I’m a junior now and I’m planning to apply to merit-aid-friendly colleges next fall.
Could you determine how difficult it will be for me to get a full merit ride or substantial merit awards at colleges like Northeastern U, Boston U, Emory U, UNC Chapel Hill, Davidson, Tulane, U Richmond, and maybe Boston College, please? Merit reaches (or out-of-reaches…) are U Chicago, Duke, Vandy, Wash U St. Louis, I guess. I’m mostly sticking to the east coast (I’m from FL). Comments welcome.
Stats:
UW - 4
W - not getting into this (my school measures it strangely), but it’ll essentially be maxed out by senior year
Rank: #1 / appx. 200 at a competitive private school
Ethnicity: Latino
SAT: 1490/1600 (retaking soon)
PSAT: 1470/1520 (pretty sure this qualifies me for NMSQT semi-finalist in FL – I checked my index and it’s much higher than last year’s cut-off)
Not taking the ACT
Subject Tests: 770 US History (waiting on some more scores; took literature Jan 21, 2017, may take physics soon)
AP: 5 US History; taking the Calc AB and Lang tests this year (not taking more because I’m in IB)
IB: English (love it), Physics (cool), Math (v cool), and History (it’s fantastic) at HL; Chinese B and Anthropology (great course) at SL
ECs: 4-8 hr/week tutoring job (paid); many orchestra activities (like Solo and Ensemble at district and state levels, etc.); going to intern at a history museum this summer; tutoring for a club I co-founded; lots of poetry writing (I enter writing competitions a lot; I’ve gotten the Scholastic Gold Key and Silver Key awards in ninth and tenth grade, respectively – entered again this year); history bee competitions (I won second place at a regional tournament; going to nationals soon); lots of random community service activities (e.g., volunteer work at a bookstore last summer for two weeks, club work, violin activities); work in diversity and social justice programs (I participated in the 2016 SDLC in Atlanta and I participate in the Sustained Dialogue chapter at my high school)
I’m heavily involved in the school orchestra and in solo and quartet performances.
In the Chinese Honor Society, Math Honor Society, National Honor Society in school; I’ve won top ten awards both freshman and sophomore year; best literature student award two years in a row; best chemistry student sophomore year; Kiwanis Int’l Award recipient; Superiors on three violin solos and three string quartets; first violin in my school orchestra sophomore, junior years (will be concert master next year); etc.
Thanks! Please be critical.