So...would I get into these colleges?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Here's my list:
Amherst
Carleton
Dartmouth
Georgetown
Haverford
Macalester
Oberlin
Princeton
Swarthmore
Wash. U. in St. Louis
Williams</p>

<p>It's a lot, I know...I haven't decided if I'll narrow it more yet.</p>

<p>Stats:
GPA: 4.6 weighted, 4.0 unweighted, ranked #1 in class
ACT: 36
SAT: 800 Math, 780 Reading, 760 Writing
PSAT (taken twice): 239, 235; in that order
AP scores so far: All 5's (World History, US History, Statistics, Chemistry)</p>

<p>Classes this year:
AP English
AP Government
Latin II
AP Biology
Discrete Math
AP Calculus BC
Base Pair (a selective program offered by my school and the nearby hospital, allowing for hands-on biomedical research instruction, with a mentor who works at the hospital)</p>

<p>EC's:
Mu Alpha Theta 9-12 (President this year)
National Honor Society 11-12 (VP of Membership this year)
Technology Student Association 9, 11-12 (Sergeant-at-Arms)
Academic Decathlon 11-12
Model UN 10-12
Choir 10-12
4 years Piano Lessons</p>

<p>Hopefully National Merit Finalist, I know I'm a Semi at least
AP Scholar with Honor, so far
Various Mu Alpha Theta state awards (2nd in my category two years in a row, I think)
Outstanding Delegate and Outstanding Country Representation at Model UN last year
A few gold medals in AcaDec last year</p>

<p>My teacher recs will be superb, all the teachers like me a lot.
My essays should be nice, I'm generally a good writer, can be very good if I'm not tired...heh.</p>

<p>Do I have a lot to worry about? I'm told I don't, but I want to get some people's opinions...I know my numbers are good, but I'm not sure if my dearth of non-academic EC's will hurt me too much.</p>

2

<p>Oh, and I'm from an urban high school in Jackson, Mississippi, if that makes a difference. Granted, it is the best urban high school in Jackson, but an urban high school nonetheless.</p>

3

<p>Why even ask with such great scores?</p>

4

<p>I'm guessing ALL of those schools would be pleased to add student from Mississippi with those SATs. If I were you, I'd dump Wash U, Haverford, and Macalaster and add Harvard, Yale and Brown. Oberlin is a nice safety.</p>

5

<p>tourguide, sounds like OP wants a LAC...just becuase he/she has the stats to attend an Ivy doesn't mean he/she wants to. I hate how lots of kids on this site feel that high scores and grades mean a person should attend a top 30 institution. Sometimes, its not all about rankings..</p>

6

<p>I am leaning more toward LAC's...but a uni isn't out of the question, hence Wash. U, Princeton, etc. Thanks for the advice, I'm not really worried now...heh. I was really considering Yale and Brown, and I suppose Harvard for the financial aid, so I may take tourguide's advice. Haverford and Macalester were already further down on my list anyway. I like Oberlin quite a bit for the political activity, and the musicality (word?) of it.</p>

7

<p>Oberlin sounds like a great fit for someone with your talents and interests.</p>

8

<p>Out of curiosity, why Haverford and Macalester? They were further down on my list just because they didn't stand out to me as much as the others, why are they the ones I should cut?</p>

9

<p>If I actually had something to say, this wouldn't be a true bump, now would it?</p>

10

<p>Lol, you're a really awesome student! Outstanding! I think you'll be just fine :) hehehe...going to narrow down that list? It's gonna be a lot of college app. fees :D But have fun your senior year!</p>

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<p>banana, first of all, I'm not a kid. 4 degrees, 10 years naval officer, 10 years college philosophy instructor. You do the math. I'm about as far from being an Ivy fluffer as anybody on this site, but I can't deny the way an Ivy degree can catapult a person from a less-flashy background (e.g., Mississippi) into a position to compete with anybody anywhere. </p>

<p>Since Wash U, Georgetown, and Princeton were on the list, I concluded that it wasn't just LAC's in which the OP was interested.</p>

<p>When you're in a position to get in literally any college on the planet like the OP is, you can afford to be SUPER picky. I'd eliminate WashU, Macalaster, and Haverford because none of them seems even close to being "best of breed," and the OP would have to be explaining what and where his alma mater is the rest of his life.</p>

<p>Those 3 are are a bit hazy even in the minds of a lot of people who know quite a bit about colleges. As life goes on, you will find benefits in having gone to a place that is fairly well known and/or not easily confused with other colleges.</p>

12

<p>OK, thanks TourGuide. I think I'll at least get rid of Haverford and Macalester, and add Yale and Brown back to my list...I've been pretty impressed with what Wash. U has sent me, so I'll probably hold on to them a little longer, and I'm just not sure how much Harvard is getting by solely on reputation these days...I mean, I'm sure it's still a good school, but I get the impression that compared to Yale, Brown, Princeton, etc. it's less undergrad friendly.</p>

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<p>What school do you go to pensive?, I live in Brandon mississippi which is super close to jackson (not like you don't know, heh). Jackson Prep maybe ?, just curious...</p>

14

<p>Well, I guess I should have been more specific when I said urban high school, I guess I meant public urban high school. I don't know what it is, for some reason I wasn't thinking at all about JA/JPrep/any of those others when I said urban. I actually go to Murrah. Where do you go?</p>

15

<p>Good call on Harvard, Pensive. You're probably right about the others being more undergrad friendly.</p>

16

<p>why do you think you need more ECs? it's like a college pet peeve when people post 20 ECs...i would say choose like 5 that really matter to you</p>

17

<p>Just because I see other people on these boards with outstanding EC's, and very involved in all of them...I myself wonder where they find the time to do all that, but whatever.</p>

18

<p>So here's an interesting question...how much of a chance is there that I wouldn't get "matched" with Amherst if I did Questbridge and ranked Amherst as my top college? It's my #1 choice, and I can see myself having a great 4 years there.</p>

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<p>I feel like I'm typing this simply to fulfill the 10 character limit, and it's true.</p>