UCL etc. Most top research universities have study abroad options in the UK and if it’s a direct enrollment program, the quality between schools would be the same since your study abroad education wouldn’t be handled by the university itself. There’s only a difference in quality if the university has its own campus overseas. I have never really looked into study abroad options in LACs. Just go to each school’s website and type in study abroad and you should find its study abroad office and program information.</p>
<p>Edit: looking back at my previous post, I realized in my match post I put high match where I meant to put low match. My bad :o.</p>