4.0 UW. Taking the most rigorous coursework at my school. Full IB diploma (taking the limit allowed of HLs) with most difficult math, physics and full IB Art.
36 ACT as junior. 223 PSAT - will qualify for NMF in my state
OOS legacy UNC, legacy ND
4 years as a tutor in program seeking educational equity for under-served MS students (will have tutored the same student all four years- meet weekly at minimum).
3 Varsity sports for 3 years , 2 Varsity sports 1 year.
Two different state government programs - varying roles at assemblies each year
Mentoring and Tutoring programs for younger students in my school
Varsity Academic Team
At least 30 hours of service each year.
A few other clubs - no leadership. Played piano since elementary school.
Work part-time during the school at Walmart. Full time jobs every summer since Soph year.
I worry about lack of leadership roles - my school is really big and I try but there are limited opportunities because of the size. Most people in those roles are very concentrated in activities and interests and I am unique for doing so many things at my school (which is what I enjoy) but I know leadership roles are important. My tutoring is probably my biggest consistent investment and I have done research in my IB classes on educational equity.
It’s hard to say. You definitely will have to make sure that your application is more competitive, seeing as you are applying as out-of-state. Your ECs seem fine, though I would focus more on meaningful projects, that you have engaged with long-term, rather than finding a lot of them to list. Also, do you have an IB predicted score? Often schools really like IB students, and getting a 40+ is a really good sign to them.
38 IB (full points) would definitely be sufficient, 35-36 ok, especially considering you’re full IB and NMF.
what’s your budget?
UCLA for instance will be 65k a year. No financial aid for OOS applicants.
Have you run the NPC on all these universities and talked with your parents?
You make the cut. Don’t change anything - everything’s there.
Now, all these schools are highly selective, meaning they’re unpredictable due to the here number of qualified applicants per spots.
As a result
apply to your flagship’s honors college as soon as the app opens.
apply to another affordable safety you like (look at good choices for NMFs) as soon as the app opens.
look for universities that are affordable and that you like, with a ~30-35% admit rate: those would be your matches.
If you can afford them, McGill, UBC, St Andrews would be both matches and safeties (all they care about is your numbers. You have what they want so odds are high you’ll get in.)
UF honors has a focus on the essay portion though I do think a percentage is direct admit. But things have been changing there and it’s not quite the honors experience you’ll find at other schools.
Make sure you speak to unique ethos of each school in your supplementals.
If merit aid is required some of the schools have little or none.
Don’t get over overconfident or let it leak into your personal statement.
You’ll be successful somewhere for sure and perhaps everywhere. Good luck.
Thank you for your thoughts. I’m assuming full pay on all of these schools - the only schools that I think I would get aid from would be UGA, UF (NMF) and USC (NMF) but I obviously have to get in first.