Should I retake? Am I looking at the right schools?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey guys, SATS just came out and I'm unsure as to whether or not I should take them one more time. I'm really looking to get some feedback on how I'm doing, and it would be really helpful to know my chances at some/all of the following. Thanks in advance!</p>

<p>Davidson College
Northwestern
Johns Hopkins
USC
UNC (out of state)
Penn, Cornell, Dartmouth</p>

<p>Maybe Yale SCEA.
Someone once told me that it's much easier for guys to get into yale because they get almost 1/3 less applications from men than women, and accept the same amount of each. I realize it's still incredibly selective, but I'm curious.</p>

<p>Here are my stats:</p>

<p>Geographic/Racial Diversity
- White 11th grade Male in Austin, Texas
- First Generation College Student.</p>

<p>GPA and Rank
- Weighted GPA: 106.84 (we have a weird 100 point scale..)
- Unweighted GPA not reported.
- Class Rank: 1/517 at a really competitive Public High School</p>

<p>AP's and Honors Coursework/Grades
- AP World History-A/A
- AP Calc. BC-Not taken yet
- AP Environmental Science-not yet
- AP Chemistry- A+/curently taking
- AP English 3- A/current.
- AP English 4-not yet
- AP U.S History- A+/current
- AP Government-not yet
- AP Economics-not yet
- AP Spanish Language- A+/current
- AP Spanish Lit- not yet
- AP Psych.-not yet taken
- all other classes are Honors Classes with A+</p>

<p>SAT Scores*
CR- 740
Math- 750
Writing- 740 (10 Essay)
also 225 PSAT, so I'm national merit in Texas.</p>

<p>2230 composite.</p>

<p>*These are superscored. I have taken it twice.</p>

<p>Subject Tests
World History 770
Chem-790</p>

<p>Extra Curricular Activities</p>

<p>Elected Class Office Positions
- Sophomore Class President
- Junior Class President
- Student Body President (Just got elected! I'm Excited!)</p>

<p>Academic Competitions</p>

<p>State-wide Science Competition(UIL)
-3 years participation
-Team Captain for two years
-Qualified for regionals this year, we beat out schools in our district to go.</p>

<p>State-wide Social Studies Competition(UIL)
-2 years Team Captain
- First Place Team at District level, qualified for regionals</p>

<p>Social Events Comittee
- Head for one year (10th Grade)
- Planned a school dance from the bottom up.
- Planned Homecoming events</p>

<p>Community Service Committee
- Head Junior Year
- Sponsored outings to a retirement home
- Organized a school-wide coat drive
- Organized other outings to marathons and other community stuff</p>

<p>Principal's Council
- Member 3 years. (Elected)
- We sit with the principal once a month and discuss campus issues.</p>

<p>National Honor Society
- Member 3 years
- Officer 1 year
- Elected as Liason to Student Council</p>

<p>Summer Activities</p>

<p>10th grade
- Employed as a cashier at Chick Fil-A (3 months)
- Was tutor at a summer program for elementary schools (3 months)</p>

<p>11th grade
- Researching sustainability with faculty at UT-Austin, hopefully a good rec letter.
- Camp counselor at a residential camp for children with special needs (4 weeks)</p>

<p>Thanks a bunch guys! I know this is lengthy, but I tried to make it look nice!</p>

2

<p>I think that those are good schools to aim for, however, you might want to add a couple of extra “safer” schools just in case.
Personally, I think that you just about have USC in the bag, but the others are just really iffy for everyone</p>

3

<p>Thanks! Yeah, this isn’t a composite list it’s mainly just the schools I’m interested in that are really tough to get admitted to. I’m definitely applying to some public honors programs and stuff like that. I know A&M has a good program, so that’ll definitely be on my list. But I didn’t really think anyone would know any stats, etc. about the program there. </p>

<p>That’s really good to hear about USC though, out of the above list I’d say I’m mainly looking at them and Davidson.</p>

4

<p>What program/major are you applying for?
I know that A&M has some great programs.</p>

<p>And yeah, USC and Davidson are probably gonna be really, really good chances for you.
And USC is awesome (attending next year)</p>

5

<p>I’m not totally sure at this point, but I’m pretty interested in stuff like theoretical math, economics, and the environment. So really anything in those fields would be cool. I still have a couple of months to decide, I just haven’t had that a-ha moment yet. Hopefully it happens pretty soon though. </p>

<p>And I really respect a lot of A&M’s programs too. Plus they’re really generous with money, so at least tuition could maybe be waived. Their engineering is stellar.</p>

<p>I’m glad my chances seem good at both of those. Congrats on USC by the way! It’s such an awesome school. We’re originally from the West and it’s EXTREMELY well thought of out there. The networking is amazing too. I haven’t yet visited, but I feel like when I do it’ll be at the top of my list. If you don’t mind me asking, what program are you doing there? and what made you pick them over your other options?</p>

6

<p>I got the best financial aid at USC, so I’ll end up paying about 8k a year there.
I’m going into International Relations/ Global Business, which is supposedly really good at USC. Pre-law</p>

<p>USC just seems like such a fun place, and I felt like it would give me the full “college experience” unlike Boston College, Tufts, UT Austin, NYU etc.</p>