Tough Call

Applying to College
1

Hey guys I’m about to enter senior year. I go to a pretty big suburban school in New YOrk. Please rate my chances on these schools:

SUNY Binghamton
SUNY Geneseo
Emory (1st choice)
Georgetown (second choice)
Hamilton College
University of Chicago
Cornell
U. of ROchestor

Brief overview:

gpa: 94.5 unweighted gpa (roughly 3.8 unweighted)
Ive taken the hardest courses available: All honors/ AP
I’ve gotten all A’s in the class except for physics (86)
Rank: Top 4%; of about 600 kids

SAT:
1940(Bad i know): Math-650 Verbal-650 Writing-640
Sat II’s: NOne yet, but plannin on U.S. history and math
SHould i consider taking the ACT’s ??

EC’s

S.T.A.R.S. - 10,11,12
FBLA-10,11
Amnesty International- 10,11,
Jr. Class president
Student council president this year
Jesus Youth Association
CHurch Group
COmmunity service 300 hrs.: Volunteer at LIbrary and Physical THerapy Clinic
Peer Tutor.
New York Boys’ State
Instrument: Viola: 8 years: Nyssma Gold medals fresh and soph. yrs.

Sports:
Freshman: Baseball( captain), JV. Basketball, JV. soccer

Sophomore: JV baseball ( captain and MVP); JV basketball ( Coaches’ award recipient); JV soccer (Captain)

Junior: Varsity baseball starting shortstop; Varsity Soccer starting midfield;

SUmmer:
Knights Baseball:1996-2003
American Legion Cyclones (baseball): 2005
Community Service

Work Experience:
Reffed CYO basketball 2004- present
Summer Enrichment Instructer: present
INternship at Columbia this year.

My senior year im am doing an interesting program where ill attend h.s. for the first part of the day and then go take college courses elsewhere. During the week i get to go on clinical rotations w/ doctors of various fields. Its a unique program. Obviously i chose the medical part over education,engineering, and law.

I know i need to work on my SAT… please help… im plannin on majoring in economics… but im not sure. SHould I look at any other schools?

2

<p>I'd say Cornell, Chicago, and Georgetown are Reaches
Emory is a Slight Reach
Hamilton, U of R are Matches
The SUNY's are Safeties</p>

3

<p>Yes, try the ACT.</p>

4

<p>In my opinion you have good chances of getting into any of those schools.</p>

5

<p>If Emory is your first choice, you should apply for the Emory Scholars Program. Every high school can nominate four students, and if you make it to the finalist stage, you can get a full tuition or full ride scholarship.</p>

6

<p>Yea.. but the applicant pool for Emory Scholars is quite impressive. THey only award about 150 scholarships from a pool of 2000. I mean, honestly, my stats are not that impressive. Most of the kids that receive these awards have national recognition in some area.</p>

7

<p>I got it, and I didn't have national recognition in anything. It's not a lot of extra work--an extra essay and recommendation, and they just send you a letter if you've advanced at each level. It's always worth a try.</p>

8

<p>I am guessing you're doing CUNY's Bridge to Medicine? Several of my friends did that, and in no way is it a guarantee to Sophie Davis, in fact, many of my friends who did Bridge was rejected! What HS do you attend?</p>

<p>SUNY Binghamton: Yes.
SUNY Geneseo: Yes.
Emory (1st choice): Maybe.
Georgetown (second choice): Maybe.
Hamilton College: Yes.
University of Chicago: Maybe.
Cornell: Maybe. Depends on what college.
U. of Rochester: Maybe. It's getting harder these days.</p>

9

<p>I got to Monroe Woodbury High School in Orange County. The program is called 'New Visions'. SUNY schools do award full credit. I take classes like Bio I and II, English 101 and 102... etc.</p>

10

<p>SUNY Binghamton - match/safety
SUNY Geneseo - match/safety
Emory - match
Georgetown - reach/match
Hamilton College - match
University of Chicago - reach/match
Cornell - low reach
U. of Rochestor - match/safety</p>

<p>definitely take the ACT - many people find it much easier, more practical, and score better, then at some schools, you can submit only ACT! (that's what i did, lol!)</p>

<p>for more safeties, consider: Boston U, Brandeis, Pitzer College, Northeastern</p>

<p>also, Claremont McKenna College has the top-rated Econ program for undergrads - if you want to major in Econ, i really think you'd be doing yourself a disservice if you don't apply there.</p>

11

<p>Your GPA and courses are very strong as are your Ec's but 600+ SATs will introduce an unknown into the equation that will make your application unpredictable. I would NOT consider Brandeis, URoch, or even BU a safety. The SAT's are really at the low end of what they accept but again your grades will pull you up. I agree the SUNY's are probably safeties. If you can pull your SAT's into the 1400/2100 range you will take away a lot of the uncertainty and give yourself a lot more choices. But in the end make sure you do apply to sufficient true matches and 1 or 2 real safeties. Good luck!!</p>