UVA, Duke, and others

<p>UVA ED, Duke, Wake Forest, Dartmouth, Upenn, Brown</p>

<p>SAT: Highest combined 750 V 740 M, highest in one sitting 1460
SAT ii writing: 750 US History 690</p>

<p>gpa: uw 3.5-3.6, w around 4.0 (steady improvement), (no class ranking)</p>

<p>7 APs and almost everything else honors, good private school</p>

<p>solid essays, recs</p>

<p>no sports, but decent ecs, yearbook editor-in-chief and a few other activities that show involvment/commitment</p>

<p>Out of State for all of these schools</p>

<p>I understand that these schools are reaches; I already have safeties in case I don't make it into any of these</p>

<p>I say that you stand a decent chance at getting into UVa. UVa is funny though. Because it looks at the whole student rather than just raw scores, there are many students w/ better scores who are denied and many with lesser scores who are admitted. Make sure you have really amazing recommendations and great essays. Every application is read by at least 2 admissions officers. If you get deferred during the ED process and end up in the "maybe" pile during the RD process, the key is to get one of the admissions officers to fight for you. (One way of winning fans is writing really great essays that show intelligence, passion, and commitment.) For applications in the "maybe" pile, the entire admissions committee comes together and literally argues over each applicant. If someone believes in you and feels that you have something to offer UVa, that's half the battle. Hopefully, s/he will be able to sway the rest of the committee. </p>

<p>(I know all this because I volunteered in the Admissions Office when I was an undergrad several years ago.)</p>

<p>As for Wake Forest, I think it's a match. Duke et al are reaches but you still stand a chance. (Brown less so.)</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>Thanks a lot
I also have a sibling at UVA. I know this doesn't count as a legacy, but I was wondering if this had any effect on me.</p>

<p>It might be a plus. I have a friend here in NY who's from Long Island. He has 5 brothers, and all 6 of them went to UVa.</p>