Hi! I’m beginning the college search process and was wondering about my chances at these schools:
USC
UT honors
Georgetown
Penn
Boston University
Rice
Brandeis
Duke
Here are my stats (I’m a junior):
GPA: 4.0 UW / 4.6 W
Rank: 10/659
SAT: 1430
ACT: 32
PSAT: National Merit Finalist
APs: World History (5)
I’m in the IB program and will not complete testing until the end of senior year.
Eagle Scout at 14
Orchestra (9-10) All-Region Member 2015, 2016
Marching Band (9-10)
Debate (10-12) Regional Qualifier in Informative Speaking 2016 and 2017, Secretary
National Honor Society (11-12) President
Youth Leadership Arlington Program (11)
Straights and Gays for Equality Club (11-12) Secretary, Vice President
Youth Advisory Board Member for local non-profit (10-12)
Teen Court volunteer (10-12)
Campaign Intern for state house candidate (Summer of 2016)
Richard Greene Scholar (exclusive scholarship/internship program, will intern throughout city during senior year)
Co-Founder of Stick it to Homophobia, a fundraising campaign that sells homemade stickers to profit LGBT charities
2nd Place Arlington Youth Service Leader of the Year 2017
The specific UT Honors programs are the Liberal Arts Honors and the Plan II Honors programs.
What other colleges fit my stats? Just brainstorming and seeing what I can reach for. Thanks! I also plan on taking the SAT and ACT again.
The only thing bringing you down from a high chance at acceptances to almost all of these are your ACT scores and lack of APs (but you’re an IB student so even trade?)- which by most standards is average for these schools. Penn and Georgetown will be trickier. Your ECs look incredible by the way!
I’d recommend Syracuse for a safety/match, as well as GWU and American if you’re interested in DC colleges. UCLA if you’re willing to pay the OOS tuition… What’s your intended major/areas of study?
@iamverystressed2000@kjake2000 my index score is way above the predicted cutoff for semifinalists in Texas and since 15,000 of the 16,000 semifinalists become finalists i’m pretty confident that I will be a finalist. Basically as long as your SAT is close to your PSAT and you have a high GPA, you’ll be a finalist. This is what i’ve read and heard from others.
Honestly, looking at everything, you have a good chance at getting into all of them. Georgetown, strangely, is sneakily not as selective in its admissions process as it seems, they really care about essays, which allows a whole smorgasbord of people to be accepted. I think overall everything looks excellent (especially ECs). Just take a lot of care and write excellent essays.
Unless you have a hook, your sat or act is a little low for your reach schools - Gtown, Duke, Rice, Penn, so take one of those again. You also won’t be named a finalist when you apply, just semifinalist. Your ECs are little scattered, colleges may wonder if you’re really passionate about debate, band, - all the reaches will get students with those ECs. Your service and volunteer are very good, they should see the eagle scout and your work with the LGBTQ community as unique, make sure that doesn’t get lost.
I disagree with @HopefulCollege95 about Georgetown. Of course, I am biased. Let me set that off the record. Although many people may get in, all the people who did get in were those competitive enough for the ivies (and from my school, there are many). Every student who got in From my school either got waitlisted from 3+ (I got waitlisted 3/6, my friend got waitlist 3/3, etc) or got into at least one. Also, Georgetown cares a LOT about stats. Essays are important for every school but gtown specifically does look at gpa UW and sat/act to distinguish waitlist vs accept.
If you’re applying to SFS, it’s gonna be pretty hard. College on the other hand-- you have a shot if you get sat/act up!
Oh, as for the other schools: I think you have a decent chance at all of them except Duke and PENN-- I’d consider those two high reaches (unless you ED duke and show interest)