<p>OK. I think you need to take a deep breath, because you seem to be at a great place right now. You have a GREAT GPA, plenty of EC's, and you seem to be pretty good at writing- 11 SAT essay. Your test scores are not ideal, but most Liberal Arts schools don't take that into account as much. The reason I bring up writing is for your essay- one of the most important parts of your college app. </p>
<p>People are bombarding you with messages saying you're aiming WAY too high. In some cases, I think you are. Getting into Ivy's with those scores is near impossible unless you have ungodly other stats. The fact of the matter here is that you really shouldn't aim too high. If you REALLY want to go to a reach schools, you should apply to more of them. More than 8 schools is not too many to apply to.</p>
<p>Remember, you have a great hook- 1st Gen. college student.- and college is what you make it. You can go to a state school and get a better education/experience than a top Liberal Arts school. Good luck.</p>
<p>I eliminated the two Ivies: the only one I'm looking at now is Dartmouth. I visited it, loved the campus, and my World History teacher told me that I would love the experience there; and he was a B student back in his day. So that eliminates the High Reaches. </p>
<p>Now to get into those reach schools.....any tips?</p>
<p>"We do not have any power, and the President's only duty is to read the morning announcements. I decided to take proper action and took the initiative, focusing on returning the power to the students, allowing us to regain control of the school."</p>
<p>That honestly sounds like there was a coup in your school and you were the rebel leader. No joke. You took the "proper action" and "took and initiative"- what specific actions or initiatives were these? Honestly, I would just delete this section from your resume because it makes no sense and is too general. </p>
<p>Your GPA is good, but not flawless. Your ECs are really strong, but your standardized test scores are a weakness and you say you will take it again and do better but you never know for sure. And you said your former teacher was a B student and went to Dartmouth; I'm sorry to break it to you, but getting into good schools has gotten so much more competitive so I wouldn't even make the comparison. So I'd still think Dartmouth is a mid-high reach. </p>
<p>But if you're looking for a full ride somewhere, I'm afraid it will be extremely hard for you to get one from some of the top schools you listed. When you're trying to get a full scholarship somewhere you usually have to aim for a not as elite school to do so.</p>
<p>The initiatives I took were talking to the administration, telling them what the students desire power-wise, and have spoken to them on numerous occasions when they would say, "Yes" to something and nothing would be done. I've talked to the Dean of Academics to think of implementing the IB Program in our school and has spoken with them to schedule interviews and discuss curriculum (it's a 5-year process, so I don't know if it will turn out right in the end - we'll find out in five years, won't we?). I've spoken with the Student Council Head and spoke with him regarding the students' limited privileges. I've spoken with the City Council in regards to lifting bans on parking in surrounding areas. There is so much I have done, but consistency is what I need. They're saying one thing and doing another, so it's up to me, really, as well as a few other interested students, to do something about our situation.</p>
<p>Standardized testing will improve. I plan to take the Subject Tests in Lit, Math Level IIC, Chemistry, and Spanish Without Listening sometime soon: maybe September. The pressure's on, yes, but I need to take them as a requirement (and for placement opportunities, as well). I will increase my cumulative GPA. I will work as hard as I can to get straight A's (and a few A-pluses, if possible), in the first marking period.</p>
<p>aairzoom34:
Everyone in that thread has already told you that you've got a great shot at Wharton. Do you want like 900 more people saying "Yeah you have a good chance?" I honestly don't know what type of stuff you are looking for..you are in a good shape. More people repeating the same thing isn't gonna help you, is it?</p>
<p>to the OP: Like everyone else said, your GPA and test scores are too low for Ivy, even Dartmouth. Slim chance.</p>
<p>Other than that, I am sure you'll get into a lot of other good colleges :P</p>
<p>
[quote]
Colgate, Amherst, Dartmouth, Princeton, Yale, Williams, Shimer, Wesleyan, Bowdoin, Washington & Lee, Middlebury, University of Richmond, Loyola College of Maryland (Honors Program), University of Maryland (Honors Program), Villanova University, Fordham University, University of Chicago (Interdisciplinary Program), University of Vermont (Honors Program), Boston University, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Fairfield University (Safety-Net College), The Catholic University of America (Safety-Net College</p>
<p>I'm only gonna try to chance for the colleges I'm familiar with.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Princeton, Yale, and Dartmouth are reaches with those test scores. I'm sure you can get them up with your retake though. You're not a straight-A student, but if those colleges wanted straight A's they'd make them a requirement, so don't lose faith and keep your head up in your challenging senior year courses. You don't seem to have a whole lot of stellar AP stuff to go on, so it's good that you're taking some SAT IIs to prove your stuff in different subjects. Same for Chicago. You're a pretty good student so you'll need to try to stand out more with your EC's. Even so, nothing is ever for certain with those schools.</p>
<p>Loyola of Maryland, Catholic, and Maryland's honors program are all good matches, I think. If you want to get into Gemstone you'd better have some good recs, though!</p>
<p>Mr. Prez, It's incredibly hard to get into Wharton so I'm just trying to get as many perspectives as possible so I can glean information and opinions that would not be available to me if I didn't ask people for advice. Even though people do tend to repeat themselves, every once in a while I get something useful. </p>
<p>I like helping people out by chancing them, so I ask them to do the same for me. I mean I didn't think anyone had a problem with that.</p>
<p>A 4 on an AP exam is not stellar? No one sits at his desk and studies twenty-four/seven. I have a life, hence all the extracurricular stuff. I go out with friends every weekend plus I go to a lot of school events. I mean, seriously, I have a lot to fall back on. I'm heavily involved in my school, my grades are decent (junior year, extra course load) and high (sophomore and freshman years do count you know!), and I have some decent standardized testing. I'm a horrible test-taker, but the ACT does measure better than the SAT does, so I'm retaking those. </p>
<p>I don't know why you are so defensive about your record. If there was any negative intonation on Tanstripe's part I wouldn't find it completely unjustified. First of all, your scores are wayyyyyy too low for 90% of the schools you have asked to be chanced for. Most of these schools require at least 1400/2100 or 32 even for consideration. The one thing that gives you a big advantage though is the fact that you are Hispanic. If you do manage to get a 2000/30 on your standardized tests that would make you a serious applicant at these schools. </p>
<p>*Note- while Hispanics do get the benefit of Affirmative Action, it is not nearly are prolific as that of African Americans. If you got a 1250 math reading and were black your chances would be very good. Hispanics tend to need 1350/1400 to be competitive applicants.</p>
<p>As of now every school is a high reach or reach. Just because you love a school doesn't mean that it will in turn love you back. </p>
<p>So you're saying, "Don't count on a lot of acceptances, if at all." This is how I'm reading it. You're all waxing poetic and shrouding the true meaning of your messages, which all say the same thing: "You won't get into these colleges. Period."</p>
<p>I agree wholeheartedly with Rferns about you being so defensive about your record. Colleges are not looking for excuses, your SAT and other scores are simply too low for Ivy League schools. Now that's not to say you won't get in, period, but the chances are slim. Loyola, Colgate, Catholic, anything along those lines seem to be a good match for you.</p>
<p>It's tough not to be defensive. I mean, it's my record. I eliminated Yale and Princeton. If I work on the ECs, a good essay and recommendations, and the cumulative GPA over the span of senior year, do you think a shot at attending Dartmouth would be a possibility? </p>
<p>What about the other schools? I will relist them for you:
As I mentioned, Dartmouth.
Brown (iffy for me. They have a lot of requirements and almost no electives, from what I heard.)
Colgate
Williams
Amherst
Wesleyan
Bowdoin
Middlebury
U of Richmond. Scholars Program?
Loyola College. Honors Program?
U of Chicago.
U of Maryland. College Park/Honors?
Villanova. Safety?
Fordham. Safety?
BC. Safety?
Fairfield. Safety?
Catholic. Safety?
UMich - Ann Arbor? Should I apply there?</p>
<p>URM? Really? That school is really good, I heard. If you're talking about U of Richmond (wow, I feel pretty dumb right now for asking that).</p>
<p>By the way, I'm out of state for every school except Princeton (if that accounts for anything, even though it's not on my list). Um, yeah. Rate the r</p>