Top Colleges: Best chance for Admittance

34 ACT
96.5 unweighted average
780 World SAT 2
740 Bio SAT 2
2 AP classes Sophomore year, 3 Junior Year, 4 AP Senior Year
All honors except Spanish

I could go into my extracurricular and honors but they are decent- not the best in my opinion. Officer positions in and out of school. I want to be a political science major and my resume definitely reads as one. I interned with a congresswomen, and have poli-sci oriented clubs, however, I am well-rounded and like science.

I want to apply to Northwestern early, My mom went to Cornell, which gives me legacy status and I live in New York. I also love WashU. I want a medium size school with a campus so suggestions wanted as to where I should apply and where I have the best chance.

Thanks!

@xodance28

You have a lot of great possibilities. I assume you know that at any highly selective school, matching stats and great ECs, etc. is a huge plus but there is always a randomness factor. But just based on stats, etc. your chances for those 3 schools are excellent. You could also look at USC, Vanderbilt, Duke, U Chicago, Tulane (you would get a lot of merit scholarship money there), Georgetown, and a few others like these. While you wouldn’t be likely to get into all of them, it seems highly unlikely you wouldn’t get into at least 3 of these, assuming your essays and other materials are first-rate. I assume you would also apply to a few state school branches just to be on the safe side, and there are a few privates where your admission would be nearly a sure thing.

With your record you could get a list of 100 schools or more that could be very nice for you. I think you need to start thinking about strong preferences such as weather, sports scene, Greek scene, how far from home, etc. And that is assuming finances are not an issue. If they are, you probably want to focus on schools with generous aid. That would all depend on your exact financial situation. But outside of finances, my point is that you can find great academics and lovely campuses at dozens of schools. That is why you need to be thinking about other factors that could narrow the search.