Narrow down my list from 16 schools!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi guys... I feel like the past 3 years on this website had flown by really quickly... I can't believe that I actually.. I feel really panicky and I'm paranoid that I don't have a solid list of colleges to apply to. I am quite stuck with trying to find colleges that 'fit' me and that I can afford. Listed below are my stats; I hope you guys can help me finalize my college list as I'm pretty sure my parents don't have the time to actually help me in this process...</p>

<p>I just need to narrow down my selection 2 maybe 10 max? I think I might already predict what most have to say, but I just really want your opinion as to what schools you think I might have a chance of getting into. I prefer schools in a big city, but that is not a major factor.</p>

<p>I am interested in a Finance major and I hope to possibly pursue a JD after undergrad</p>

<p>Super Reach:
UPenn</p>

<p>Reach:
New York University (really want to get in!)
Washington U. St. Louis
Boston College
Notre Dame
U Chicago
Duke
Queens
York</p>

<p>50/50?
University of Virginia
Northwestern
Rice</p>

<p>Safeties:
Indiana University - Bloomington
University of Wisconsin - Madison
UC Berkeley
UCLA
Western</p>

<p>SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 640/680/650 (I know its terrible but I barely practiced D: I will be taking another in October hopefully with 2200+)
SAT II (subject, score): taking Math 2, Bio M and Chinese in November (cutting it close)
Unweighted/Weighted GPA: don't have one
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): school doesn't rank
AP/IB (place score in parentheses):
IB HL ENG (7)
IB HL MATH (4)
IB HL HISTORY (6)
IB HL BIO (6)
IB SL CHEM (5)
IB SL FRENCH (5)
all predicted scores... i will only know my actual ones in May 2015 lol.
Senior Year Course Load: HL English A, HL Math, HL Biology, HL History, SL Chemistry,
Common Awards (AP Scholar, honor roll, NM things, etc.): Headmaster's list</p>

<p>Extracurricular:<br>
Started a math club; 25+ members
Duke of Edinburgh Silver (Aiming to get Gold done by next sept)(ongoing for almost 2 years)
Volunteer at homeless shelter/ soup kitchen
Sunday school teacher at my church for the past 4 years (2hrs/week)
School newspaper writer (2 years)
I like running? (I've done a couple 10ks sorry no extreme runner here)
Went on my first real hike in grade 8 (20ish km)
Planned and went on a huge (to me) 47km hike (In freshmen year)
Principal sax in jazz band (having only learnt the instrument last year) (3hrs/week)
Piano (11 years)
Job/Work Experience: none (my parents don't allow me to work D:)
Summer Experience: Spent past summer in China learning Chinese and more about my culture + lived in the middle east for 2 summers; learnt a lot there</p>

<p>U.S. State/Territory or Country: Canada
School Type: Private
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Female
Income Bracket Range: don’t need aid
Hooks (URM, first generation, recruited athlete, development): am I first gen if one of my parents didn't go to college?</p>

<p>Does anyone want to help? Your insight is truly valued.</p>

2

<p>Berkeley and UCLA are not safeties for anyone.</p>

3

<p>Berkeley? I thought anyone with a solid 1900 could get in? I might be misinformed… a guy got in with 1800 from my school though… although it was about 7 years ago lol</p>

4

<p><a href=“Berkeley Frosh Class of 2018 decision summary - #10 by ucbalumnus - University of California - Berkeley - College Confidential Forums”>Berkeley Frosh Class of 2018 decision summary - #10 by ucbalumnus - University of California - Berkeley - College Confidential Forums;

5

<p>You have 0 US safeties and possibly matches.</p>

6

<p>How is York and Queens reaches and Berkeley/UCLA safeties?</p>

<p>Combined with the fact that you don’t even know your IB scores yet…no gpa, SAT is “tbd”.</p>

<p>Come back later</p>

7

<p>Are you applying to Wharton at Penn? Because the college definitely isn’t a ‘super reach’ by any stretch of the imagination. Specially considering the fact that you’re also applying to schools like Duke and Chicago.</p>

8

<p>University of Californias school’s do not superscore:
" In the College Board’s Score Choice module, ensure that all scores are sent to UC. We require all scores and will use the highest scores from a single administration.
For the ACT Plus Writing test, we will focus on the highest combined score from the same test administration.
For the SAT Reasoning Test, we will focus on the highest total score from a single test date."</p>

9

<p>Asian isn’t URM…</p>

10

<p><<<<
am I first gen if one of my parents didn’t go to college?
<<<</p>

<p>NO</p>

<p><<<</p>

<p>Berkeley? I thought anyone with a solid 1900 could get in? I might be misinformed… a guy got in with 1800 from my school though… although it was about 7 years ago lol
<<<<</p>

<p>do not assume that because a student got in with lower scores, that you will get in. do you really think that UCLa and Cal accept everyone with a 1900??? No. and they reject kids with MUCH higher scores.</p>

<br>

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<p>SAT I superscore (breakdown M/CR/W/Essay): 640/680/650 (I know its terrible but I barely practiced D: I will be taking another in October hopefully with 2200+)</p>

<br>

<br>

<p>???
twice you took the sat and didnt practice? </p>

<p>anyway…the UCs and many publics do NOT superscore because they dont want to give an advantage to those who can take the test multiple times.</p>

11

<p>I don’t think Rice is a match, more of a reach.</p>

12

<p>UChicago and maybe Duke belong in the “super reach” category seeing that Penn’s acceptance rate is 10% and Chicago’s is 8%. </p>

13

<p>There isn’t enough information on which to give you advice, as you don’t have a gpa listed; predicted IB scores are solid, not incredible. Almost all those schools will be reaches for anyone. BC might be a match, though without more info, hard to tell. UW (where my kid is) is too hard to call without gpa – anything above a 3.85 unweighted and as an OOS student you are probably in, but below that, too close to call, likely postpone and maybe admitted in the spring. </p>

<p>Reach
UPenn
New York University
Washington U
Notre Dame
U Chicago
Duke
University of Virginia
Northwestern
Rice</p>

<p>Possible Safeties:
Indiana University - Bloomington – average unweighted gpa for admitted students is a 3.6. IN superscores, I don’t think UW does. </p>

14

<p>Nobody can “chance” you using the scores you think you will receive in the future. The chances of a 200+ score increase on the SAT are very small. I recently went through this with another student: although 55% of students who re-take the SAT have increases, the average composite, 3-score increase is 40 points. That means that only 27.5% of students re-taking will get more than 40-point increases, and the chances of getting 5 times that much are very, very slim. Instead of getting your information from unofficial sources, you should probably go to the official data sets on the UCLA and Berkeley websites. I think you’ll see that your scores are below average, although both schools weigh GPA more heavily. Washington U legendarily favors high-scoring applicants. You should look at their stats: only 25% of their accepted students had 2-score SATs (ie. CR/M) of less than 1420. Why would you consider a school where your scores are 100 points lower than the 25th percentile anything other than an unrealistic reach? I think you probably have a shot at NYU, although Stern remains a reach. Everything else on your list, apart from Indiana, is also a reach. Try some of the other UCs (e.g. Santa Barbara, Davis, et al); University of Washington (NOT Washington U.); Tulane; Fordham; et al. I do not know how selective the Canadian colleges on your list are, or whether you have some safe and match schools in Canada. Your list is exceedingly tough, right now, and will remain so even if your scores rise by 100 points. By the way, American colleges do not typically use IB scores in admission. They will use the grades on your high school transcript (which might be the same). A counselor might mention your scores in a recommendation, if they’re outstanding, or good scores can earn you college credit, but most total IB scores are not available until July - months after most college decisions have been made.</p>

15

<p>I think you should read the definitions of reach, match, and safety and then construct a new list</p>

16

<p>@Midwestmomofboys‌ @woogzmama‌ thank you so much for your comments! Actually, thanks everyone for replying! Your comments are really valuable! :D</p>

<p>Just to clarify, if you are in the IB program, you will only know your official scores in July 2015 (I’m taking the May 2015 exam), and therefore, it is impossible to know your real score till then. The predicted score is essentially ‘locked in’ and will be used as my real score for all college applications. I have until January to raise any scores I want to raise, and after that, my real scores will highly likely be the predicted scores. Also, due to this, I will only have official ‘number grades’ from grade 9-10. </p>

<p>Another problem is that my school does not give a GPA, so how will that work in the college application process? My counselor said that it is ok, and universities don’t really mind, but I have a feeling he might not be correct? D:</p>

17

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<p>The more numerous CSUs do super score SAT and ACT scores.</p>

18

<p>^^
but is she looking at CSUs? seems like she is going more for names.</p>

19

<p>@mom2collegekids‌ of course going to a prestigious uni would be the best situation, but honestly, it looks like my chances are not fantastic (although I would still like to try), therefore, I do not mind going to any of the CSUs. My parents really wanted me to go to Berkeley, but now that I know what it actually takes to go there… I guess I have to make a new list again?</p>

20

<p>Boston College- Reach
Notre Dame- Reach
U Chicago-High Reach
Duke- High Reach
Queens- Reach
York-Reach
UPenn- High Reach
University of Virginia- Reach
Northwestern- High Reach
Rice- Reach
NYU- Reach
Washington U- Reach
Indiana University - Bloomington- Reach
University of Wisconsin - Madison- Reach
UC Berkeley- High Reach
UCLA- High Reach
Western-Reach</p>

<p>For most of these schools, would be a reach for you even if you were an American. Since you are int’l that makes it even harder for you to get in. You have no safety schools on this list. Have you looked at Toronto?</p>