<p>Hi! I'm currently just finishing up my junior year in high school, and I've been thinking really hard about college. I have visited USC, UW, GWU, Georgetown, UT Austin, Harvard, UChicago (legacy) along with a few others. I really value education and want to go to as good of a school as possible (my parents would like to send me to an elite school but I doubt that is possible). However, my ACT score is a bit of an obstacle. I have only taken it once (retaking it in June) and I was sick on the day of the test, but I only got a 26... Anyways, I'm a pretty well rounded student. So far I have 4 varsity letters (and 1 academic letter), have a gpa of 4.0 every semester of high school (23 A+'s, 13 A's, 3 A-'s) while taking mostly AP/honors courses. Along with that, I have published a research paper on GMO's, am Vice President of National Honor Society, started an after school tutoring program at a local elementary school, student ambassador, I spend hours organizing volunteering events and volunteering, I'm also active in many other clubs and leadership activities. </p>
<p>I'm also currently working on a research project with a private company and USDA and going to be working on hopefully publishing another paper from the findings. </p>
<p>Overall, I just have a great passion for learning and helping others and want to find the perfect environment for these passions to continue to grow.</p>
<p>I'm hoping to possibly double major in economics and business with a minor in international relations. </p>
<p>Any help or recommendations on what I can do to improve my chances or what schools I should apply to would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much :) </p>
<p>Is this the first set of college admissions tests you’ve taken? That is very unusual for somebody with your academic abilities who is looking at such selective colleges. Most would have taken PSATs, one set of SATs, one set of ACTs, and probably some SAT Subject Tests by the end of junior year. I have to suspect inadequate college counseling at your school. That ACT score is very, very low for the schools you are considering. I recommend that you expand your search to include some prestigious, test-optional colleges like Colorado College, Bowdoin, Pitzer, and (as I saw recently) Wesleyan. It is unlikely that your score will rise enough for you to become competitive at any Ivy League schools, unfortunately. Since there are no tests administered over the summer, you will not have new test scores until the deadlines are approaching for early admission applications. You will have to build your college list with what you have now, not what you hope to have next fall. Will you need financial aid? Finding good, test-optional, liberal arts colleges which offer decent aid packages might be a challenge, but not impossible.</p>
<p>Take the SAT-it never hurts to try. I did far better on the SAT than the ACT. I would also suggest looking at some test optional schools. Middlebury is not strictly test optional, but sounds like a good environment for someone really passionate about learning and they give you the option of submitting three SAT IIs rather than the SAT I or ACT. If you are very strong in 3+ subjects, that could be another option. If you lift your score a bit maybe Emory - great business school and still has that elite status while its a little easier to get into. If your score stays about the same maybe American- you would still be in D,C. Fordham also has a wonderful business program and I think you would have a pretty good shot there as your stats stand now.
You wouldn’t be able to double major in business and economics and minor in IR at Georgetown by the way, as you cannot major/minor or double major across schools.</p>
<p>@SummerAus @woogzmama @gibby @happy1 I raised my ACT to a 30 (math 35, but science held me down a bit). Not planning on retaking it. Would you now be able to suggest what schools I should apply to? </p>
<p>@gibby that is an interesting site but a little dangerous. For example, it lists Pomona and Stanford in the SAT 2080 list even though that is below the 25% percentile of each school:</p>
<p>Of course some students will get in to those schools with a 2080 but we all know the prevailing CC wisdom is that you’d better have a pretty strong hook to apply to top schools if you are under the 25% percentile.</p>
<p>what do you mean by USC and UW? and what is your state of residence?</p>
<p>GWU, Georgetown, UT Austin are all possibilities. Harvard and Chicago are high reaches. UT is a reach because it can only accept 10% of its class from OOS applicants. Georgetown is a reach if you apply to their School of Foreign Service but a match otherwise, and GWU is a safety. Johns Hopkins is a reach.</p>
<p>Other schools strong in economics, business, and international relations? Usually economics and business are separate from each other; econ usu is found in the school of arts and sciences and is math intensive. Business is of course found in business schools, so you may have to make up your mind which one you want. Intl Relations is usually in arts and sciences like econ, often in the polisci department. You can add Tufts to your list of reaches, and its IR Program is one of the oldest and best. Also, Claremont McKenna is very strong in econ, polisci, and IR and supported by courses at the Claremont Consortium.</p>
<p>Schools that would be matches for you along the lines of the schools you’ve visited and that are strong in business and/or econ and IR would be URochester, where IR is a major within polisci; Lehigh has an entire department dedicated to IR; BU’s Pardee; if you’re female, Wellesley; Bucknell, and it sends a lot of students abroad; NYU is strong in econ and IR; .</p>
<p>Safeties include UMass, where there is a certificate in IR and the Five College Consortium from which to choose econ and polisci classes. The other four colleges are also options for application but vary in difficulty of admission. UCSan Diego has a deep list of IR courses. If you like SD, the U of SD is another safety. Syracuse’s Maxwell School might also be a safety. I hope this helps.</p>
<p>Wow! That’s an impressive jump. That Math score should help you; every admissions committee perks up at the sight of a 35, but the composite remains a little low for the toughest schools. I’d say cut Harvard from the list. As a legacy at Chicago, you might consider ED there, and then select some schools with non-binding Early Action or rolling admissions as back-up. If you’re not sure UC is first choice, or you think you’d prefer G’town for Poli. Sci./Int’l Relations, then have those two schools at top of your list. They are both very strong in your fields, and are reasonable reaches for you. I’d certainly apply to Occidental as a match. They are surprisingly strong in your fields of interest. GWU is a match, and American is a low-match/near-safe for you. </p>
<p>I would be remiss if I didn’t ask whether your family can afford one or all of these schools. Have you run the net price calculators for any of them? have you had The Talk and gotten a firm number from your parents as to what they will commit to providing you each year? Money is where the rubber meets the pavement.</p>