Recommendations?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I have a list of schools I'm interested in, but I was just wondering if anyone on here could tell me how far exactly I should reach. If I could get any advice on the caliber of schools I have a chance at I would really appreciate it!</p>

<p>Gender: Female
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Location: IL
School: Public very competitive high school, 3200ish students
Rank: Top 10%
GPA: 4.13 W, mid 3s UW</p>

<p>I don't know whether to mention this in my application or not, but my grades took a serious dive sophomore year do to a difficult time I was going through outside of school...had it not been for this, my GPA would be 4.25+.</p>

<p>8th Grade High School Credits
Honors Geometry, Honors Spanish 2, Art I</p>

<p>Freshman Yr.
Honors Native Speakers Spanish 2, Honors Biology, Honors English, Honors History, Honors Algebra II, Photography I, TV/Radio Production</p>

<p>Sophomore Yr.
Honors Native Speakers Spanish 3, Honors Chemistry, Honors English, Honors World History (no AP offered at sophomore level), Honors Trig, Honors Child Development</p>

<p>Junior Yr.
AB Calculus, Honors English (no AP offered at junior level), AP Spanish Native Speakers, Honors Advanced Journalism, AP US History, Honors Physics</p>

<p>Senior Yr.
Going to take AP Psychology, AP Spanish 5, Honors Senior Studies (a specialized course my school offers that incorporates intensive community service, English and history), Honors Sociology, Honors Advanced Journalism</p>

<p>ACT: 33 (retaking in 2 weeks...hoping for a 34)
Taking SAT and SAT IIs in the Spring</p>

<p>EC:
Varsity cross country 9-12, Captain 12, All-Conference 9-10, Rookie of the Year 9, assistant manager when I broke my foot (this year).
Student Council 11-12 (hopefully will be voted secretary for next year)
Junior/Senior Musical 11-12 (on the executive showboard next year)
Soccer 9 (both club and through the school)
Varsity Track 10
School newspaper 11-12
Contributor to online teen-focused journal 11-12
Scrabble Club (haha) 11-12
100+ hours community service</p>

<p>Award:
All-Conference cross country 9-10
Rookie of the Year in cross country 9
Freshman and Sophomore Honor Society
Hispanic Honor Roll every year
Spanish Department Award 9
Honorable mention at state competition for child development project sophomore year
Honorable mention at Chicago Metropolitan History Fair for a research paper I wrote</p>

<p>Job Exp: 15 hours a week at a restaurant for a year and a half.</p>

<p>ANY advice would be appreciated!</p>

2

<p>Yea you definently seem to have the credentials for Ivies. Aim for the best schools you can. The only hindrance I think is your GPA UW (I have a friend who had in the mid 3s and he was hispanic, with solid SATs and got into Stanford!!) Your ACT is up there, extracurriculars are real good, tons of APs, and some job experience. All good stuff. If you're really dedicated, I would recommend creating your own club at your school. I created my own club and it definently gave me an advantage over other students. Just remember to continue participating in as much as you can without really having your grades go down. </p>

<p>If I were you I would definently aim for the best, with some safety schools in case everything goes awry. Princeton Review allows you to fill out a quick survey about your grades and volunteer stuff and they also can give you an idea whether a school is your safety, target, or reach. </p>

<p>good luck</p>

3

<p>Thank you!</p>

<p>bbbbump</p>

4

<p>I agree any school is possible. Also, what is your financial status. Are you aware of the financial aid initiatives for families earning under 60K, 75K and 100K at various schools? If the bad grades were an aberration they can easily be explained in your personal essay.</p>

5

<p>My family doesn't qualify for need-based financial aid I don't think. But thank you for the advice.</p>

<p>Anyone else?</p>

6

<p>Perhaps being a little more specific with schools I'm looking at would help.</p>

<p>Large public universities -- Wisconsin, Michigan, Berkeley, CU Boulder (safety?), etc
Medium/large private universities -- Tufts, Emory, Tulane, Cornell (ultimate reaches--Brown, Penn), etc
Small liberal arts schools -- Claremont McKenna, Bates, Colorado College, etc</p>

<p>Brown and Penn would be too much of a stretch, right?</p>

<p>Any additional school recommendations would be greeeatly appreciated!</p>

7

<p>BUMP 10char</p>

8

<p>What are your goals? Do you prefer urban, suburban or rural?</p>

9

<p>As of now I would like urban or suburban but I wouldn't rule out rural at all (Bates, Cornell) unless I visited.</p>

10

<p>I think Michigan would be great for you. Apply BEFORE October 31.</p>

11

<p>That's good :)
Michigan is my first choice.
Legacy x2 as well.</p>

12

<p>bump! 10char</p>

13

<p>In California, USC would be a good match school. Santa Clara would be a good safety.</p>

14

<p>BrownPenn may be reaches (they are for everyone) but by no means impossible for you!</p>

<p>It might also depend on your plans for major, career, etc</p>

15

<p>I think you have a great shot at most of your schools your resume is REALLY impressive! I'm a senior this year so I have recently been through the whole process. I am deciding between Berkeley and UCLA and I think you can definetly get into Berkeley (noticed it was on your list). I had a 3.995 unweighted but not nearly as many AP classes and only a 30 on my ACT. I never though I would get into my top choices but I did! So I say reach as high as you can, you really never know and I think you have a great shot :)</p>

16

<p>Thanks! I'm hoping I can put together some great essays to put me over the edge at most of these reach schools. Berkeley would be very tough for me since I'm OOS but we'll see I guess. I visit on Sunday.</p>

<p>As for majors, I'd like to go into journalism and/or sociology.</p>

17

<p>I'm out of state too! And I actually got in, a miracle i know! That is the main reason why I didnt think I would get in either.. never say never! :)</p>

18

<p>That's good to hear! And congratulations. Are you going there for sure?</p>

19

<p>I'm deciding between Berkeley and UCLA..I am totally torn, I cant decide and no one will post back on here to help me!! haha</p>