PLEASE CHANCE ME 3.76 GPA: TOP 50 Schools (BC, Northeastern, Cornell, Bucknell, etc)

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Demographics

  • US Citizen

  • Connecticut

  • Number One High School In Connecticut

  • Male/Caucasian/German and Latino

  • Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.):
    Legacy: Villanova
    Legacy: Columbia (Grad school idk if that matters)
    Athlete: Lacrosse (Good enough to be recruited)

Intended Major(s):
Finance (possible pre-med track), Computer Science
(Help me choose a major please)

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.76 (will this screw my chances?) (3.81 end of senior year)
  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 4.04 (0.5 Extra for AP and Honors) (4.14 at end Senior year)
  • College GPA (for transfers): N/A
  • Class Rank: School Doesn’t Rank (Around Top 15%)
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1560 SAT (Math:790 English: 770)

Coursework
During grade 9 semester 1 I contracted a VERY severe case of Covid and was out of school for a month. During semester 2 of freshman year I had to take a job after school do to my parents divorce since my dad was financially strangling my mom and giving her no money at all.
Grade 9:
Due to Covid went pass/fail for core classes first semester.
S1:
Geometry- P
Western Civ- P
English Accelerated- P
Biology- P
Latin 1- A
Ceramics- A

S2:
Geometry- B
Western Civ- B-
English Accelerated- C+ (VERY WORRIED ABOUT THIS)
Biology- A-
Latin 1- A
Ceramics- P

Grade 10:
(No APs are allowed for Sophomore or Freshman)
S1:
Honors Chemistry- B
Honors Algebra II- B- (WORRIED KINDA)
World Studies- A
English 10- B
Latin 2- A
Computer Science- A- (One Semester Class)

S2:
Honors Chemistry- A
Honors Algebra II- A
Honors World Studies- A
English 10- A
Latin 2- A
Investing and Finance- A (One Semester Class)

Grade 11:
S1:
AP Lang and Comp- A
Precalculus Honors- A
AP US History- A
Honors Physics- A
Latin 3- A
AP Economics- A
AP Computer Science Principles- A

S2:
AP Lang and Comp- A
Precalculus Honors- A
AP US History- A
Honors Physics- A
Latin 3- A
AP Economics- A
AP Computer Science Principles- A

Grade 12:
(Predicted grades)
S1:
AP Calculus BC- A
AP Lit and Comp- A
AP Biology- A
AP Computer Science A- A
Latin 4- A
AP Statistics- A
AP Microeconomics - A

APUSH: 5
AP Econ: 4
AP Lang and Comp: 4
AP Stats: 4
AP Comp Sci Princ: 5
AP Psychology: 5

Any suggestions on different classes I should take based of my major(s)???

Awards

  • NMSQT Semi-Finalist
  • Perfect Attendance Junior Year
  • AP Scholar
  • Football State Championship Team (Junior Year) (Varsity Starting QB)
  • Won state champs for lacrosse Junior year (Varsity starting defensemen)

Extracurriculars

  • Worked at local flower shop after school Mondays-Thursdays from 3-5pm
  • 2 Years MU Theta Math National Honors Society
  • 1 Year JV Lacrosse, 3 Years Varsity Lacrosse
  • 3 Years Varsity Football
  • 2 Years Science Honors Society
  • 2 Years DECA (went to Atlanta for competition, etc)
  • Latin Scholars Society
  • Model UN Club
  • Model Congress Club - President
  • High-school Class Officer

Essays/LORs/Other
Guidance Counselor LOR- 10/10
AP Lang and Comp LOR- 9/10
AP Stats Teacher- 9/10

Cost Constraints / Budget
No cost restraints.

Schools (Feeder School sends around 75/350 to top 40 schools each year)
(List of colleges by your initial chance estimate; designate if applying ED/EA/RD; if a scholarship is necessary for affordability, indicate that you are aiming for a scholarship and use the scholarship chance to estimate it into the appropriate group below)

  • Safety: University of Maryland, Uconn, Harvard
  • Likely: RD Villanova (legacy father in same major)
  • Match: Boston University, Colgate, Wake Forest
  • Reach: ED1 Boston College, Northeastern, Cornell, USC, UCLA, Columbia
    Chance me for these???
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Is Harvard listed as a safety just to see whether we are paying attention? Obviously it is not a safety. I would be surprised if UMD out of state is a safety either (although it seems likely to me).

UCLA out of state would be full pay. Can you afford this?

I have a vague recollection that Columbia was one of the few highly ranked universities in the US that does consider you legacy if a parent got a graduate degree there. Hopefully someone else knows for sure one way or another.

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Haha yes Harvard is just a funny joke!

Thank You

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How did you have covid in first semester of freshman year. Did you have covid in Fall 2018?

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The grades for senior year are “predicted” grades for school year 22-23, thus freshman year would have been the 19-20 school year. But since the first cases of Covid in the U.S. weren’t until 2020 (or possibly December 2019), how did Covid affect the fall 2019 semester?

Can you please re-run your GPA with what your GPA is as of the end of the 1st semester of junior year? You’re adding in 3 semesters of As that you have no idea whether you’re going to get. That’s what you’re aiming for, but in developing your college list, you want to start off with what you actually have.

It looks like you’re a great athlete. You may want to edit your first post regarding the position you played or the rank of your high school as those could be personally identifying. Changing the language to something like a rigorous high school in CT and then indicating that you were a starter on the varsity team for your various sports, or similar.

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A lot will depend on your school - you say #1 in the state. Is it private? Does it overperform in college admissions? If so, your GC can help you.

In regards to - if it’s a normal school - and if your school doesn’t rank, then you don’t have a top 15% - because your school doesn’t rank!!!

Lucky for you, 9th grade won’t count for UCs - although it will be reviewed. Nor will your score count - UCLA might be the biggest reach on your list.

I don’t know the UCONN state guarantee - I know it’s not easy to get into.

But UMD is a high match/low reach - so you have it way under categorized. Delaware would be a safety - to be in a similar area - or WVU.

I would not say Nova is a likely - maybe a match.

BU (if ED) could be a low reach but otherwise is a reach as is Colgate and Wake Forest.

I see only UCONN on this list that I’d be comfortable with. Maybe Nova.

You need another safety my friend - unless that is that your HS is elite and kids with 3.5 are going IVY.

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Don’t worry about your grades from Freshman and Sophomore year, they are what they are and there’s nothing you can do about them now. More important to finish up with a strong Junior year and to maintain that through senior year. Just be careful with taking 6 AP classes that can be quite a heavy workload on top of trying to manage college apps and essays.

Have you done any college visits yet? Are you looking to play lacrosse in college? What do you like about the California schools?

Since you’re debating between two majors, you might want to consider making 2 lists. One for Finance and One for Computer Science.

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Sorry I am kinda new the junior and senior classes are correct for the classes I am take but I am basically saying if I was to hypothetically receive these grades could I match up to schools on my list.

sorry for the confusion.

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Do you think an ED at Northeastern would be more realistic than at BC?

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I’m also wondering how you had Covid your freshman year. My D23 is currently a junior and was a freshman for 2019-2020. Covid wasn’t being diagnosed until March of 2020. Very few people in the US had it in 2019 and all were retroactively diagnosed much later. If you’re a senior, there’s no way you had Covid as a freshman in the fall of 2018.

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I am concerned because you say your parents are divorced and your dad withholds financial support and then you conclude your post by saying you have no cost constraints. No one knows the ins and outs of your parents relationship but I suggest you have a serious conversation with them and get a true understanding of the financial situation. Sometimes tuition agreements are stipulated in the divorce decree, sometimes they are not. To make things easier for yourself (and your mom) this time next year, you just want to be sure what the financial constraints really are.

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So you are a sophomore, which means you are not a national merit semi-finalist either. Is your SAT score real or hypothetical?

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Northeastern’s 2020 admit rate was 20%, while BC’s was 26%.

I would call them roughly equally selective – Northeastern maybe just a bit more selective, as the above stat shows. They attract typically the same level of student – so I’d broadly call them admissions peers.

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I suspect so but I don’t know. Two different colleges. It’s about finding the right college; not about forcing myself to commit to the wrong college.

Do you even have a list of the type of school you want - it’s like a list from all over, sounds like.

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I’m sorry you had to go through what must have been a really tough time during high school: you should be proud of yourself for your resilience. There are a lot of questions you should answer from the prior posts (Covid timing!) but if you’re really a recruitable Lax player at the Div 1 level then you don’t need us to be chancing you…you need to be talking seriously to coaches. Best of luck!

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Do some high schools really let students take 13+ classes a year?

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ED at NEU was 38%; can’t find BCs.

NEU is a tough in if not ED…EA better than RD.

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I agree you need to get your story straight. If you are a junior, your freshman year first semester was August-December 2019. Not many US based peeps had covid in that window.

Are you pursuing recruitment for lacrosse?

I also encourage you to get a firm budget from your parents. The schools on your list will require financial information from both. Do you know if you will qualify for need based financial aid?

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It is based off my psat score which I got a 1500 on

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Looks from the other post that the OP is only a Sophomore. Right now there is no reason to even think about colleges. Focus on your grades and this summer spend some time prepping for the SAT or ACT (I assume the 1560 is an aspirational goal along with your Straight As for the next two years)

Try not to put to much pressure on yourself, continue to do your best, take the classes that are appropriate for you

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