Rate my scores // suggest schools

From a competitive high school in NYC (specifically Manhattan). Rising Senior.

ACT: 34 superscore (E: 36 M: 34 R: 34 S: 33)

Interests: social media, politics, creative writing, journalism, etc.

Classes:

Freshman Year: honors bio, honors English, reg Spanish, photography, honors geometry
Sophomore Year: reg chem, reg spanish, honors English, honors algebra 2, photography
Junior Year: ap enviro, ap lang, pre calc honors, honors spanish, photography, APUSH
all of these I had 92+ in every class

Predicted Senior Year: ap bio, ap lit, ap studio, ap gov, ap Econ, reg spanish, ap calc

Clubs:
Treasurer of NHS
Editor in chief of yearbook
president of community service club
AIDs club peer advisor
(in the process of founding another club for next year)

Other:
Varsity Soccer
Varsity Track
run a beauty biog on instagram

GPA: around 96 unweighted and 101 weighted

What do you want to study? What are your career plans? Do you prefer a small, LAC-type environment or a bigger school? Do you need merit money? All of those will likely factor into what school you can attend.

Right now, it seems to me as if most T20 schools will be reaches. You might have a shot at schools like Cornell, WashU, Vanderbilt and Emory, though they’d still be at least low reaches given how selective things have gotten in the past few decades.

How about LACs? You probably have some shot at WASP, and you should have a decent chance at most LACs in the top 20 or so. Bates, Colby, Hamilton, and Colgate should all be within reach.

Im looking into bigger schools (definitely 7000+) and Im looking into a school that I can ed to so my chance of admission is increased. I also would like to mention that most kids in my school are applying for science/business majors but im more interested in communications or English. what does WASP mean? lol Also, my superstore is a 34.25 do you think its worth it to retake and try for a 35?

It might be worth it and retry for a 35/36, yes. Admissions is really competitive now so every bit helps.

Given your stats and interests, I would recommend ED’ing to one of the less competitive schools in the T20. Cornell seems like a good option: they accept around 20% of their ED applicants so it’s significantly easier to get in that way. I think it’d be best not to use your ED on something like Harvard or Stanford, since it’s so hard to get in even as an ED applicant.

What’s your highest act that’s not a superscore? Most T20’s won’t do superscoring as an option

Congratulations on your hard work and success!

Can I suggest rather than thinking about as a matter of “where can I get in?” and more as a matter of “where would be a great place for ME to live and learn the next four years?” That’s a big difference, right? What schools might work best for you? What schools will make you your best person? What schools and/or locations will have the people and places that inspire YOU? That might require some thinking about what is important to YOU; some thinking about who makes you your best person, who inspires you; some thinking about where you want to wake up in the morning and start a day that helps you grow and learn, and is fun.

You have high stats and lots of schools will at least be potentially in play. You posted about U Penn. Is that kind of urban environment and pre-professional vibe best for you? Or would Carleton College, a really tip-top LAC, with lots of very intellectual students, faculty, and staff be a better fit for you? (Probably not, since you want a larger school.) Or would you rather go to a school like UVA, a public school with lots of really bright students who are there because it’s a great school and affordable, and where sports are big time and the social life is very active.

Here are a couple that come to mind,

Northwestern–mid-size national university, obviously a great school, strong in journalism and media. It’s actually pretty incredible how many famous people, especially those who are prominent in our culture went there. And Evanston is a great suburban town, and Chicago is an A+. It has been an advantage to apply ED in recent years.

William and Mary–also a mid-size national university. I love that Robert Gates (Defense Secretary/CIA), James Comey, Jen Psaki (Obama admin spokesperson/CNN analyst), Jon Stewart, and Serge Kovaleski (award-winning NYT reporter) are all alums. I know several successful writers who are alums too. So it appears you can learn politics, communication, and writing there. And the English department is in Tucker Hall, right on the Sunken Gardens (the old academic quad with the iconic Wren Building right next door). Again, ED is an advantage for OOS students, and the school just added EDII this year.

USC–Probably everything you are looking for, with great weather and LA opportunities.

Some of the top state flagships: Michigan, UNC, UVA. Great schools, GREAT college towns. Great students. All of these offer EA options, so you could potentially have a great choice early and also ED at a school (at least 2-3 years ago UNC notified EA applicants fairly late).

Maybe Boston University too, though then you’d have to root for the Red Sox and Patriots, if you follow sports.

I’d suggest not focusing on getting your ACT up, but instead on what’s important to you. Knowing yourself is uber-important to college admissions, college success, and to life in general.

Good luck!

Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois (upscale Chicago suburb). Right on Lake Michigan. Medill School of Journalism is the best in the nation. Medill likes students to take a second major in the Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences.

Recommend ED app as NU likes to know that it is an applicant’s first choice.

Northwestern’s Evanston campus is beautiful & has about 8,150 undergrads & about as many graduate students.

Also has a Chicago campus for the medical & law schools. Very upscale area. Gorgeous.

It is right adjacent to Lake Michigan! (Spoiler alert!) They open a wall-size screen during the info session to reveal the lake right outside, and a beach too. On a clear day, you can see the Chicago skyline down the lake. It does seem like a great choice for you.

It’s not the warmest choice–the Chicago area got a couple of inches just the other day! So W&M, UVA, UNC might be great warmer weather options. But, yes, Northwestern sounds terrific for you.

my highest act composite is a 33, right now I rlly want Upenn even though I know its a reach but they superscore so I guess that works in my favor? I am definitely interested in schools in a urban area or adjacent to one!

Apply early to the University of Pittsburgh which offers non-binding rolling admission & ED U Penn.