trying to find schools to consider+possible chances

College Search & Selection
1

Hey guys ik chance me threads are in hindsight not very accurate bc they can’t truly predict what ur decisions will be but I’m very open-minded and looking to create a list of safeties, matches, and reaches.

School: very competitive school w huge minority ratio- very rare where I’m from and the ppl are so wicked smart so lots of struggles
GPA: UW: ~3.85 W: ~4.79
Rank: top 4% out of 900 ppl
SAT score: 1550 (760-r&w and 790-math) one sitting so far
SAT subject tests: planning on taking math 2, chem, us history, Spanish and italian maybe?
ACT: taking later in the summer
AP: WHAP(5), Compsci (5), APUSH, Physics, Calc BC, Spanish 4, APHUG, Chem, Lang & Composition, Psych, AP Gov
Senior Year: PE, AP music theory, APES, AP stats, AP Lit, AP econ, AP spanish 5, AP comparative gov,
Other classes: taken some gov and lit courses at UT and living w/ relatives to take classes @ rice hopefully

Awards:
-debate awards (see down below)
-piano awards (also see down below)

  • rotary award rlly betting on
  • girls summit scholar rlly betting on
  • creative writing scholar also waiting for
    -service awards
    -congressional award
    -academic/honor roll
  • rlly hope for the ap awards
    -national gt award- bc i did a program b4 high school and they sent it freshman yr
    -National academy of future scientists and technologists award

I feel like I’m lacking in this area bc I’m not a nats ranked :frowning:

EC’s
-Piano- for+12 years- music theory gold award for past 10 years and national guild award for all years and did music composition also teach younger children/ help piano studio out
-Asian dance- for 10 years- just do recitals and shows
-tennis-not competitive but just for fun but stopped b4 junior yr bc academic life
-taekwondo- end of freshman yr i got my blackbelt and quit after that
-debate team- 4 years- circuit can be a lil wonky at times so regional and local awards mostly (i made it to few bid rounds but never got the bid lmao but will rlly try this yr) also am an individual events leader and work w/ a middle school to start a debate program there
-Rotary Interact- went to conferences and district meets and leadership camps but hoping to get into this scholar program they offer
-Unicef- prez for two yrs- lots of fundraisers that were very successful
-Math and science honor society- tutor elementary kids
-spanish honor society prez
-nhs- did 2 large community service projects- service award
-intern w/ congressman for past 2 yrs
-city engineering firm intern last summer
-will be doing an internship at state court for two weeks
-have a blog that takes about global trends and doing it for entire yr
-starting a business in the summer for custom cupcakes
-work at local tutoring center on since sophomore yr but picking it up again

LOR: (ideas not sure who yet)

  • AP English- she’s the absolute best and I’ve gotten to know her well !
    -debate coach
    -AP spanish tecaher- i loved the class rlly learned a lot and how spanish lang fits into current global issues
    -Prolly Calc BC- need a stem rec to compensate for the dense humanities thing
    -congressman and my law internship
    -counselor- lol she has abt 200 rec letters to do so it will be kinda avg ig

Other:
Intended Major: poly-sci w/ minor in spanish but might do stem minor idk if that would be good idea tho
State (if domestic applicant): would rather not disclose but south lol
Ethnicity: asian
Income Bracket: upper middle
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): 1st gen immigrant but not URM so idk if this is a hook bc Asian

Campuses i’ve like thus far: rice, vandy, ut, smu, ucb, ucsb, fordham,hyps, but these seem like mostly reaches rather than realistic schools for me. So feel free to list additional ones.

Thanks!

2

American U?

3

I was looking into American U but since i kinda want to pursue stem and humanities im not so sure abt their science school since its not rlly ranked.

4

If you like Rice, then you might well like WashU (though that is yet another reach). If you like Vandy and SMU, then you might well like Wake Forest. If you like HYPS, then you might also want to consider a northeastern LAC; Williams and Amherst are super-elite, while schools like Bowdoin, Haverford, and Hamilton are “reachy” without quite getting into the realm of impossible-for-mere-mortals.

You might be able to land some merit money at Tulane (private) or Alabama (public, but with some OOS scholarships), though the vibe of these campuses is a bit different from the schools on your list. University of Richmond would be another school where you might have a shot at merit.

5

I agree with @MrSamford2014 that northeastern LACs deserve consideration. I’d argue that Bowdoin has become just as competitive as Williams/Amherst in the past years, but LACs like Hamilton and Haverford are definitely less of a reach (although they’re still very selective).

6

I also think that by considering a carefully selected group of LACs you would enhance your list. Amherst, Hamilton, Bowdoin, Connecticut College, Bates, Vassar, Claremont McKenna / Pomona and Kenyon would offer you a range of selectivity levels and academic programs. All of these schools would be strong for the study of government and public policy. Several would be excellent for natural sciences and math as well.

7

I was going to say that it doesn’t look like you are looking for the LAC experience based on the schools you have gravitated to. You also haven’t indicated whether you need aid.

Tufts and WashU both came to mind but still reachy. Pitt?

8

I would add Williams to the list that @merc81 typed out.