Please Chance Me for New England Schools! (BC, BU, Syracuse, Cornell, Lehigh, Villanova)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

–Hello! I am currently a rising junior so I don’t have two years of my class stats but I want to be chanced early so I can try and improve (I need improvement lol) thanks for reading!
–Me: female, white(bleh), middle-class, will apply for financial aid- NJ resident
–Highschool: School is like #1000 out of all the school in the USA, if that matters
–Major: Computer Science, Data Analysis, or Information Technology
–LEGACIES: Syracuse & Cornell

–W GPA: 4.23
–UW GPA: 3.87

*FRESHMAN YR:
honors bio: B-

pre-algebra enhanced: A-
ceramics: A+
honors english: A-
honors world history: A-
Honors Italian: B+

*SOPH YR:
Chem: A-
Algebra I Enhanced: B+
honors english: A-
APUSH ONE: A
honors italian: B+
interior design: A+
honors english: A
comp science: A+

*JR YEAR- My projected schedule (rising junior 2019)
APUSH 2
AP Lang
Physics
religion in america + sociology
honors italian
Algebra II with Trig Enhanced

–ECS:
One Spirit Club- member of club that gives back to native american reservations in South Dakota
–PAW- member of animal welfare club, do fundraisers to help animal shelter
–Varsity Swimming: 2 years
–JV Cheer, ( freshman year) then Varsity Cheer (soph and will be junior + senior)
–Marching Band + Concert Band: 1 year (know how to play clarinet)
–Assistant Coach/Mentor for younger cheer team: 1 year (I was on this team before I went to high school)
–Volunteering at a nature center: 1 year-- cleaned falcon cages/fed animals/typical barn stuff
–Volunteer for Cheer showcase: 2 years-- helped and aided younger cheer teams in getting ready for their performances

SCHOOLS: Cornell, Syracuse, Boston U, Boston College, Villanova, Lehigh, Brandeis, Vassar
**If you can talk about any of these schools (regardless if you can chance or not) please reply! I would love to hear your experiences with them and/or applying to them.

–also I know I am not a senior and applying, so if any of you can give me advice to improve my ‘application’ so that I can get into these schools later would be really kind!

**If you just want to say something random, that’s okay too!

2

You’re doing great. Keep up the good work. Important to have a good junior year and don’t forget to study/prep for your SAT and ACT. That will be important.

All great schools and all very competitive. Vassar is a pure liberal arts college. (2500 students) Beautiful school too.

Lehigh (7000) and Brandeis (3600) a bit larger than Vassar and more noted for their STEM programs but great in all areas. Brandeis has graduate schools making it feel a bit larger than a pure LAC like Vassar.

BC (9000) and Villanova (3600) have very similar characteristics. It would be slightly more challenging by a hair to be admitted to BC. But both are fantastic.

Syracuse (15000) and BU (18000) are on the larger size. But different campus structures. BU has a long and somewhat less defined campus along the Charles River intertwined with the city. Syracuse is traditional and very nice campus. Boston is a great college environment.

BC Villanova and Syracuse also offer high level college athletics to enjoy as part of the experience.

One thing in common is they are all very expensive schools. So that’s a factor too. It will be part of the equation once you’re applying. Although they all offer financial aid of some sort. Time for that concern in a year or so.

Good luck - work hard and have some fun too.

3

Just FYI, none of these are in New England except BC and BU.

4

Brandeis too.

5

The B grades in bio and math will be noticed, for a stem or math-dependent major. And you need to continue with core history classes, not electives. Not just 9th grade world and then APush 1 and 2. Will you make it to AP calc by senior year? Is there no honors physics available?

And your ECs don’t reflect an interest in CS, and many are on the lite side- nice intentions, but fundraising and mentoring younger kids or helping at a youth event aren’t the level of action the competition will bring. You’ve got to realize those colleges are used by many top performing kids (academics and ECs) who also apply much higher. You need to be comparable, you compete against them.

You don’t yet have test scores, we have no idea how the APush score will turn out. Etc.

The good news is you have 16 months to fine tune. But you can’t, unless you get a better idea what does matter. That needs to start with what these colleges say and show they want and look for. Think about it.

6

Sorry! I just assumed since they’re all in new york/penn/mass they are new england.

7

Okay thank you! There is no honors physics- its only AP physics or regular-- since I moved down to cp chem (I had a terrible year in honors bio- i could rant about that but it doesnt matter) there is virtually no chance to go from CP–AP. I definitely won’t make it to AP calc- only pre-calc unfortunately- but I will probably take AP stat in senior year if that helps anything. I definitely think my ECs arent that great, but I don’t think I can win any awards or join anything related to STEM at my school (the only program is very strict and makes ppl stay from 3-10 every day- and I can’t do that with sports) Anyway thanks so much for chancing me, you really opened my eyes.

8

You will need a high score on the ACT/SAT to have a realistic shot at BC, BU, Vassar and Lehigh (33 or higher/1500 or higher). Maybe for Villanova as well (which has gotten much more difficult to get into in the past few years). Cornell will be a huge reach no matter how well you do on the SAT/ACT notwithstanding legacy status (which will only help if you apply ED) since your HS course rigor below what is expected at that level of school.

9
  • Study and prepare for your ACT/SAT. As noted, you need a 98th percentile or higher score to be competitive at most of these schools.
  • I agree with lookingforward, If you are interested in CS/Data science, you need some STEM EC (and it can be summer coding or robotics stuff).
  • If you need financial aid, get a budget from your parents and run the NPC on each of the schools. These are all very expensive schools and some are not great about meeting need.
  • When you have actual stats, make a realistic list that is mostly focused on match and safety schools and not a bunch of reaches.
  • Cornell only gives a legacy bump in ED but you need to still be a strong applicant. I agree with the poster who said your course rigor is not currently competitive for Cornell and for a STEM major, they are going to expect top grades in math and science classes and math through calculus.
  • Some of these schools recommend SAT II subject tests.

PS. NY and PA are not part of New England.

10

Syracuse and Villanova are easier to get into than the others.
You have a wide variety of schools, so I think this is a good time to think about what you would like in a campus. Urban/suburban/rural, what size school feels right? It seems like you’re only thinking about distance - which is an important factor - but you’ll need to narrow it down. Good luck and good for you for being proactive and planning things in advance!

11

Why is it that 4 of the 6 schools mentioned in the title aren’t in New England…

12

You can see what you can do, starting now. Up the comm service to hands on, for people/ the needy in your local area. Yes, look at good robotics camps or CS programs. And many kids shift their ECs, when prepping for college. Not saying you have to, but you need the long view, esp for Cornell, Vassar, Lehigh.

13

I realize that now- cant change it, oh well!

14

Yes Cornell is a long shot (really only applying because of my dad) so I’m not really taking that extremely seriously. I projected I would get a 1430 on the SAT, which I guess is really not that great. I am currently doing a CS summer course, however the only robotics club is too time consuming with sports and other ECS (most kids in my school who do robotics only do robotics)

15

I def think I need more ECs relating to Tech, not gonna lie I’m really struggling with that- thanks for the reply!

16

quick bump

17

Quick answer: what have you done in the time since the opening post, to learn more about what these targets want and what more opportunities are available to you, to show both rounding and depth? Plus drives and compassion?

“I realize that now- cant change it, oh well.” As a rising junior, you have 17 months until RD deadlines. There’s a LOT you can do to boost the picture of yourself (most of which benefits your own growth, too.) If you can build better, then presenting as a stem kid who also cleans falcon cages (maybe the essay, with some CC help?,) could be pretty darned interesting. But build the basics, first.

18

if you need Financial Aid, just know that not all of those schools meet full need. I believe that BU and 'Nova do not meet full need.

If you have legacy at Cornell, consider ED there, as they meet full need and you will get a boost from ED. But only ED if you have a test score above their median and after you visit and can call the school ‘home’ for four years. (I’m a fan of Ithaca, but many are not.)

Keep up with math, i.e, PreCalc/Trig senior year. Also, does your HS offer AP Comp Sci?

19

let me google that for you.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England

20

Thank you for the advice, its very helpful!! When I said "“I realize that now- cant change it, oh well.” I meant that someone pointed out all the schools I said werent in NE- I meant the fact that I couldn’t change the title, haha.
No worries, I am def going to work harder and improve! You have been so helpful!