Rate my college list

Test Preparation
1

<p>Hello everyone,</p>

<p>I am just another ordinary junior looking for advice to which college I should apply early decision, early action, or regularly. Also, I want to know which colleges are far reaches and which colleges I have a chance.</p>

<p>A little about me:</p>

<p>Ethnicity: Vietnamese
I amFirst Generation
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Languages spoken: Vietnamese and English</p>

<p>My GPA - 95% - which is 4.0 I believe
SATS: Math 770, Critical Reading 600, Writing 750
SATIIS: 650 Chem (really bad), will take Math I, Math II, Latin </p>

<p>Freshman courses:
Geometry Honors
English 9 Honors
Latin II honors ------> GPA - 92.58% (I regret not trying)
Biology Honors
Freshman writing
Religion</p>

<p>Sophmore courses:
Algebra II Honors
English 10 Honors -------> GPA - 96.5%
Latin III Honors
Chemistry Honors
Modern European History Honors
Religion</p>

<p>Junior courses:
Precal Honors
English 11 Honors
Latin IV AP ------> Current GPA - 94.5% (will have 95% after year ends)
Physics Honors
U.S. History AP
Religion </p>

<p>Future Senior courses:
Calculus AB
English Language & Comp AP
Latin V Advanced Topics
Physics AP
Chemistry AP
Western Philosophy</p>

<p>EC:
Diversity Club
Latin Club
History Club
National Honor Society
Math Club
(will join more next year)</p>

<p>Sports:
Varsity Basketball Junior and Senior year</p>

<p>Summer Activities:
Last summer I tutored students for The SteppingStone Academy
This upcoming summer I will tutor for SteppingStone again
This upcoming summer I will volunteer at a hospital - if not a library atleast</p>

<p>My college list recommended by college councilor (though I will replace some):</p>

<p>*Amherst College
*Boston College
*Boston University
Bowdoin College
*Brown University
Carnegie Mellon University
Colby College
*Cornell University
*Harvard University
*Johns Hopkins University
Lehigh University
U. of Rochester
*Tufts University</p>

<p>Additional colleges I might apply/look at:
Northwestern Univ
Georgetown Univ
U. of Notre Dame
Washington in St. Louise</p>

<p>Possible Early Decision colleges:
Brown
Tufts
Johns Hopkins University</p>

<p>I plan on taking heavy math/science courses for premed purposes.</p>

<p>My friend, also a first generation Vietnamese from my school, who had similar grades and the exact same courses as me, is currently going to Harvard for premed, and also got into Bowdoin, Cornell, & BC (didn't tell me other colleges). All i know is he got rejected from Amherst, not sure about the other schools.</p>

<p>But anyway, I am unsure of what colleges I have a chance at. I should ask my college councilor, but i want to know some more opinions.</p>

<p>Also, I want to go to a college where i have a high chance to receive good grades if I try hard. I heard some colleges just set rules for the average GPA and fail even the kids who deserve good grades. (Primarily for applying to Medical/Dental school). </p>

<p>The other colleges will be the ones that i most likely will apply to, I might not apply to some.</p>

<p>Should I apply early decision for Brown? Or for Tufts? Perhaps even JHU.</p>

<p>As of now, I am MOST interested in Harvard (though it probably won't happen), Brown, and Tufts. The colleges I WILL apply to are * above. Please tell me if I have a chance and if the college is a reach. </p>

<p>Thanks for your time!</p>

2

<p>Whoops, posted in wrong section.</p>

<p>Forgive me guys</p>

3

<p>Try to raise that CR score because it’s supposedly the most important component of the SAT. </p>

<p>Amherst is an absolutely amazing college. If you’re a truly exceptional individual you might get in. If you don’t especially stand out don’t get your hopes up. It has a ridiculously low admittance rate. Same with Harvard.</p>

<p>Boston University isn’t too difficult to get into but it’s a good school.</p>

<p>Boston College is a really good school, known for Business and that sort of stuff.</p>

<p>Cornell is a good possibility. Make sure you have leadership positions and like extremely large campuses.</p>

<p>Carnegie Mellon is actually not as difficult to get into as I believed. I think it’s a great option for you; very achievable.</p>

<p>Tufts is great but erratic with its admissions. It expects admits to have a high SAT score and costs a lot. </p>

<p>Notre Dame is primarily white and Catholic. Make sure you would feel comfortable there. Gorgeous school. </p>

<p>WashU waitlisted a lot of people this year. Grade deflation.</p>

<p>JHU is amazing. Everyone I know who goes there loves it. Harsh competition for pre-meds.</p>

<p>U of Rochester is very expensive.</p>

<p>My advice for you:

  1. Make sure you would actually attend and enjoy attending the schools you apply to. Don’t choose them solely based on the name.
  2. Try to visit the colleges you apply to. A lot of people find that their perception of the college is a lot different than how it really is.
  3. Make sure you can afford to attend the colleges you apply to. I can’t tell you how many kids I know who couldn’t attend their dream school because it cost too much. You also have to pay for grad school. Also, early decision students tend to receive less financial aid so keep that in mind.
  4. Keep in mind that very few people actually end up going to Med school. Most students change their major multiple times. If you’re absolutely sure you want to go to Med school I strongly recommend attending a slightly lesser known college and earning a near-perfect GPA and a high score on the MCAT.</p>
4

<p>What no MIT???</p>