Tufts, Dartmouth, USC, UCLA

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I am a senior in high school, applying to colleges. I was just wondering about my chances to my current reach schools and if I should add any other reach schools while I’m already writing essays over break haha

UW GPA: 3.95
W GPA: 4.63
ACT: 33 (35E 34M 32R 31S) (haven’t gotten my writing score, but I got a 32C with a 10W in October)
APs: Euro (4), US History (3), Physics 1 (4), Calculus (4)
Senior Course Load: Choir, IB Biology HL, IB 20th Century History, IB English HL, AP Stats, AP Psych
Awards: nothing really…AP Scholar with Honor and I will be one of my school’s valedictorians this year

ECs:
-babysitter for my younger siblings since I was 12 - just the usually things like cooking for them and driving them places while my parents work and deal with their health issues
-hospital volunteer (8 hrs/wk since May) (150+ hours) - greeting visitors, assisting patients, running errands for nurses and doctors
-volunteer church camp counselor (approx. 100 hours/summer; 2014, 2015, & 2016) - basically imagine being in charge of 15 girls while living in a tipi/teepee
-private math tutor (2 hrs/wk since I was in 8th grade)
-started working as an instructor at a math learning center a few months ago (working with kids K-12, 6-9 hrs/wk) - I love this job so much because the kids are adorable and we have a whole lot of fun
-youth leader at my church (I commit about 5 hrs/wk to this) - lots of meetings! I have to conduct them and attend several other ones with the adult leaders in our church. I plan weekly recreational and service activities.
-campaigner for a local school board candidate (2 hrs/wk) - passing out flyers, knocking on doors, waving signs, etc. (she won by a landslide haha)
-poll worker for the general election (15 hrs on election day) - really informative and fun experience
-track and field (9th and 10th grade)
-school clubs (sitting with the special ed students once a week for lunch, other service clubs, NHS, HOSA)
-other service through my church (about 100 hours total)

Letters of Rec
Counselor: probably generic, but I talked to her about it and she probably said some really nice things
Teacher #1: junior year English teacher - my favorite teacher of all time and she loved me a lot, we were really close
Teacher #2: sophomore/junior year Biology teacher - probably also generic, but she liked me and I gave her a lot of info to go off of about my passions and diligence

Essays
Common App - This sounds really bad, but I’m still not done with it. I’m unsatisfied because the story I am trying to tell is central to who I am as a person and it is really hard to convey in 650 words. It’s about the last year of my life and the struggles I had to endure and everything I sacrificed for a particular family member, including time away from school and some pretty dark experiences. The main themes are love, empathy, and persistence.
Supplements - I really like all my supplements so far. I find these easier to write because I talk about happy things because I have been fortunate to have great friends, resources, and benefits that not everyone gets to have.

Other Info:
Ethnicity: white
Gender: female
Family Income: over $100k but I don’t know (my dad is a college professor)
State of Residence: California
Intended Major: Undecided (biology, physiology, neuroscience, biochemistry, something like that)

Here’s my current list of reach schools (I do have other schools that are matches and some that are over 50% acceptance rate):
Tufts University
Dartmouth
University of Southern California
UC Los Angeles

I don’t feel like I need to go to a big name school, but I think it’s always good to apply and see what happens. Any suggestions or criticisms are much appreciated! Thanks! :slight_smile:

2

And I also don’t have any SAT subject tests…do you guys think this will be a huge problem?

3

Subject tests will probably be an issue. Gosh do I hate those tests! I’m applying to all of your listed schools (added Tufts recently), so if you’d like to compare yourself: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1939905-chance-me-p1.html

4

@yalehopeful017 Yep I probably should have just taken them, but whenever I’m not at school I’m working or volunteering, so the time just slipped away! And I’m so sorry you got deferred from Yale, by the way. Maybe you’ll still get in though (fingers crossed). Regardless, I’m sure you’ll get into a really great school :slight_smile:

5

Since I am a freshman, I am worried that I will tell you the wrong thing, however, I will try my best to help, because I want to help you. I personally will go step by step. Your GPA is superb, congrats! So is your ACT score and course load. You have a lot of IBs and APs. I do not believe you need SAT Subject Tests for the colleges you are applying, but they may be recommended, which may benefit you in the future or possibly now. Whether you would like to take the subject tests or not, I will probably leave it up to you. You also have really good EC’s. About your essay, that is completely okay! It is best to take your time and prepare for it and make it insanely awesome. It sounds like the reader of the essay is absolutely going to enjoy it. I am sorry about those dark times you faced, and I’m so glad you made it out of there. Personally, I think you will get into UCLA and USC. Darthmouth, I think you do have a chance, but I can’t be so sure about it. Tufts, I also believe you have a chance in.

I wish you the best of luck! I’ve thought of going to USC, and UCLA is one of the top colleges I want to attend as well. So, good luck! I wish you the best!

Have a good day and happy holidays!

6

Based on your academic interests and profile, I’d recommend you consider the NESCAC LACs and perhaps Colgate. Several of these schools fall within your indicated reach range:

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-50-smartest-colleges-in-america-2016-10

7

Have you and your parents run the net price calculator on each school?

For UCLA and other UCs, you may want to see http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1903428-faq-uc-historical-frosh-admit-rates-by-hs-gpa.html .

8

Why does everyone here care so much about SAT Subject Tests? They are honestly not that big of a deal except for schools that require them.

9

@ucbalumnus : Based on available information, would you estimate the OP’s probability of acceptance at UCLA to be ~53%, ~14%, or some other figure?

10

@ucbalumnus No they have not. My dad has taken the approach of applying to schools and seeing the financial aid they give us. But I am almost completely covered at 2 of my safeties, so I will be going to college.

@merc81 I believe my capped UC GPA is 4.21, if that helps haha

11

@toolegittoquit, that’s great, and apparently right where you need to be for UCLA.

12

4.21 just barely noses into the range which had a 53% admit rate last year (versus 14% for the range just below). It may be more realistic to estimate the chance based on GPA to be somewhat between those rates.

Net price calculators exist to reduce the amount of “apply and hope” that sometimes leads to financial shut-outs because none of the schools was affordable. At the very least, using them to get estimates could allow avoiding wasted time on applications to schools with no chance of affordability.

At least you do have definitely affordable safeties, unlike some others who apply blindly (with respect to cost and affordability), so you will not get completely shut out.

Regarding other schools, USC is generally seen as roughly comparable to UCLA in admission difficulty, but has a reputation of favoring test scores more (UCs tend to favor GPA more). Each has divisions where some divisions may be more or less difficult to get into than others (or at the other school).

13

@toolegittoquit All good! Praying something ends up happening in regular, but I know I shouldn’t expect it. And thanks! Good luck with your schools as well.

14

For Dartmouth, the lack of SAT II’s will likely be a slight negative. Otherwise, I think you have a good shot at all the other schools.