Please chance me for Vanderbilt, Carnegie Mellon, Boston University, UChicago

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey guys! I’m a rising senior from California concerned with my chances for the private schools I plan on applying to. I have posted here before, but I was only asking chances for UC schools, so I’m making a new thread. Any feedback would be appreciated!

GPA: 4.59 W, 3.94 UW
SAT: N/A
ACT: 33 (M:34 R:33 S:34 E/W:28)
Rank: 7/474 (top 2%)

I have taken four AP courses, World History (10th), Biology (11th), English Language and Comp (11th), and US History (11th). I got 4’s on Bio and World History and 5’s on Lang and US History. I also have three years of Spanish, one year at the honors level. I also took a Physical Geography class this summer at a local community college that I will get an A in.
Senior year course load: AP Government/Honors Econ, AP Lit and Comp, AP Stats, AP Art History, yearbook.

EC’s (not too much going on): Sophomore class vice president, 4 years of Academic League (2 years JV 2 Varsity), participated in Academic League All-Star match for my school district, yearbook editor in chief, JV water polo 2 years, JV swimming 2 years, Varsity swimming 1 year (most likely swimming again senior year too), nominated for RYLA and Boys’ State (could not attend either), participated in AP Bridging program to aid incoming freshmen, vice president of Oceanography Club, Key Club member, CSF 3 years, club swim during off season
My volunteer hours are so low that they aren’t worth mentioning although I’m going to try to get the ball rolling later this summer and into the school year.

Recommendations: Will have some fantastic letters from my swim coach (also yearbook instructor), Geometry teacher (who I also do yard work for sometimes lol), and my counselor (I know Vanderbilt requires this).

Essays: Will be very strong, most likely going to about some struggles with addiction and substance abuse in my family and how it has motivated me to stay focused on my goals and learn from their mistakes

Awards: AP Scholar with Honor, Principal’s Honor Roll, San Diego Union Tribune Scholar Athlete, awarded varsity letter in swimming in 2015, might get Merit Commended (200 on PSAT) but I doubt it. Cutoff will most likely be a couple points above that :confused:

I know I’m a bit weak on the EC’s but I’m hoping my GPA, rank, and ACT score will offset that, at least to the more score-focused schools. Also, I’m a white male in the income bracket of $150,000-$200,000. And I know that UChicago is the biggest reach, but I’d like to know if they’d even really consider me. I know it’s a long shot.

Thanks for reading! I’d be more than happy to chance back if you’d like me to.

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One more thing: my intended major is Biology.

3

Vanderbilt: Match
Boston University: Match
Carnegie Mellon: High Match
UChicago: High match/reach

4

your ECs are good except the fact that you don’t have very many volunteer hours.

5

@fuzzyorange Thank you for chancing! I will chance you back as soon as I get a moment @jman457 True, I was going to try to work on that more leading up to app deadlines so hopefully I can get some consistent hours in. Other than that, do you think I have a decent shot at any of those schools? I might scratch BostonU, I’ve heard the campus isn’t that great.

6

You seem to have a good chance at these schools, and yeah I had a friend who did a Journalism camp there and she said she wasn’t that impressed. But you could always do a google image search for more reference.

7

You don’t need community service hours just to woo the admissions officers. They’d be much more impressed if you genuinely wanted to help the community and started a community service initiative in Key Club to tutor and mentor inner-city, underprivileged students.

If you don’t want to do that, then don’t. Make your genuine interest to help others genuine.

8

Boston U: Match
Vanderbilt: Very low reach or tad bit high match
CMU/UChicago: reach~high reach. These two can be as unpredictable as Ivy league

What are your safeties?

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@PartyNextDoor Well said. I’ll definitely think about possible service projects and try to get involved! @paul2752 So far the closest thing I have to safeties are UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, and UC Santa Cruz. I’m very confident I could get into any of these four (I’m in state) even though they’re still considered somewhat selective. The other schools I’ll be applying to are UCLA, UC Berkeley, and possibly Rice. I’m not really interested in the liberal arts route. Thanks for chancing!

10

I’ll also apply to Vanderbilt, but probably not Boston U, CMU, or UChicago.

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Also, with an RD Acceptance Rate of 9.5% last admissions cycle, I disagree that Vanderbilt is a match. Maybe a Low Reach/Reach.

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Since you are IS for UCs, I would also add UCR just for the worst scenario. UCR is the bottom of UC hierarchy but still considered to be better than many other state universities. I would be surprised if you don’t get in UCD/UCSB/UCI/UCSC.