Updated Stats - Chance for Ivy League

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Gender: M
Race: Caucasian
Location: Wisconsin
College Class Year: 2015
High School: Public
High School Type: rarely sends grads to top schools
Will apply for financial aid: Yes</p>

<p>Academics:</p>

<p>GPA - Unweighted: 3.95
GPA - Weighted: 4.50
Class Rank: top 5%
Class Size: 400</p>

<p>Courses taken:
School only offers 5 APs, I will have taken 4 - Calculus, Physics, English, and Government. One of those (US Government) was self-study, completely without a teacher. School doesn't offer "honors" courses but I've taken basically the hardest schedule possible - biology, chemistry, physics, English and American literature, US and World History, all necessary math classes to advance to calculus.</p>

<p>Scores:</p>

<p>ACT: 35</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Significant Extracurriculars: School newspaper, Rube Goldberg/Physics Club, High school radio station, Mock trial club, Forensics, Theater, National Honor Society, Student Government, City Council representative, Political campaign intern at national and state level
Leadership positions: Editor of school newspaper, contributor to humor column of newspaper, Project leader of Rube Goldberg team, Executive underwriter (in charge of promotions and managing clients) of radio station, Student representative of City Council
Volunteer/Service Work: Volunteer work at radio station, involved with local theater productions, work with political campaigns, helping with school office work, helping with local homeless shelter
Honors and Awards: High academic honors (3.75+) every semester of high school, National Merit Scholar, Attorney awards in mock trial, State awards for Rube Goldberg machine</p>

<p>Colleges of Interest:</p>

<p>College: Harvard University, Choice #: 1, ED/EA: Yes, Athlete: No, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: Yale University, Choice #: 2, ED/EA: No, Athlete: No, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: Stanford University, Choice #: 3, ED/EA: No, Athlete: No, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: Princeton University, Choice #: 4, ED/EA: No, Athlete: No, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: Columbia University, Choice #: 5, ED/EA: No, Athlete: No, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: Brown University, Choice #: 6, ED/EA: No, Athlete: No, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: Amherst College, Choice #: 7, ED/EA: No, Athlete: No, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: University of Chicago, Choice #: 8, ED/EA: No, Athlete: No, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: Northwestern University, Choice #: 9, ED/EA: No, Athlete: No, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: Georgetown University, Choice #: 10, ED/EA: No, Athlete: No, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: University of California-Berkeley, Choice #: 11, ED/EA: No, Athlete: No, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: New York University, Choice #: 12, ED/EA: No, Athlete: No, Legacy: No, Status: Will Apply
College: University of Wisconsin-Madison, Choice #: 13, ED/EA: No, Athlete: No, Legacy: Yes, Status: Will Apply</p>

<p>Desired College Characteristics:</p>

<p>Major: Political science (pre-law)</p>

<p>Location type: Urban, Small City
Size: Small (Under 2,500), Medium Small (2,500 - 5,000), Medium (5,000 - 10,000), Large (10,000 - 18,000)</p>

<p>Area: East Coast, West Coast, Midwest
Importance of cost: Important</p>

<p>Other: I'm open for more suggestions as to schools I might like. I know my list is heavy on reaches and a little short on safeties and matches, but I'm perfectly happy with my ultimate safety school, Madison, so I'm not too worried about it. My planned "hook" will be either my love of politics or journalism, and how those two things have helped me develop relationships with my family. I'm going to be working on Russ Feingold's 2010 senate campaign and for another candidate's state legislature campaign this summer. So, I have a very big history of working in politics. Please be honest and give me tips for improvement! Thanks.</p>

2

<p>Too many EC’s. That is not good. You don’t seem to focus yourself in a couple. Not really any sparkling EC’s either. You probably won’t get into the ivy’s. How hard did you work on your UoC essays?</p>

3

<p>I’m a junior right now, so I’m not applying to any schools until next year. But I’m not sure I agree with your conclusion that I have too many EC’s - just because I have a lot doesn’t mean I’m not focused. I spend probably 20 hours a week with the newspaper, and maybe 20 hours a month working with city council, so there’s definitely a focus with clubs like newspaper, radio, Rube, and mock trial - and the rest are more periphery, though still important.</p>

4

<p>Harvard doesn’t have EA/ED, so perhaps consider applying early to an unrestricted EA such as Chicago (can’t hurt).</p>

<p>Also, nothing wrong with being heavy on reaches but it looks like you’ve picked the top programs from all across the country; have you visited any of these schools? Try and narrow the list to those that you can really see yourself attending.</p>

<p>Write great essays and focus on your passions, and you may be competitive.</p>

5

<p>Yes, I’ve visited all of the Ivy League schools I’m applying to except for Princeton, but I have a good friend who goes there and I’ve learned a lot about the school through him. I guess I’m a chronic Kerouac-like personality, I fell in love with each of those four schools I visited. I’ve also visited Amherst, Northwestern, UChicago, NYU, and Madison, so the only schools I’m applying blind on are Princeton, Stanford, and Berkeley… though I’m going to California next January and may check out Stanford.</p>

<p>Harvard, Princeton, and Yale are for the great teachers and the work hard/play hard atmosphere (Yale particularly for its more laidback feel). Stanford is for high academia but in a more pleasant part of the world. Columbia and NYU are because I love New York. Amherst and Brown are for their awesome curriculum. Georgetown and Berkeley are for great political schools, and finally, NW, UC, and Madison are for great schools closer to home. So I have legitimate reasons for all of my choices; I’m not the type of person who just checks the rankings and applies to all of the top 20, nor do I really care for prestige but rather education and fun.</p>

6

<p>bumpin’ for my OCD-having, college-worrying self.</p>

7

<p>bump again.</p>

8

<p>I think your case is very compelling. You show your interest in politics in your ECs and summer activities. </p>

<p>Honestly – your chances look great (better than average for these very selective schools). I think it will come down to your essay. If a college asks " Why _____ (insert college name)" you can write about your visit and how their law program matches your academic passion.</p>

<p>I’m thinking the only thing that will hold you back is course difficulty (but you took the max number of APs at your school) and some of the subjective parts of your app (recommendations). So get good with your history teacher, but I’m sure they already adore you, hahaha.</p>

<p>I’d be surprised if you didn’t get accepted to at least half of your choices. And I feel that way because you really show your passion for law.</p>

9

<p>Thanks so much. I’ll be sure to focus my essay and ingratiate myself to the social studies department… there’s one teacher in particular (my school’s political science teacher, actually) who I worked with on a campaign that I think could provide a convincing recommendation.</p>

10

<p>What was the breakdown for the rounded ACT score? Sometimes that matters</p>

11

<p>34 Math, 34 English, 35 Reading, 35 Science. Odd because reading and science were always my worst scoring parts in my practice tests and I always got 36s in the math and english parts of the same practice tests…</p>

12

<p>bumpin’ for liberty.</p>

13

<p>Bump. I’m looking specifically for my chances of getting into Northwestern, UChicago, and Georgetown now, since I know that my Ivy League chances are, as per usual, fairly slim.</p>

14

<p>I think you have a great shot at all! It will all come down to your essays, etc. Oh btw Harvard doesn’t have EA/ED
You have a strong list, though, if you would be happy going to all the schools on there!</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

15

<p>In at amherst and madison. Ivies are definitely a possibility. Great test scores! In at nyu
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/815067-chances.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/815067-chances.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

16

<p>HYPS are reaches; Others are low reaches; NW, GT, Chicago, and Amherst are high matches; NYU is a safety</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/816994-chances-will-return.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/816994-chances-will-return.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

17

<p>Class course may seem weak in comparison with others here, but you did the best with that you had and I respect that [I’m sure the adcoms do too.].</p>

<p>I would say top tier ivies are a reach for you as for anybody, but you have a really decent shot at the mid ranged ivies. I would say you match all of the mid-tiered schools [NW, etc]</p>

18

<p>Bump. If anyone could please chance me, specifically for my mid-level schools like Georgetown, NW, UChicago, and maybe even Brown, Columbia, and Amherst? I’m trying to get a good picture of my realistic chances of attending one of those schools.</p>