my chances at UVa and other schools

<hr>

<p>I am currently a Junior at a Catholic high school in Pennsylvania. I am white and i no that doesnt help. </p>

<p>Grades
SAT's- 2190 750(M) 730(R) 710(W)
GPA- 3.83 unweighted dont know weighted
Rank 60 out of 381
SATII - taking MATH 1 and 2, U.S. History , Physics, Biology, and Literature
Have taken 3 AP's and plan to take 4 next year
HAvent taken anything but Honors and AP courses</p>

<p>school doesnt give enough credit towards rank for taking ap or all honors courses so there is kids with 1 or 2 honors and the rest second track ahead of me </p>

<p>Extra Curricular
4 years of Mock Trial
4 years of Community Service/ Class President
2 years of Mathletes
4 years of Varsity Ice Hockey
3 years MVP
4 years of Regional Select Baseball
3 years on Regional Select Ice Hockey
1 year of National Select Ice hockey
2 years of Spanish Club
3 years of Varsity Track
Winner of 400, 200, and 800 for 3 years
3 years of Guitar
Recipient of Religous Valor Award
NHR
NHS
2 years of Student Council
Student Body Representative/President
4 years of Working as Manager around 25-40 hours a week</p>

<p>Service Work
200+ hours a year volunteering at local Nursing Home
4 years of volunteering at Special Olympics
3 years of volunteering at Local Government
Shadowed Doctors at Local hospital
Shadowed Local Politicians during Campaign Season
Work at Inner-City Soup Kitchens during Christmas Break</p>

<p>I am worried because of the way my school does class rank that my rank is too low for most colleges but if anyone could tell me my chances or suggest any other schools to consider that would be great</p>

<p>My list of colleges
1. UVA(have alumni letters that are amazing, hope that will help OOS)
2. Cornell
3. Georgetown
4. Hopkins
5. PSU
6. Wake Forest
7. Boston Unveristy
8. Boston College
9. American University
10. Fordham
11. Maryland
12. Lehigh</p>

<p>Well you have a lot of EC's. Sometimes when a person lists too many, it sort of defeats the purpose. I felt that way when I read what you wrote. Too much fluff. "3 years guitar"??--That's not gonna take you very far. And your "shadowing" of professionals is not something that I would put on a college application.<br>
Your class rank, in my opinion, is not in the competitive range for OOS UVA students that are accepted. GPA is good, but there are tons of kids with similar stats. Alumni letters may be good, but it sounds like you begged a good friend to write a letter; if so, they can see through that quickly. Just because an alum wrote the letter, doors will not swing open. In fact, some might argue that the doors may shut. Big schools don't like it when people try to get away with favors of sort. (Not sure that is your situation, so please forgive if I am out of line).
I'm not seeing a special "hook" in this situation. You seem like a fine student, but nothing is grabbing me to say "yes, you are in for sure".
Get rid of the fluff, and concentrate on who you really are. Essays are very important in the UVA process--perhaps that is where you will sparkle!!
Best of luck. I am brutally answering your question. I'm not trying to be ugly, just honest.</p>

<p>actually i really appreciate your brutal honestly i wont be applying and puttin some of those things on my transcript aka guitar and shadowin i just was typing and mentioned them </p>

<p>one of my hooks that i didnt mention could be the volunteering stuff or that i can speak AMerican Sign (if they care)</p>

<p>and the alumni letters are from good friends but they wanted to write them for me since its their "school"</p>

<p>I hope they will help show my personality/ character</p>

<p>And UVA is my dream school so i hope they dont shut the door</p>

<p>Sorry, forgot to say, you have some fairly nice SAT's, and you are only a junior!
That's good! Best of luck</p>

<p>Well, as long as I'm being honest.....The UVA alum letters, I personally think is a bad thing. UVA asks for one teacher rec., and then they say you can add another one if you want to, and even more. But, by their wording I don't think it is a good idea to pile on the recommendations--particularly from family friends. UVA is smart, and they don't want to be annoyed by family friend's sweet talk.<br>
I suggest you have 2 of your best teachers write about you as a student. Are you inquisitive, eager, fun, engaging, special? That is what UVA wants to hear, or at least I suspect.</p>

<p>thanks and im going for an interview there soon so hopefully that will help</p>

<p>For what it is worth, make sure the alum letters are from people who really know you - not just acquantainces of your parents. You have plenty of time for them to carefully craft a letter that shows their knowledge of you and your character. Remember they don't really want to read through a ton of recs, so choose wisely and only use a few.</p>

<p>I thought your ecs were great, except for the fluff like guitar, really show nice diversity of school, work, and athletics. If you really love UVA, why not apply ED?</p>

<p>UVA no longer has ED-not an option. And, they don't interview, well as far as I know.
Something ain't right, "interview soon", in your junior year?? What???
Maybe if you are an extreme VIP, they might be meeting with you, but otherwise, I'm shaking my head right now saying that something just ain't right.</p>

<p>no ed :( and they dont require interview but they still offer it</p>

<p>I forgot about the no ED - and I agree, they don't do "interviews". Although my son interviewed with an alum director (legacy) who really broke down the admissions process for us. She stresses no extra letters/recs unless it was really personal and outstanding or was from a family alum.</p>

<p>ok thanks its probably something i would find out at the interview</p>

<p>1480 out of 1600, studentbody president, 4 years varsity ice hockey,all AP and honors courses and still 3.83 GPA unweighted , and some great ECs . It would be hard to find a school that doesn't want you! What do you plan to study? Will you continue with ice hockey if available? Or continue with any other sport or EC? May not be of interest to you,but all of the service academies would love for you to attend their Summer Leaders Seminars if you are seriously curious about West Point, Annapolis or the Air Force Academy. The Coast Guard Academy also offers a Summer Leaders Seminar (Coast Guard is the only school I know of that requires a course in Followership).</p>

<p>illl continue doing the whole student government part and yes i will continue playing ice hockey either for school or at least recreational..... It's how i relax and its my home</p>

<p>I plan to major in political science with a minor in phsychology</p>

<p>and its a 3.83 unweighted just for the record :) and in response to powder puff earlier bout my interview its a general thing and i have one with the hockey coach sorry i was vague earlier</p>

<p>The only school of the twelve listed by you that may not be a match is Lehigh as I am not sure as to the availability and quality of poly sci. and psyc. courses of study.</p>

<p>Well now, "interview with the hockey coach,"--that's a horse of a different color!! (to quote the Wizard of Oz).
GPA of 3.83 is good, maybe great. But schools grade on such different systems, that rank is very important. Don't worry though, as said before, UVA is not dumb. They will look at how your school works, you know, weighted, not weighted, etc. , they've seen it all.
You've got a shot!</p>

<p>thanks and i love the wizard of oz quote :)</p>

<p>For a junior your stats are fantastic, your grades and course load are comparable. EC's excellent. You're not an olympic ahtlete or Intel winner but with your academic credentials you don't need to be. I agree with Garrity you're a great candidate anywhere. I'm curious about why UVA is your dream school. Don't get me wrong it's a great school and very strong in political science but so are lots of other places. What draws you there?</p>

<p>my rank is not good im too focused on that and uva is just some place i could see myself enjoy and i love the campus also i dont want to go to far from home (UVA is 5 hours) and i just love everything bout UVA </p>

<p>My motto is to go somewhere where you will be happy b/c then ull succeed</p>

<p>Logical. Georgetown obviously works for you too, even a bit closer. Maryland, clearly a safety for you even as an OOS, has an honors program with separate housing for honors students that you should look into if you decide to apply there. Hopkins while also a great school and reasonably close to you has a reputation of being best for graduate rather than undergraduate study.</p>