Not a "traditional" chances thread.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>From these threads, I've basically figured out where I stand at a lot of schools..
problem is, I don't have any good "matches".. a lot of reaches and a lot of safeties. So, I need some advice on some good match schools. Thanks!
HEre is my list of colleges
Reaches: Duke, Columbia, Georgetown, Cornell
Matches: ????
Safeties: Boston Univ., George Washington University, Vanderbilt, NYU(CAS)</p>

<p>I want to go into politics, and maybe get a dual major in Behavioral Psychology or Cognitive psychology.</p>

<p>Schools that are preferrably east coast, ideally near a big city like DC, NYC, or Boston, but any matches are appreciated.</p>

<p>GPA: GPA will be ~3.25 unweighted, ~3.75 weighted. weighted system works like this. everything stays the same, A=4 B=3 etc, except for every AP course with a grade higher tahn a C, you get an extra point. so in an AP course, A=5 B=4 etc. honors stay the same, reg. stays the same.<br>
also.. upward grade trend. 3.28, 3.42, 3.42, 3.57, 3.83, 4.33, 4.42, 4.42. (by semester 9-12)<br>
SATII's: 800 Math level 2, 700 chemistry, 620 USH (retaking next year after i've actually taken the class (AP USH)) will take more subject tests next year.
ACT: 32 (32E 32M 29R 34S, 10/12 essay)
Class Rank: Top ~20% in a class of 360. weighted GPA is used to calculate rank. when i apply it will be more like ~Top 12-14% out of 360
Course Rigor: 10 AP's by the time I graduate, plus 5 other honors courses. i only took 1 true "regular class" (regular 10th grade language arts). the other classes, besides honors or AP, were band and spanish, which have no honors options. I'm taking the most AP's possible.
AP Exam scores:
European History- 3
Chemistry-
Psychology- 5 (consistent on practice exams)
US Government- 5 (consistent on practice exams)
Comparative Government-
English Literature-
Physics-
Statistics-
World History-
U.S. History-
English Language-</p>

<p>EC's:
Debate 11, 12 (was not involved 9 or 10 due to sports)
-Semi-Finalist at National Qualifying tournament (only my 2nd time competing)
- Quarter finalist at State debate competition (3rd time ever)
- will be captain/president next year, and hope to make nationals (with more experience, i should do better tahn this year)</p>

<p>Jazz Band 9,10,11,12
- Section Leader: Alto Saxophone
- Played total of 3 diff. instruments in the band
- "Best Jazz Soloist" Award at midwest band competition
- All-State Jazz Band on 2 instruments</p>

<p>Sports: (I may not be a star, but I'm not going to absolve myself from sports just because I'm not a typical "jock")
Freshman Soccer (9)
Varsity Track (9)
-3rd place 1600M relay
Varsity Football (11)
-unofficial "nerdiest kid on the team"</p>

<p>Amnesty International (11,12)</p>

<p>So far I have no "real" community service, but I am going to look to get involved over the summer in some outreach programs with my church.</p>

<p>This summer I am doing neuroscience research with a professor/mentor at washington university-stl. I'll be sending the abstract w/ my applications, and the paper might be published in Political Psychology. It's a pretty sweet project, kinda hard to explain. It focuses on decision making mechanisms and attitude formation, with a focus on those decisions and attitudes about politics/race/etc. I'm hoping this will be my main "hook" or thing that sets me apart. I know a lot of kids have research.. but they are usually the kids applying to MIT, HPY, etc.</p>

<p>Hooks, if any, besides the research: White kid from midwest. lol. on a more serious note, my dad got an associates degree in drafting from a community college, and my mom got bachelors in teaching from university of northern iowa. so.. i'm sorta a first generation college student.. as far as upper tier schools go, cause my mom did get a degree from a state school. that might help some? cause a lot of ppl's parents went to ivies.
also, I play 5 instruments (guitar, violin, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, and soprano saxophone). Obviously speak English, am semi-fluent in spanish, and taught myself basic russian (I'm going to take russian in college to fulfill any foreign lang. req's)</p>

2

<p>Because of your gpa, all your safeties are matches... vanderbilt possibly even a reach.. oh and there is no way you are a first generation if BOTH your parents went to college</p>

3

<p>My dad went to a trade school, and got a certificate. no BS or MBA like a lot of kids' parents have.
My mom, yes, she did get a BA in teaching. A small state school.. not like most peoples' parents.
I'm just saying that a lot of kids' parents go to ivies so they are more likely to have resources and have an intellectual family environment.</p>

4

<p>the majority of people's parents have not attended college. People with college degrees are the minority.</p>

5

<p>I'm not saying you're wrong or anything, but do you have a source or statistic for that?</p>

6

<p>In a 2004 census by the US Census Bureau, of people age 25 and older: "...28 percent had attained at least a bachelor’s degree..."</p>

<p><a href="http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/004214.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/004214.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

7

<p>Yes, but I meant out of the population of kids who are applying to Ivy league schools or other TOP tier schools (MIT, stanford, Duke, etc), a LOT of those kids' parents are educated</p>

8

<p>Doesn't matter where a person got their degree, a degree is a degree. A lot of students applying to Ivies don't have parents that went to big universities, and others do.</p>

9

<p>ok. i'll concede that.
any ideas for match schools?</p>

10

<p>You need at least one more safety. NYU and Vanderbilt are definitely not safeties. You might want to apply to Michigan rolling. </p>

<p>Johns Hopkins, Tufts, U Rochester, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell</p>

<p>Your GPA is a bit low and is probably the weakest part of your app.</p>

11

<p>what do you mean by Michigan rolling?
thank you, btw</p>

12

<p>Michigan has rolling admissions. First come, first served. Applying early in the year is much easier.</p>

13

<p>ooh did not know that. how early is "early"??</p>

14

<p>Early October, I think.</p>

15

<p>kk thanks.</p>

16

<p>anyone else?</p>

17

<p>Class rank?</p>

18

<p>see above. i said i am currently top 20%, but by fall when i am actually applying, i will be between 12 and 14%</p>

19

<p>can someone explain to me what "rolling admissions" are in detail? </p>

<p>I apologize for my naivte.</p>

<p>=/ </p>

<p>NYU is not a safety btw. Neither is BU. both are matches.</p>

<p>also, great job with the 800 on math 2c, I find it impossible. </p>

<p>:]</p>

20

<p>rolling admissions means that they evaluate, admit or reject applications as they come in the door. (or as they roll in the door).
it doesnt mean that you can get in with a 400 SAT score, lol, but it's easier to get in if you're slightly below average if ya apply sooner.</p>

<p>BU isn't a safety? their admissions rep that i talked to in person told me that i would probably get into their honors program.. :/
I can see NYU being more of a match though.
NYU's ACT middle 50% is 27-32, but boston u's is only 25-30. average GPA's are 3.6 and 3.49, respectively</p>