Please Chance Me at Penn State, UPitt, Uconn, and Maryland

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Stats:
Rank: NA
ACT: Composite 29, Breakdown: 29 English, 27 Math, 31 Reading, 29 Science ( I plan on taking it again in hopes of receiving a higher score)
GPA: 3.45 (unweighted on a 4.0 scale), Weighted GPA: 4.15
IB Diploma Candidate. Classe (pending scores): IB History, IB Environmental, IB Spanish 5, IB Biology, IB Extended Essay, IB English, IB Theory of Knowledge, and IB Extended Essay.
AP Classes/Scores (scores received in parenthesis): AP US History(3), AP Environmental (5), AP Government and Politics(5)
Senior year course load: IB History, IB Biology, AP Statistics, IB English, IB Spanish 5, IB Theory of Knowledge.

About Me:
I live in Maryland (so I will be applying out of state to Uconn, Pitt, and Penn State)
Intended Major: Biology or Political Science
Race: White
Religion: Jewish
Financial Aid Status: most likely will not receive any

Extracurriculars
Debate Club Captain, Class President (2 years), Varsity Cross Country (4 years), Varsity Track (4 years), and Varsity Baseball (4 years)

Work Experience
Teachers assistant at my synagogue (3 years)
Camp Counselor (2 years)

Additional Notes
Currently Pitt is my number one choice, however I know that it is somewhat of a reach with my statistics, so I plan on applying as soon as possible. I plan on submitting my Pitt application the first day their rolling admissions open (July 24th). Will this help my chances of getting in.

2

being in state, you definitely have a solid chance at umd. pitt, penn state and uconn should all be solid matches, but being oos will probably hurt you

3

You won’t qualify for merit aid at Pitt (it requires a 33+act) but if you apply using the full application (not the ‘express’ one) you should be okay.

Penn State : apply for a College of Liberal Arts major or DUS, indicate interest in Paterno Fellows and try for Schreyer (essay prompts published in July).

Pitt honors depends on test scores, Penn State Schreyer depends on course rigor and essays.

Applying for political science will increase your odds significantly at both as well as at UMD.

UConn is a match but honors unlikely (worth a try though).

Will your parents pay 45k per year though? Talk with them. There won’t be financial aid and you’re allowed up to 5.5k loans so if your parents don’t have 40k in a combination of college fund /savings + income.

Make sure you have two safeties - Goucher and Towson Honors are good bets for you.