<p>please chance me!!! i feel like i should have my list completed by now...
hi, im from nj, but im interested in schools such as ucberkeley, ucla, u michigan and uchicago. im not sure about uchicago, but i know the others are public schools.</p>
<p>gpa=3.87/4.0, sat=2300</p>
<p>what do you think my chances are of getting into these schools? and what would you categorize these as (reach, target, safety)</p>
<p>also, how much emphasis do these schools place on extra curriculars?</p>
<p>ALSO, what schools would be considered "safety" schools for me? i want a school with a strong math program</p>
<p>For all the publics, I would say they are matches. Can’t really judge you on Chicago yet because you’re going to have to give details on ECs, essays, recs, etc. for anyone to judge you there.</p>
<p>All schools mentioned will be over 50K, as you are OOS for the publics. </p>
<p>Has your family calculated their EFC? Expected Family Contribution. </p>
<p>The Collegeboard website has a good one, use your parents 2010 Tax Returns, choose both “FM” and “IM” for the methodologies & keep hitting “save” so you can refer back to it. Unless, of course, you are not eligible for financial aid & your family will be full pay. Then affordability would not be a concern for you…</p>
<p>All these schools look into EC equally, however the relative importance of it diminishes the better you are as a student or the worse the school gets. Because the public schools you are apply to aren’t quite at the level of Chicago, as long as your academics are strong, relatively weak ECs won’t be too much of an issue. Chicago however is much more competitive and every little bit matters. While you are good enough academically for Chicago, will you beat out enough students to make the cut and get accepted? Compared to other students similar to you, why should Chicago pick you over them? That’s why ECs matter so much at a school like that. If you can show through your ECs that you are a special student, you might just get admitted. Obviously essays and recs also can have that effect to some degree but nothing speaks louder than action, which is why ECs can have the greatest impact, followed by recs. Still even with your academic record, do not take the public schools lightly. They aren’t quite as hard to get into as Chicago, even OOS but they are still as tough as near Ivies. For Michigan, you’re looking at a 20-25% acceptance rate for OOS students and somewhere around that for the UCs as well. You’re going to have to keep on performing well as well as write some strong essays and get strong recs to maximize your chances at getting in. You could conceivably get rejected from all of these schools although I find that highly unlikely. Still, if you want someone to chance you accurately, you are going to need to give as many relevant details as possible.</p>