My chances of getting into Ivy League schools

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm a high school junior ranked in the top 5% of my class (16 out of 364, but there's a lot of grade inflation in my school and AP classes aren't weighed more than other classes - also, I expect this to go up to around the top 10 when I graduate). My GPA is 4.1 on a 4.33 scale, but that converts oddly to a 4.0 scale. Out of my 45 grades so far, 5 of them have been A-'s and the rest A's or A+'s. So probably around a 3.95 or something.</p>

<p>I have a history of being involved extracurricularly - I'm an executive staff member at our high school radio station, I'm involved in a leadership position in our mock trial club, our Rube Goldberg/physics club, our forensics club, and I'm the editor of our school newspaper. I received a 35 on the ACT (though only an 8/12 on the writing portion) and a 6.0/6.0 on our district's writing sample (basically, you write a timed essay prompt and it's graded by college professors, so about the same thing as the ACT essay). I've also had articles published in several local newspapers, if that's of any relevance. In addition, I have over 200 hours of community service and I've had a job during school (in my junior year and will continue to senior year). </p>

<p>In terms of classes, I'll have taken four AP classes when I graduate, but my high school only offers five. One of those classes, AP US Politics and Government, was completely independent of any teacher and I received a 5 on the AP test. Senior year, I'll be taking AP Calculus, Physics, and English. My school doesn't offer honors classes but we have this wonky "level" system. I suppose a "level 4" class is considered the same as honors, and I've taken many of those, but I'm not sure if it converts to any meaningful result.</p>

<p>I'm planning on studying political science and law. I prefer colleges in big cities or near big cities, but the size of the college itself is not too important to me. My college list is as follows, in order of preference:
1. Harvard University
2. Columbia University
3. Brown University
4. Amherst College
5. University of Chicago
6. Northwestern University
7. New York University (safety)
8. University of Wisconsin - Madison (safety)</p>

<p>FYI, I'm from Wisconsin, so Madison is always my final option (I would still love to go there if I was rejected from everywhere else) and Chicago/Northwestern are geographically convenient for me.</p>

<p>Do you think I have any chance of getting into any of my top schools? If not, then what can I do to improve my chances? Also, are there any other schools that would sound appropriate for my based on my tastes?</p>

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<p>for west coast schools (not sure if you’re looking into them), usc, ucla, uc berkeley, and stanford sound like they might fit your preferences.</p>

<p>it sounds like you’d have a chance at the ivies, but no one can accurately chance for them since you never really know what they’re looking for in certain applicants, exactly. i say that if you have a passion for one of your ec’s (maybe journalism, cuz it sounds like you might), you should try to emphasize that. i think they really like to see a focused passion in something. good luck!</p>

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<p>I don’t know how to ask this without sounding like a bad person, but it is relevent, given the priorities among the ivy Adcomms . . . what is your ethnicity? Are you what they refer to as a “under represented minority?” It makes a difference to the Ivy’s (among others).</p>

<p>If you are a recruited athlete, legacy or an URM (African-American, Hispanic or Native-American) you have a better shot that if you are white or Asian.</p>

<p>You sound like the type of student everybody would love to have on their campus, but the Ivy Adcomms are not made up of everybody.</p>

<p>there is a lot more to you and, therefore, your application than your ethnic background, but if you want folks on CC is answer your question (not that anybody really can), you are missing a little information.</p>

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<p>lol ur kinda cocky. You will probably get into ur two safeties but that is it. Take the SAT</p>

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<p>Reach - Harvard, Columbia, Brown, Amherst
Match - University of Chicago, Northwestern, NYU
Safety - University of Wisconsin - Madison</p>

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<p>Towards feinyNY, I don’t see that. I’m merely describing my credentials; I understand that in the scope of the national academic scene I’m not particularly remarkable and that there’s probably thousands of students with better credentials than I have (actually, there’s fifteen people in my school alone who have a better GPA than I). I was just trying to accurately portray my strengths. </p>

<p>I’m not planning on taking the SAT besides the three subject tests that Harvard requires, especially since I’m happy with my ACT score. And I’d like to think that I at least have a shot at Northwestern and maybe U. of Chicago.</p>

<p>Anyway, towards Gildo, I’m caucasian and the only legacy I have is towards schools like UW Madison. I know that ethnicity and legacy plays an annoying role in the admission process but I’m trying to focus on things that I have more control over - grades, test scores, extracurriculars - as opposed to things I have no control over, like my race.</p>

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<p>I would totally agree with the breakdown from ivyPBear - but don;t sleep on Madison, you will get a great education (socially and mentally) at the number 1 research university in the world. and you will probably go for next to nothing between in state and scholarships</p>

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<p>Yeah, by no means am I turning up my nose at Madison - I recognize that it’ll probably be the best value education I’ll get. Still, I’m willing to work harder and maybe incur some debt if it means attending a school like Harvard, Columbia, or Brown.</p>

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<p>“I’d like to think that I at least have a shot at Northwestern and maybe U. of Chicago”</p>

<p>On a very serious note, you will get into NU and UChicago with your test score as long as your essay and recommendations are at least average (they don’t have to be super good). NU and UChicago loves high standardized test scores because they (espeically UChicago) are currently trying to game USNews’ ranking. I have a friend who got 35 on the ACT, made the top 10% at a small town high school in the midwest, and submitted a 300ish word last minute application essay, and she got into the UChicago while being rejected by Cornell, Brown, Penn, and UCB.</p>

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<p>You’re wrong. Of course, everyone has a friend that claims to have done stuff like that, and there are always odd cases (but in your friend’s case, (s)he probably had outstanding counselor recs, which are of higher importance than essays in the admissions at Chicago, despite the persistent rumor that it’s the essays that are the most important attribute of the Chicago applicant), but exception doesn’t make the rule, and there are still 2400s that are rejected if you check the results thread here.</p>

<p>If Chicago really wanted to boost its US News Ranking, do you really think that it couldn’t admit a pool that was at least as strong as Northwestern stats-wise? Do you really think that it could only admit a class in which 85% were in the top 10% of their high school class when such a statistic is so important to the ranking, whereas schools like Berkeley can admit 98% such students? Chicago admits the best students it can find, as the admissions office sees fit. It has always been this way, and Chicago hasn’t seen an SAT increase in the last few years - in fact, it has decreased slightly from what it was 5 years ago, despite the fact that its number of applications are way up, as well as its yield. Unless you’re well-acquainted with the admissions office (and don’t just have a friend who claimed to have done this or that), maybe you shouldn’t make such sweeping generalizations.</p>

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<p>phuriku - You sound like a UChicago student who’s overly proud of yourself to a point to of discouraging perspective students by making getting into UChicago harder. That’s the wrong thing to do. Are you suggesting that the OP can’t get into UChicago? I say he/she gets in. Let’s see what happens.</p>

<p>And UChicago really wanted to boost its US News Ranking, the director of admissions openly admitted so, and flied to Washington DC with over half a dozen top administrators to meet with the editor of USNews. Go talk to your director of admissions about it, and he’ll tell you.</p>

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<p>Your prospects probably look more like this (with 75th percentile SAT M+CR medians shown as rough indicators*):</p>

<p>High Reach Harvard (1590)
Reach Columbia (1540), Brown (1530 ), Amherst (1530)
Low Reach / High Match University of Chicago (1530), Northwestern (1500)
Match NYU (1430)
Safety University of Wisconsin - Madison (1380)</p>

<p>*sources: stateuniversity.com and satscores.us</p>

<p>Your ACT score is roughly comparable to SAT 1560 (CR+M). With standing in the top 5% and impressive ECs (but no astonishing state or national recognition, and apparently no hooks) I’d say Harvard is unlikely (as it is for almost everyone), but that you at least have a shot at the others if your app is well presented. I agree, NU and Chicago should be likelier than the other reaches. Almost matches, but with admit rates under 30% and SATs comparable to some Ivies, they are tougher than NYU.</p>

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<p>If you would please cite your source for this information, it might be a little easier to assess what you are talking about and whether it has anything whatsoever to do with the OP’s chances.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the info. Hopefully between now and my senior year I’ll get some sort of recognition - I’ll hopefully be contributing to a few congressional and gubernatorial political campaigns this coming election cycle, as well as maybe receiving honors from the PSAT I took this Fall. Other than that, maybe I’ll get recognized through my physics/Rube Goldberg club or my mock trial (although that’s only done by the state, so there are limits).</p>

<p>Harvard was always a lofty but pragmatically unattainable goal for me, but it’s nice to know that I have at least somewhat of a chance at Columbia or Brown.</p>

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<p>And I know someone with similarly high stats who submitted a shoddy essay to MIT written in thirty minutes, got accepted there, and yet was rejected at UChicago after spending three weeks on UChicago’s main supplement. What is your point? Personal anecdotes reveal very little about overall admissions.</p>

<p>I won’t go out of my way to say that UChicago won’t try to game the rankings this year (especially with Nondorf at the helm), but it historically has shown little interest in the ranking game.</p>

<p>Of course, you could say I’m biased, as I’m a UChicago student as well. Feel free to throw away anything I say, then. The point is, it’s difficult to get into most of those schools, and you shouldn’t hinge a bet on any of them except Madison. Nope, not even NYU.</p>

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<p>What are some more schools that are realistic for someone of my record to get into and yet provide an excellent education and good job placement? If even NYU isn’t a certainty, than I’d like to apply to some more schools. I was contemplating Georgetown, UC Berkeley (since apparently UC is upping their OOS acceptances), but other than that I’m out of ideas.</p>

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<p>Keep in mind I tend to be very conservative with these “chancing” percentages (and commonly very inaccurate, since I err way too much on the side of caution), so don’t trust me on that note. However, I would consider Georgetown as more difficult to get into than NYU. Same with Berkeley, especially if you’re OOS.</p>

<p>I can unfortunately provide little information as to the rest, as I know next to nothing about the political science departments in most schools. (Heck, I’m very unacquainted with the polisci dpmt. here too, which gives you quite a good indication of just how clueless I am). However, have you looked at UMichigan at all? With your stats, I think you would have a fairly good chance of being admitted, and it’s a stellar school.</p>

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<p>I visited UMichigan with my older brother a few years ago and loved the tour, but ultimately I can’t find a reason to go there over Madison, especially considering how much more it would cost me. As for your expertise… political science for me is not necessarily a certainty (which is why I only am applying to one liberal arts school, I’d like to have a sort of “discovering myself” experience) and I’m also interested in things like English, pre-law, physics, economics, and international relations.</p>

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<p>neltharion,</p>

<p>your chances of getting into Berkeley also depends on the program that you’re applying. Applying for engineering at Berkeley is different from applying for history or politics.</p>

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<p>hmbeast, your qualifications are solid and your list looks pretty good too, with an appropriate range from safety to reach. It may need a little tweaking (prune off one or two of the high limbs, add a couple of match schools.) You’re on the right track; you’re starting early; I think you’ll wind up with some great choices.</p>

<p>As you look past the tippy top schools in search of “likelies”, don’t ignore liberal arts colleges. There are many less selective alternatives to Amherst or Middlebury.</p>

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<p>hmbeast - wow - you are looking all over the country. Maybe consider the midwest first as that is where you are from - lots of good schools there - ex - Chicago, Michigan. Anyway, most of us here at CC know that reality is that without legacy, superstar athlete or some huge family giving over the years to a certain school, nothing is a lock - and even with those it’s still not a sure thing. You would rather be a 30 with strong legacy, etc at Harvard or any other top school then a 35 without that. Anyway, you have a good shot at all the schools you mention. But remember that your connections are usually made where you grew up; so strongly consider some of your midwest choices before you uproot and move thousands of miles away from home. Just my opinion. Good luck.</p>