<p>Hey, y'all! Please let me know how attainable my goal of attending one of these colleges is with my achievements and areas in which I could improve.
Background: I'm a half Asian, half white girl from North Carolina. Income is upper middle class. My parents hesitantly say that the most we can afford per year is $25,000 with financial aid and scholarships in place, but this is probably flexible.</p>
<p>School: I attend the #1 public high school in NC, #88 public HS in the nation.
GPA: 3.81 UW, 4.54 W
I had all As freshman and sophomore year with a hefty amount of honors. I took 3 APs and 4 honors junior year and ended up with 4 As, 2 Bs, and 1 C (gulp). Im taking 4 APs, 3 honors in the coming year and Im going to work hard and not give into senior slack!
Class rank: 107/388 (My school has a very competitive environment where people cram as many APs in as they can and often become stressed to the point where my school is rife with cheating. I have chosen to take another route where I am intellectually stimulated, but not stressed to the point of not enjoying my youth, and I also spend a huge amount of my time in extracurriculars where I practice hands-on learning. I believe this reflects why my class rank isnt higher. I think my school bases this on weighted GPA and it comes down to a matter of .01 points.)
SAT: 2040 first sitting without preparation. 660 CR, 640 M, 740 W. I plan on taking it again and will focus on raising my math and reading scores especially.
SAT II: US History 770, I will probably take English and Spanish in the fall.
ACT: Im taking it this fall!
APs: US History 5
Government & Politics 5
Environmental Science 4
I hope to have slightly over 100 service hours by graduation.
Counselor letter: Should be good
Recommendations: Will be glowing!
Essays: Im working on them; I hope theyll be in excellent shape come application deadlines.</p>
<p>Extracurriculars:
4 year participant in YMCA Youth & Government. Bill passed all the way to the Governor 9th grade, senator 10th & 11th, elected to be Speaker of the House 12th grade.
Chosen to attend Conference on National Affairs to represent NC for 3 years. Proposal passed to 2nd committee.
Attended Model UN for 4 years. Awarded Model Speaker, chosen to be a committee chair and later served as secretariat.
Selected to attend Girls State and appointed as City Attorney, passed several bills.
2 year Co-President of my school's auditioned a cappella group; 4 yr member
2 year member of school's all female auditioned choir, 2 year member of school's mixed auditioned choir. Hope to be co-president this year! Chorus has won many competitions with Superior rating and traveled to Busch Gardens, New Orleans, and will go to New York at Carnegie Hall.
I have been in 9 plays and musicals over the years and countless concerts and recitals.
Have been taking voice lessons 3 years and have attended various choral music camps.
Accepted into and attended NC Governor's School for choral music.
Youth representative on my church council, counselor at Vacation Bible School, attended 5 years attended Baptist Youth Camp.
Member of Youth Leadership Institute, a school service and leadership group.
National Honor Society for 2 years.
Spanish Honor Society for 1 year.
Went to Nicaragua with my school to serve community and experience Spanish immersion. Will go to Spain on similar excursion in the spring.
Won Best in Show for school writing competition, got superlative Most Likely to Have a Future in Show Business</p>
<p>Anyway, the colleges to which I'm applying and how I think my chances are:
Vanderbilt (reach)
Emory (high match)
U of Rochester (match)
UNC Chapel Hill (match)</p>
<p>As of now, I'm interested in a medium sized university with a liberal arts feel. I am open to LACs but dont know of many and I dont want to go to a school with a miniscule student body. I am very interested in political science, history, and Spanish, and a strong vocal music program is vital. I will most likely want to major or minor in one of these fields, so basically some place with a great social science program and a focus on the arts. Geography is not an issue, except staying in the continental US! Sports and greek life arent important to me, and it would be nice to go somewhere where that isnt the dominant part of social life. It is best for my family to pay about $25,000/year but not a dealbreaker if its over. I would like co-ed, and public or private doesnt matter. I want a supportive, non-cutthroat environment, and someplace that is academically rigorous yet values the arts and knows that there is life beyond a letter grade.</p>
<p>What do yall think about my selections and my chances? Are there are any suggestions for safeties for me or any colleges you think I should consider? Sorry for the super long list and details!
I'm very open to anything really; I'd love advice on any and all things college related. Thanks for reading and for your input in advance!</p>