<p>Hey, y'all! Please let me know how attainable my goal of attending one of these colleges is and help me narrow down my list!
Background: I'm a half Asian, half white girl from North Carolina. Income is upper middle class. </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.
2 honors 5 regular (most rigorous schedule for freshmen at my school) All As
4 honors 3 regular All As
3 APs and 4 honors junior year
4 APs and 3 honors senior year and I have all As right now!
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 where waste my youth by spending every waking hour studying at my desk. 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. 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 took it in October after getting tutoring for math and scores should improve.
SAT II: US History 770. Will probably take English and Spanish in November.
ACT: Im taking it in October
APs: US History 5, Government & Politics 5, Environmental Science 4
Counselor letter: I think it will be very strong
Recommendations: 3 from teachers I know very well; they will be glowing!
Essays: I have a unique essay that I think will accurately portray me as a person and a student.</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.
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.
Won Best in Show for school writing competition, got superlative Most Likely to Have a Future in Show Business, won photography and poetry contests</p>
<p>Anyway, the colleges on my list right now are:
Reaches: Vanderbilt, Tufts, Georgetown, Brown
Matches: Emory, Wesleyan, UNC Chapel Hill, NYU, USC, George Washington, Oberlin, Brandeis, U of Rochester, Case Western, Tulane
Safeties: American, Lawrence, UNC Asheville</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! 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. I'd love to be surrounded by a well rounded student body whose minds aren't confined by conventional thought.</p>
<p>What do you guys think of my chances for the schools I have listed and which schools should I remove from my far-too-long list?
Thanks so much!</p>