My Dream Schools Are UCLA, Dartmouth, and Columbia

I am a junior in high school. I am a California resident. These will be my stats for when I graduate. If you could please rate me that would be amazing thanks.
Major: Applied Mathematics or Economics
Unweighted: 3.9 ( I got B’s in Honors Bio and Honors Chem in Freshman and Sophomore year)
Weighted GPA: 4.28 (4.5 UC system)
ACT: 34 (34 English, 34 Reading, 32 Math, 34 Science, 11/12 Writing)
Subject Tests
Math I: 750
Math II: 790
US History: 790
Literature: 770
Rank: 8/264
AP scores: AP World History 4, APUSH 5, AP Computer Science 5, AP Lang 4, AP Calc 4 (these are not including senior year AP’s) (I took one AP sophomore year and 4 APs junior year)
My Essays: Probably 9/10 or 10/10
Teacher Rec’s 8/10 and 9/10 (didn’t have a personal relationship with them)
Counselor Rec 8/10 (didn’t have a personal relationship)
Extracurriculars: 300+ hours of community service, NHS president 2 years (in the club for 3 years), Model United Nations secretary junior year and president senior year. CSF member 2 years. Korean Club secretary sophomore year. 4 years of Varsity tennis. Captain of Varsity tennis junior year. Made website for mental health and currently working on trying to get one of my articles published. Tutor the homeless once a week for 2 years. Internship at City Hall (where the governor works) for an entire summer.

Hooks: I think I will have amazing essays based on the topics I will write about (family related stuff with mental health). Strong ACT score.
Drawbacks: Low GPA, lack of extracurriculars, mediocre letters of rec, low class rank, I am Asian
Other: Asian, 200k+ family income, 3rd generation (future) college student

P.S. My school is a small public school and so it doesn’t offer as many AP’s as most public schools. You aren’t allowed to take any freshman year, one sophomore years, 4 junior year, and will take 3 senior year. I would like to emphasize the upward trend in my grades and rigor in classes. I got a B in freshman year and a B in sophomore year. In my junior year, I got straight As and jumped up to 4 AP classes. And senior year I will also get straight A’s. The reason why I am taking only 3 APs senior year is because there are no other AP classes I could take unless I take 2 AP sciences.
Thank you so much. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Schools I am interested in:
UCLA, UC Berkeley, Dartmouth, Tufts, NYU, Columbia (I know this is a huge reach), University of Michigan, UCSD,

This round of admissions have been exceptionally competitive - however I see you having a good shot given your college list

Hypothetical stats are useless for chances. Are the AP scores actual or predicted?

A little weak on the math stats/ecs. But you have a fair chance.
Good luck!

For Ivies, the AP 4 scores will be an issue. How are those ECs related to applied math or econ? (What did you do with the internship? MUN is ok, but not enough of a pull, alone.) No idea what comm service- it is not just about hours. Also, you cannot know your personal statement will be a 9/10 unless you understand what the colleges want to see in you. It’s generally not a family tell-all, but the sorts of attrites you need to show, relevant to the college years. If you’re worried you may not get top LoRs, work on those relationships.

Bottom line: a kid needs some idea of what those colleges look for. You choose the targets, but they choose the admits. Use this time to dig into what the colleges say and show. And get more experiences, relevant to your hopes.

As a Dartmouth student, I may be able to help you a bit here. My scores and rank were similar to yours, though I had more ECs, related to major, and you took more APs and subject tests (And I’m also asian, for context, though south Asian, but we all have to tick the box marked Asian for ethnicity).

Thing is, while your ECs are great and all, you need to relate them to math and econ. However, this can all be explained if you have a goal for yourself. What I’ve understood in ivy league admissions is that they’re not interested in kids, however great they may be, who want to go to an ivy (or any top school) for the sake of going to an ivy. They want to see how their course of study will help you achieve your goal. And if that goal is altruistic all the better. For example, if your goal is to set up an NGO to help people, and that is related to your intended major as well as ECs, then what you’ve done makes sense.

Also, you don’t need to have just one focus, but you should have an idea of how it all ties together. For me, I wanted to specialize in Government and Environmental Studies, and I had many ECs related to those fields as well as writing. I told them (which is true) that I write to express myself and my political viewpoint, so it ties back to my courses of study, which in turn all ties together as I wanted to work in conservation which would require me to understand policy as well and how to shape it and convincingly express my political viewpoint.

Another piece of advice I have for you looking back on my admission process is to decide what ind of undergraduate education you want to receive. Because your two most academically rigorous dream schools, Dartmouth and Columbia, are worlds apart in that sense, though they are pretty much equal in academic rigor. I notice you have Columbia as a huge reach, but not Dartmouth. It’s important to note that the acceptance rates for these schools differ by less than 3%, so both should be considered big reaches regardless of context.

If these are your top choices, then you should apply ED to one of them. I had both on my list, and I chose Dartmouth for the following reasons:

  1. Undergraduate focus- A Dart student will be taught almost entirely by actual professors rather than TAs, have mostly small class sizes and close relationships with and easy access to Professors. Also, all the top research internships and opportunities on campus are open mainly for undergrads, so you have a much better chance of participating in one.
  2. The rural setting- This can be a pro and a con, but I prefer the bucolic atmosphere and campus-based social life and activities you participate in at Dartmouth. Just keep in mind we are a while from any major city, but in a rather scenic village. Outdoor and campus-based activities take precedence here
  3. The community and size- You will know everyone and everyone will know you. I personally love it, though some people like larger schools. I personally enjoy the small size and the fact that Dart students really get to gel into a real supportive and collaborative community.
  4. The D plan - This is the quarter system that allows you a lot of flexibility in your academic schedule. With a few exceptions, you can terms off in the middle of the year for high-level internships at times when they are less competitive.

These are besides it being better for my program and having better foreign study opps.

But there are cons, primarily the focus on greek life, which about half of the eligible students (sophomores and beyond) take part in. But even that proportion has been decreasing in recent years as more diverse classes have been admitted, not to mention that they accept everyone, drinking is completely non-compulsory and everyone is really chill about it, so very few stereotypical ivy league frat boys here (unlike how I hear it was back in 80s). Also , if you can’t handle the rural location, that can be a con.

That said, I did like Columbia for some things since it was on my list:

  1. Core curriculum- While the lib arts education of most of the Ivies emphasizes a strong grounding in multiple disciplines, Columbia’s core curriculum requires all undergrads to take a number of specific courses. Some view this as too restrictive but I liked a lot of the Columbia-specific courses here. You should take a look to see if that’s what you like too.
  2. NYC-- You will have all the social opportunities of living in an amazing city. Some say for internships it’s better too, but that’s not really the case as far as I’ve seen. I have family members across multiple elite schools, and all of them say that they have no time for internships off-campus even in cities. And for internships in off-terms, you can go anywhere, You’re not restricted to the specific place you go for college. That said, the social opportunities of NYC are definitely hard to beat.

But to me, more cons stood out-

  1. Postgraduate focus – Everything I said about Dartmouth for undergrads is, for the most part, the opposite here, at least until junior year. But even then, a good share of your classes, especially in your fields, will be quite large, and taught by TAs. Classes like this will be the majority during your first two years for sure. And research opps are also more for graduate students since that’s where the focus is.
  2. The cut-throat environment- Students at Columbia are uber-competitive with each other, and really want to beat each other. Given they are all very smart, that makes it far too racy for my taste. In Dart, they are just as smart, but far more willing to help each other out. Overcompetitive ppl are looked down on here.
  3. The size-- Columbia is the largest ivy, and Dartmouth the smallest. Some people may prefer a much larger school since there are always new people to meet, but I personally prefer the community atmosphere of Dart (and I believe Dart is certainly large enough for anyone to find their people)

To be honest, the only reason I had Columbia on my list is because of the lack of financial need I was able to have mostly reaches on my list. Yours seems to have more of a healthy mix, which is perfectly fine, but if you are only applying to two higher reaches, then they should match what you want from an undergrad education. For instance, if you prefer a school like Dart, then Columbia should be replaced by a school that fits more what you’re looking for in an undergrad experience (I.e. undergrad focus, campus-based social life etc.), like Princeton or Brown. Conversely, if you prefer what Columbia has to offer, then a more urban, larger school like UChicago would be better off replacing Dart.

Keep in mind, what I put up as pros and cons can be subjective in some cases. Maybe you prefer a more competitive environment since you thrive under pressure, or like larger schools.

If you want to know more about Dart or other elite colleges, since I was applying to several and have a good idea of many from personal relations with people who go to them, feel free to contact me anytime.

@goodschoolbound . . . have you thought about taking courses that you feel you’re lacking at your hs at a local community college? It might be a bit late in the game to start doing this because you’re a rising senior, but it might be a consideration. I’ll invoke the help of @10s4life who’s an EE at UCLA to see if he (90% sure, or 10% she) might be able to help with greater specificity. However, I’m guessing he might be doing some sort of Alpine circuit at the moment during his break. This might help you with all colleges you’re considering.

Also, wrt your major, it doesn’t have to be either or. You can major in both most (edit: likely) as a math/econ major or do a statistics major, minor in econ, maybe major in both. Just be sure to join clubs, do internships, etc.

Best of luck.

@firmament2x Haha you got it right. What’s the question the OP had? Didn’t quite catch the thread.

@10s4life . . . here’s a link to the [thread](http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/22349578#Comment_22349578).

I was asking in lieu of the OP:

  • Since his/her high school in CA is lacking in APs, can he/she make up for this by taking community-college classes? Or is it a bit late since he/she is a rising senior (perhaps should have started in his/her soph or junior year)?

-Would statistics and economics or straight-out mathematics and economics be doable at UCLA? I know that UCLA and believe that Columbia have math/econ, essentially an econometrics major.

These are questions obviously that should be brought up with a counselor at whatever college he/she attends. And somehow and for some reason, I ventured off into the Chance Me board.

@firmament2x Thanks.

  1. Someone can do that. It’s better to start earlier but strength of senior year schedule is taken into account.
  2. UCLA has a math econ major but it’s really just the hardest math classes and the hardest econ. You’re better off in most cases either doing math or econ and not the joint major.
  3. Double majoring is doable cause econ by itself is such a short major. The math and stats degrees at UCLA are notiouskh difficult.