<p>Schools that I'm applying to (this does not include ones that I have already gotten into/know that is a safety):</p>
<p>Brown, Yale, Harvard, Tufts, Georgetown, Northwestern, Middlebury, Amherst, UNC @ Chapel Hill, UVA, Dartmouth, and Kenyon.</p>
<ul>
<li>Location: Miami, FL.</li>
<li>Race: Caucasian... Parents: Russian</li>
<li>First Generation College Student</li>
<li>School: Extremely competitive Math/Science Magnet School, in the Top 100 Best High Schools by U.S. News & World Report (in the middle 50s- early 60s)</li>
<li>Class Rank: Top 5 % (we aren't provided with the actual number until graduation)</li>
<li>Unweighted GPA: ~3.7/4.0</li>
<li>Weighted GPA: 5.41</li>
<li>ACT: </li>
<li>June 2011= 28</li>
<li>October 2011= 30
(I'm retaking it in February, Harvard takes that test into account)</li>
<li>SAT II:</li>
<li>French Language (w/o listening): 760</li>
<li>U.S. History: 730</li>
<li>Senior Year Course Load:</li>
<li>AP French Language & Culture</li>
<li>AP English Literature</li>
<li>AP Biology</li>
<li>Honors Calculus</li>
<li>AP Human Geography</li>
<li>AP U.S. Government & Politics</li>
<li>AP Art History</li>
<li>AP Microeconomics</li>
<li>Other APs: Environmental Science (3), U.S. History (4), English Language & Comp (5)</li>
<li>ECs:</li>
<li>I spent this past summer in Northwestern Argentina working in a center for children with cerebral palsy and then in a school in an extremely small, impoverished town. While there I also basically reconstructing within because the walls were crumbling and then I sanding, plastered, painted, etc.</li>
<li>I'm trilingual (French, Spanish, English)</li>
<li>French Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, Social Studies Honor Society, National Honor Society</li>
<li>Interact Club: Sergeant-at-Arms, Historian (leadership positions)</li>
<li>Investment Club</li>
<li>Spent a summer working at a Museum to teach inter-city kids.</li>
<li>Model United Nations (University of Florida GATORMun)</li>
<li>Mu Alpha Theta (including competitions)</li>
<li>Founding Member of a successful recycling project at my school</li>
<li>Varsity Water Polo</li>
<li>Varsity Swimming</li>
<li>Gay/Straight Alliance</li>
<li>Published poetry in a book for outstanding poetry by high school students - a select few were chosen out of the nation</li>
<li>AP Scholar Award</li>
<li>Over 200 Community Service Hours total</li>
<li>Participant in the Experiment in International Living, a foreign exchange program.</li>
<li>Work: French Language Tutor with kids after school.</li>
<li>Recommendations: I'm pretty sure they'll be excellent despite the fact that I haven't red them. My counselor knows me very well, as she is the sponsor of the community-service club in which I've been active in for four years and have been an officer for two. My Spanish and A.P. Environment Science teachers love me and have known me for three years.</li>
<li>Essay: I think Admissions will love it. It's about my moral philosophy and my AP Lit teacher told me she forgot that she wasn't reading for pleasure. </li>
</ul>
<p>Thanks! :)</p>
<p>bummmpppppppppppppp</p>
<p>I’d say most of those schools are reaches, because 1. most of them are reaches for everyone, and 2. Your ACT isn’t that great. I don’t know about Middlebury, UNC @ Chapel Hill, UVA and Kenyon though. On the february ACT, make sure you get a 34+ and then you’ll have an okay shot at Harvard…</p>
<p>Just don’t get your hopes up.</p>
<p>Your ACT is a bit on the low side. However, I think your ECs demonstrate international experience. The experience in Argentina can be really strong if portrayed correctly. I think you have a lot of reaches on your list, but UVA is probably a high match. I don’t know much about UNC, Kenyon, Middlebury, Tufts, or Amherst to provide you with a good chance. </p>
<p>Having a moral philosophy essay be pleasurable to read is good. Hopefully it is memorable and unique. From reading tons of my peers’ college essays (at a top 70 school also), I get the feeling that a great essay goes a long way to distinguish you from the rest of the pack. Your essays and your ACT are all you have under control now, so do the best you can. I think those could give you a shot at all these schools (Ivies can be very random though).</p>
<p>I’m not exactly familiar with how good certain ACT scores are (I never took an ACT in my life), but wow, those are A LOT of AP classes, not to mention a lot of space for classes in you schedule (you must have really short class periods or something). I think you’ll be good for Brown, Yale, and Harvard (I’m not familiar with the other schools you listed).</p>
<p>Thanks, at my school there’s a block schedule. So you only take certain classes each day and that allows us to have a large schedule.</p>
<p>i think the only things holding you back from Brown Yale and Harvard are your GPA and ACT. Though the fact that you are a first generation college student may balance that out. </p>
<p>As it stands though you seem like you would stand extremely good chances at the other colleges you have.</p>
<p>bummmmmmmmmmmppppp</p>
<p>bummmp… anyone else???</p>
<p>Your ECs are good, rank is good (but grades aren’t great). However, how are you in the top 5% of such a competitive high school and still have such a low ACT score? That is questionable… Anyway, the ACT is the only thing that stands out as non-competitive. Everything else is fairly competitive but I don’t think you will get into Yale, Harvard, Brown, Dartmouth and not a great chance at Northwestern, Amherst, Georgetown, Tufts either. However, first generation does help.</p>
<p>Don’t report your AP Environmental score on your application if you are getting a recommendation from that teacher. A 3, especially on that AP test, will probably hurt you if you list it.</p>
<p>This all changes if you’re being recruited for swimming or water polo, but I assume you aren’t.</p>
<p>Thanks, and yeah I didn’t report the 3.</p>
<p>The ivies you listed will be harder to get into, but I think you will have a better shot at Midd., Amherst, and Kenyon as they are smaller LACs and even though all schools say they look at applicants hollistically, I think small LACs do so more. It seems like you are interested in business/international relations, so Georgetown would be excellent for that. </p>
<p>Also a quick question-with your ACT results, are you sending in just the score of 30 or also the score of 28. I am wondering whether I should send in just my highest, because one of my lower scores may hurt me. Thanks! And best of luck to you!</p>
<p>Thanks for the response. I sent both of them. It wasn’t purposely, I just sent them after I took each of them, you know? I just hope that the schools will see that by improving 2 points, I really tried. Good luck to you as well! …For the ACT you have to pay each time (unlike the SAT) so you might just want to send your highest)</p>