<p>Hello,
I was wondering what my chances are regarding admission to the following schools. In this mix I have safeties, matches, and reaches.
American University
George Washington University
George Mason University
Towson University
Rutgers New Brunswick
Brandeis University
Boston University
Lafayette College
Lehigh University
UC Davis
UCLA
My freshmen year GPA was absolutely horrid (2.5). However, it has risen immensely, with a 3.5 sophomore year and a 3.9-4.0 my junior year, with a number of APs (Roughly 4-5 APs and 4-5 Honors classes). Also, my SAT score is an 1860. I have good EC's: I've started a religious diversity club, I am captain of my schools debate team and ranked as the top speaker in NJ, I am politically active (meaning I have attended marches), and I've written for a politically oriented online magazine. Furthermore, I am a black belt and work as a assistant, teaching martial arts, in addition to a construction job I have during the summers. Additionally, I will have glowing recommendations from truly qualified teachers. Unfortunately, I am an out of state student (NJ) which I know can hinder my chances to specific universities. I would love some insight regarding my chance of admission to the aforementioned schools.
Thanks </p>
<p>bump </p>
<p>It’s a pretty balanced list in my opinion. It may be a little top heavy, but that is fine. Try to find a few more match schools.</p>
<p>@AnnieBeats Thanks for the reply. I agree it is a bit top-heavy. My rationalization is that I may as well try, so I chose a decent amount of reach schools. Hopefully none of the schools are in the impossible range. </p>
<p>No, none of them are high reaches. American U shouldn’t be too hard for you to get in. Neither should GWU. Just make sure you have good essays.</p>
<p>@AnnieBeats Thanks! Those are definitely two schools I’m very interested in. </p>
<p>I got into lehigh and lafayette with about the same sat scores and pretty much equivalent…well everything except maybe GPA which was 3.9-4.0 all 4 years. You’ll get into rutgers, but idk about the rest.</p>
<p>@bman4jets Haha, thanks! Rutgers was a match, thanks for the reassurance. </p>
<p>bump</p>
<p>Can anyone else offer any help? </p>
<p>Great list of schools. I don’t see you having problems with any of these school. except for Lehigh, Brandeis and BU. If you are from NJ, you are basically at a regional disadvantage because northeast school are working on getting a diverse school body from across all 50 states. Everyone wants to go to school in the Boston area. Because the UC schools are purely based on merit, I wouldn’t short change yourself and I believe you have decent scores, You’ll just have to write a real killer essay.
It should be a lay up for GW, George Mason, Towson.<br>
Your best bargain is Rutgers, read the book by Malcom Gladwell, he has a great reason why state school is the best choice since you are from NJ. </p>
<p>@tronneutron Thanks! I appreciate your analysis. I find it hard to disagree, because my top reaches are UCLA, Brandeis, BU, and Lehigh. Hopefully the college gods bless me when it comes to acceptance letters. Thanks again! </p>
<p>Any other helpful commentary? </p>
<p>Bump</p>