<p>I have many colleges in mind and I am having trouble narrowing down my list. Should I even bother with the ivies (especially harvard, princeton, yale, dartmouth)?</p>
<p>My stats</p>
<p>act=29 (1st time, but will retake HOPING for 30 or above)
satII us history(700) chemistry (730)
10 ap (MOST RIGOROUS POSSIBLE) by end of senior year.
already 6 ap tests. took one 5, three 4, two 3 (mostly A and A- in tough classes, upward trend in grades) AP scholar with distinction
GPA=4.15/4.0 weighted, 3.8/4.0 unweighted
no class rank, but would be top 3% out of 700 students.
cello player since 4th grade, amnesty international (10,11,12), math team(11, 12) nhs (11,12) volunteer at hospital(11,12) tutor children(10,11,12), led a mandatory class of about 20 students (only leadership)
first generation college person (my dropped out of high school), biracial (asian caucasion), disadvantaged (low income mom recieves 12,000/year. mom went to mental hospital during my junior year and has recently been admitted, parents divorced during high school, all happened during high school but managed to keep up my grades) Planning on an excellent essay and decent recs.</p>
<p>If you are disadventaged, you can likely get a fee waiver - so then it comes to the use or waste of your time and emotional energy. If you have a solid foundation of safeties (including financial) and matches, and you have the strenght to do so - why not give it a shot if you can break 30 on the ACT.</p>
<p>Very small chance unless you can significantly raise your test scores. ACT should 34 and up, SAT I should be 2200+, SAT IIs should be (3) over 700, preferably over 750. HYP are high reaches for anyone. If you are from an under-represented state, you might be closer. Asian worn't help. First generation helps some, but would help more if you were URM. I think you should consider Dart your reach and look at some of the LACs.</p>
<p>Also, I think that I'm going to write my essay about passion for learning because I overcame academic disadvantages. Grew up never really reading, parents never really cared about academics. I was kind of "stupid" until 10th grade when I really started to challenge myself with ap classes. Did lots of reading and became absorbed in learning. (ACT jumped from 18-29) I think I will have a great essay about this. Will these factors improve my chances significantly?</p>
<p>Dartmouth loves people with unique backgrounds - you have an edge there. I think you are totally in the ballpark, although the scores will be your main issue. Have you considered taking the SAT instead of the ACT? I know a guy in my high school who got a 29 on the ACT but a 1500 on the SAT.</p>
<p>"Also, I think that I'm going to write my essay about passion for learning because I overcame academic disadvantages. Grew up never really reading, parents never really cared about academics. I was kind of "stupid" until 10th grade when I really started to challenge myself with ap classes. Did lots of reading and became absorbed in learning. (ACT jumped from 18-29) I think I will have a great essay about this."</p>
<p>It's a unique idea that could have some potential. Although if i were you, i'm not sure if i'd admit to an ivy league college that i'm stupid. (And definitely don't mention the jump in your ACT score. Top colleges want kids who are bright, not kids who study ridiculously hard.)</p>
<p>would it be okay to mention throughout my essay that until 10th grade when I started to take ap classes and challenge myself, I struggled to pass some basic skill tests and I just wasn't really interested in books/learning. However, all of this has changed, which I will make very evident. Also, will it be okay to say that I was very nervous with my first ap class (I worked hard, and it paid off, and I continued to do well with a whole schedule of ap classes in 11th grade. My ec will show that I do not just study.)</p>
<p>Yogurt, I circled back because I don't think I answered really honestly the first time. I don't think it's a good use of money. Chances of getting in these schools with your scores and ECs are very low. I know you've asked if you're a URM being asian/white (same as my kids). Truth is you're an ORM, O being for over. I think that the advantage of first generation and low income is much bigger for URMs than it is for whites and asians.</p>
<p>There are many, many great schools. Why ivies when they are such a stretch? This is the time to find wonderful schools to fall in love with where you have a solid chance. These next few years are going to be really tough at the most competitive colleges, don't set yourself up for dissapointment.</p>
<p>Bandit, what the hell are you talking about? a 34+? Two kids got into ivies from my school with lower ACT scores; one student had a 30 and got into Brown and the other a 32 and got into Yale.</p>
<p>Just write a letter asking the college to waive your fee and a brief explanation explaining how the fee would bring hardship to your family. Include your parent's income and you should be fine. I did this and saved over $1000 for the 15 schools that I applied to. Best of luck,</p>
<p>I have a lot of colleges on mind. Some non ivy colleges are northwestern, wellesley, university of virginia, notre dame, boston university. What about those schools?</p>
<p>Sorry if this sounds rude but you need to lower your expectations. You only have a 29 on the ACT and you are looking at ivys? Take the SATs.. maybe you will do better on that and some of your schools will be better matches. Some of your other schools look like they could be reaches also. You could get into many good schools but you just seem to be reaching too high.</p>
<p>thanks a lot. Just one more question. I just saw on collegeboard.com that cornell's act range is 28-32. Doesn't that mean i am in their range with a 29?? How much of a reach is it when I am in the middle 50%?</p>