Unconventional High School Experience and ECs - Chance Me for multiple schools

Chance Me / Match Me!
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Demographics

  • US Citizen
  • State/Location of residency: Illinois, Chicago Area
  • Type of high school * Public
  • Gender/Race/Ethnicity White, Male:
  • Other special factors n/a:

Intended Major(s) History, poli-sci, econ, sociology, environmental studies, social sciences, political economy, philosophy, etc

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.84
  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 4.84, though i expect weighted to go up since a previous semester w/ honors classes were weighted as regular and I’ll be getting them weighted as honors soon.
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 36 composite ACT (36 all sections)

Coursework
(AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores for high school; also include level of math and foreign language reached and any unusual academic electives; for transfers, describe your college courses and preparation for your intended major(s))
Won equivalent of valedictorian at Senate Page school (Harvard Book Award) English award, Senate Page School

AP classes: APUSH (4), Calc AB (4) AP Lang (5) APUSH (4)

Self studied AP: Comparative Gov (5) Human Geography (5) Psychology (5) (kind of, entered second semester) AP US Gov (5) AP World (5)

Math level reached: Calc AB, taking stats senior year. Foreign languages: 4 years of spanish including middle school, ended just before AP Spanish but truthfully I was never great at foreign languages)

Awards
Harvard Book Prize
English award senate page school

Extracurriculars
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)

Intern at local map collection - sorted through and created database for Michigan resource surveyor’s notebooks, also helped w/data entry and cataloguing other antique maps.

Finance team member for large international activist group - copypasting from resume: “Coordinated grants and internal finances of a nonprofit with chapters in over 50 countries and 100 cities. Pitched our non-profit to large, grant-issuing institutions.”

Core team member of Youth Sunrise movement chapter - organized youth climate in my town, lead phonebanks, training sessions, etc

Lead writer of large video game mod. Managed team of over 130+ writers in creating one of the largest works of fiction in the english language. Over 10 million words, 250k+ players, active community. Personally wrote hundreds of thousands of words.

Ran local COVID-safe daycare/summer camp Summer 2020.

Worked as a research assistant with a team at Harvard over summer 2022, including contributions to papers on design. Traveled to India and led my own initiative to (trying not to dox myself here) design new digital and social solutions to rural Indian governance, social cohesion, and civic trust.

Acting/theater throughout high school

Political volunteering/canvassing/phonebanking for various progressive orgs throughout high school

Essays/LORs/Other
(Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.)

Essays: not sure how strong it will be yet. I have strong writing skills but not quite sure yet if I’ll be able to write a genuinely fantastic essay. At the worst, my essay will be a pretty good college essay.

LOR:

All very strong, including from prof I worked with, my AP Psych teacher who I am very close with, and my senate page english teacher who said our class was the best she’s ever had

Cost Constraints / Budget
No major constraints.

Schools

  • Safety (certain admission and affordability)
  • Likely (would be possible, but very unlikely or surprising, for it not to admit or be affordable) - likely UVM, Lewis and Clark, Santa Cruz, Whitman
  • Match: UC Davis, Bates, Tufts, Colorado College (last two are on the border w reach)
  • Reach: Harvard, Oxford (though I think I have a better chance here then at a t20 stateside due to test-taking and interview skills + they ignore GPA), Yale, Middlebury, Columbia, Berkeley
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Should also note - attended a semester school spring of sophomore year.

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Congratulations on being a competitive applicant and for all you have accomplished but I will only address UCD and UCB. Both schools are test blind so your excellent ACT score will not be considered. Why self study of some of the AP classes? Is AP CalC BC not offered at your HS? What science courses have you taken? No AP or Honors Physics, Chemistry or Biology?

You need to calculate your UC GPA’s (Unweighted, Capped Weighted and Fully Weighted) using the calculator below. As an OOS applicant, only AP/IB or UC transferable DE courses will be given the extra weighting in the calculation.

https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

Depending upon your UC GPA’s, UC Davis could be a Match but UC Berkeley will definitely be a Reach. You have just as much as chance at these schools as any qualified applicant.

What is unconventional about your HS education? You state no budget limitations so $67K/year to attend the UC’s if fine with your family?

Best of luck.

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First off, what’s the unconventional part of your high school experience? Don’t see anything unusual in your post.

Meaning, your family has explicitly told you that they are willing and able to comfortably afford $82k/year for 4 years?

You really need to start with identifying (and loving) safety schools before you go up the list to the Ivies

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Thanks for the quick reply… much appreciated!
I won’t have taken ap physics, chemistry, or biology, but will have taken honors physics, cehmistry, and biology. Sorry that I did not note that. I’ll calculate my GPA in a minute.

The 67k a year to attend the UCs should be fine.

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Thanks for the reply! Sorry - I realized I didn’t properly explain this in my post. I took a semester off sophomore year to attend a semester school - basically, I spent a semester still w a full curriciulum of honors classes but w/ frequent trips to the wilderness. It was essentially a one semester long boarding school. After that, I took another semester off to work as a US senate page (where we were only able to take 4 classes in the morning.). Basically, I’ve taken a year off of my regular high school to attend separate high schools.

There are no constraints on budget, yes. Family is in upper income bracket and cost is not a concern.

I think you’re right about safeties - this is something I’ve kind of realized is a terrible mindset to have (on my part ofc). Thank you for the feedback.

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Congratulations on the outstanding record so far!
Does your school offer BC Calc? What AP sciences are offered at your school? AP
Sciences are typically taken after you have completed the first year of Bio, chem, physics.

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also @Gumbymom - i have something of an excuse for not taking ap physics, chem, or bio: programs i was in only offered honors.

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school does offer bc calc, ap physics, bio. programs i was in only offered honors physics and didn’t offer regular bio, so i wasn’t able to take ap bio (because i would have been taking it without previous bio experience)

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Can you take BC calc instead of stats next year? Can you take an AP science next year? What isthe science you have planned for next year?

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I think I can take BC Calc instead of stats - I opted not to but there might still be potential to switch. I decided to take Bio honors because my school doesn’t recommend jumping straight into ap bio w/out a previous bio class.

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Ok. If you are not taking a foreign language, can you take a second science as AP in addition to your first yr of Bio ? That would still only be 5 core courses(and many top applicants take 6 per yr)

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Since the OP is a non-STEM applicant perhaps taking a foreign language class is more useful than overloading on advanced math and a second science class?

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Congratulations on all of your accomplishments. You will be a strong candidate at many schools, including those on your list. Unfortunately, you have chosen some very popular colleges where there are far more qualified applicants than there are spots. I think you stand as good a chance as anyone to get into them.

Removed as OP answered while I was writing post.

You may want to have a conversation with your family. Even families that are willing to pay $80k/year for a T20 private are not necessarily willing to pay $67k for an OOS public. And can all of these schools be paid for without anyone (your family or you) taking out loans?

I don’t feel comfortable chancing for the UCs, so I have left those out. But this is my very fallible sense of what your chances might be at these schools.

Extremely Likely (80-99+%)

  • U. of Vermont
  • Lewis & Clark

Likely (60-79%)

  • Whitman

Toss-Up (40-59%)

Low Probability (20-39%)

  • Colorado College
  • Bates
    (both of these on the lower end of this category)

Lower Probability (less than 20%)

  • Tufts
  • Harvard
  • Oxford
  • Yale
  • Middlebury
  • Columbia

What types of experiences would you like to have in college? Are there any activities that you would like to pursue while there? And what is it that attracts you about the schools on your list?

ETA: Moved Bates from Toss-Up to Low Probability as I misread College Navigator’s report.

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Agree, but they mentioned FL was not their thing, so I was avoiding suggesting it, and they are a bit weak on sciences as it seems they will only have the basic 3 years of science and not a 4th.

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The AP versions are offered at my school. Because sophomore year in the spring I attended a school that didn’t offer AP science classes, and junior year in the fall I attended a school that didn’t offer bio or spanish (only honors physics, which I had taken freshman year) I wasn’t on a track to take ap bio senior year. also i see you removed but this should clarify also questions about foreign language and further elaborate on ap science classes.

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I’ll have 4 years of science, but none of them will be APs:
freshman year honors physics
sophomore year honors chem
junior year first semester honors physics (only one offered) second semester honors astronomy
senior year honors bio.

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Because of only having 2 1/2 years of spanish in high school (i took honors spanish freshman and sophomore year, and audited a spanish class junior year second semester so I didn’t fall too behind), it would be difficult to go back into a high-level spanish class - i would probably just start another foreign language class, and i’m not sure how that would look on an application.

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Congratulations on your achievements.

Sounds like you have completed Spanish thru Year 4, is that correct? If you audited a Spanish class last year (which class?), why don’t you feel confident taking AP Spanish?

Others have said this, but some of your schools listed as matches are reaches for all unhooked students including Tufts (9% acceptance rate), Colorado College (12%) and Bates (13%)…all had lower acceptance rates than Middlebury (15%, which you have correctly classified as a reach) for Class of 2026.

Are you taking AP stats senior year (I don’t think you’ve said the level)? If so, it’s ok to take that instead of AP Calc BC as you are not looking to major in Stem, and have completed AP Calc AB.

I will call @twoin18 and @collegemom3717 to assist in Oxford admission potential.

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First, congrats on doing very well in high school.

Second - what matter most to you in a college? Are you looking for rural, urban, large, small, etc.

As for chancing, an applicant with an excellent ACT score, a more than solid EC list, and a GPA in the mid range of 3.8 is probably one of the most difficult cases to chance. For most colleges with acceptance ranges above 40%-50%, these stats would put the applicant in the top of the list, making most of these extremely likely, and these applicants have a much higher acceptance rate that the average for these colleges. On the other hand, for colleges with acceptance rates of under 20%, these stats would be in the bottom part of the unhooked applicants, making acceptance rates for these applicants far lower than the average for unhooked applicants.

For colleges with acceptance rates rate in the 20%-40% range, it becomes extremely unpredictable. It depends on things like demonstrated interest, fit, etc.

In general, I think that applicants with your profile may be those which benefit most from applying ED to colleges with acceptance rates in the 20%-40% range, especially if the applicant has an interesting application.

PS. Why isn’t UIUC on your list as a Very Likely? I know that back in 2019, no kid from my daughter’s pretty decent Chicagoland public high school with stats in your range was ever rejected.