What are my chances at my dream school, Boston College?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

GPA: UW: 4.0 W: 4.7
ACT: 30
(I know this is the bottom percentile for BC, I’m taking the December one and I hope to get a higher score, I’ve worked really hard prepping for the ACT and brought it up from a 27)

SAT II: Chemistry/ 640

AP:
AP Chemistry(3)
*my school does not offer many AP classes until senior year(I opted out of taking APUS because I wanted to focus on AP chem since that is my prospective major)

This year I’m taking
AP Calc
AP Biology
AP Government and Economics
AP English

In addition I have taken all other Honors classes throughout high school.

Ranking:
Top Ten Percent(technically top 5 but the school only uses ten percentiles)

Awards:
Highest Grade in Honors Chemistry(10th grade)
Highest grade in Honors French II(10)
Highest grade in AP Chemsitry(11th grade)
Highest Grade in honors bio(11)
Highest grade in U.S. history(11)

Extracurriculars:
CSF senior representative
Interact secretary
ASB secretary
Ambassador for my school
Gavel Club Treasurer(lead by a Toastmaster)
Vice President of National Honors Society(first group inducted by the school ever)
Vice President of a business that our class established with a teacher
Volunteer at local hospital
Member a local teens charity group

*im also working on trying to shadow a dermatologist, this is my dream career so I’d love to shadow one.

Greek dance and ballet dance(although I quit ballet middle of sophomore year)
I speak Arabic and English

*First Generation to go to college

I’m Middle Eastern but I classify as white(female)

Low income(around 60,000) will apply for financial aid.

Prospective Major: Biochemistry

Besides BC, I will apply to BU, NU, NYU, Fordham, GWU, University of San Francisco, Chapman

I’m live in California and go to a private catholic high school.

Please give me some feedback! What do you think my chances are! I know my ACT is bringing me down but BC is my dream school, I love it so much. I understand that my ECs are not the most spectacular and my ACT isn’t the highest but I truly love everything I do and I love being involved in my school and helping others.

2

Anyone?

3

You are at the bottom of the middle 50% not actually the bottom. Your chances are about average.

4

You have a shot but BC gets so many apps, it is a tough admit for most. Perhaps consider adding Villanova and Holy Cross

5

@wisteria100 I thought about applying to Holy Cross but I ultimately didn’t feel comfortable since I haven’t visited Worcester since I am from CA. Villanova I was just researching but it’s kinda the same situation but I’ll look more into it.

6

The area around Villanova is extremely nice. The airport is close too.

There are several other schools in the area as well.

Worcester isn’t attractive but you shouldn’t dismiss Holy Cross because of that. Worcester has a very big student population.

7

I’m definitely not dismissing Worcester because of its attractiveness, it’s more so that I haven’t visited the town ever. And since I am from the west coast it’s rather hard for me to visit many east coast cities. I love the east coast and all the colleges I’m applying to are ones that I have personally visited and loved. Holy cross is also a little small for my taste :slight_smile:

8

Most schools understand that kids who live far away can’t always visit before they apply. Worcester not too far from Boston and many other colleges in town. Villanova close to Philly and in a nice suburban area.

9

Bump

10

So do you guys think BC is a match or a reach?

11

BC is definitely a reach, but I’d still apply though. Try taking the SAT if you did well on the PSAT.\

GL

12

Bump a last time

13

Bump

14

Good luck from a BC grad…!

15

Boston College is a far reach. Northeastern and NYU are also Reach schools.
If you can raise you ACT’s to 33/34/35 range that will make a huge difference —I know it’s frustrating about how important scores are but they can help separate you from the pack.

Biochemistry will be brutal at these schools–would you consider looking at schools that are less selective–are you interesting in the East Coast specifically? What about the California public schools?

16

I’d say it’s a reach, raising your scores would help you a lot, but if you have a great hook on your personal statement, that could negate your good, but not great score. Biochem is very competitive, so if you’re not entirely set on it, you could definitely get in on a less competitive major. For east coast schools, I would agree with Villanova – my AP Micro/Macro teacher and a friend from band both attended, and from what I’ve heard it’s not the best area for crime, and there is some amount of racial profiling in the police that made it more difficult for both of them. For west coast schools, I would recommend UCs (Davis, Irvine, Riverside, Merced, and maybe Santa Barbara). They are highly ranked and not all of them are super competitive except for SouthCal ones and Berkeley.

17

Chance me? http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1834024-chance-me-for-ucs-particularly-berkeley-la-sb-davis-usc-and-uwash-seattle.html#latest

18

@ruetherford when you say biochem is competitive do you mean it is a popular major and therefore difficult to get in with? Or just in general it’s a difficult major considering all the science classes it entails? Either way I am very sure that I want to go into this major.

19

@hi456378 From general experience, biochem and any engineering are either incredibly impacted or just very popular letters and science majors. Thus, average scores/gpa for those majors tend to be higher than the school average and will reduce your chances of getting in. But if you’re set on it, stick with it! :slight_smile: Much easier to get in on a competitive major than get in on an easy major and try to transfer, especially with more competitive schools.