Yes, you have probably seen hundreds of these types of questions, but bear with me.
I am a rising senior, and I just finished my junior year. I have started finalizing my college list but I want to know where I stand. My reach/target school is Yale, but I would be ecstatic to attend any ivy league.
AP Classes: World History, US History, Russian, Environmental Science, Physics C, Government.
Volunteering experience: therapeutic horsemanship, animal shelter.
Extra-curriculars:
Key Club (freshman)
SING aka student production (freshman)
Spring Musical (freshman)
Tech Crew (freshman, soph)
College Course- Psychology (soph)
Envirothon aka environmental competition (junior, senior (pending co-president))
Sustainability Club (junior, senior- VP)
Newspaper Team (junior) In the fall will work as a physics tutor.
*Also in the fall will begin to volunteer at a therapeutic horsemanship center.
Other:
Blood Donor
National Honor Society Member
AP Scholar (pending)
Fluent in Russian
Certifications: AutoCAD, Red Cross First Aid
Travel: Cultural tours of Russia/Belarus (2013) and the UK (upcoming).
Intended Essay Topic: how my move from Belarus when I was 8 years old molded me, and the contrast between my home country and the USA.
I think your classes are great. The only issue I see is that you did a lot of your activities for only 1 or 2 years so it may appear that you were never committed to just a few important things to you.
Also just saw you want to do enviro engineering. Yale is definitely not the best place for engineering. There are so many better schools for it you could get into.
Because of course the college experience is the same at rural Dartmouth and Columbia in NYC. Because attending a college the size of a LAC is no different from attending a huge university like Cornell. As long as they belong to the same athletic league.
Your academics are sufficient to pass the filters but your EC are pretty bland and don’t really tell anything about you that make you unique. If you’re really focused on the Ivies than you should focus on a different school than Yale.
And I’m sorry, I should have clarified. I am not applying to all 8 ivy league schools. I planned on applying to Yale, Columbia, Brown, Cornell, and Princeton. Maybe that seems like a lot, but my parents and I feel that is the best course of action.
5 of 8 is still hefty. And risky. What do you think makes you a dynamic candidate? Besides environmental competition, what have you done to pursue the environmental engineering interest, gain some experiences?
And mid-50% isn’t assurance. The competition is fierce. Princeton shows the mid-50% is 32-35, so a 33 is on the low-ish side of the middle. Brown shows a score of 33 only gives a rough 12% chance, approx half of those who scored a 36. Plus factor in the number of athletes and some legacies, etc. Make sure you know what these schools look for and how you match. Be able to answer a Why Us? Take a look at a sample CA and supps, to see what they ask.
Why would it be risky? And there are no other env. engineering opportunities for high school students where I live. I know it’s not assurance, and am aware of the competition, but I still think I have a shot.
It’s risky because you aren’t an obvious, plus the rest of what I said. What makes you a dynamic candidate? I’m not asking to be snarky, but to see how you view this. Just having the mid stats is far from enough. Do you have any community experience where you work with environmental issues or something beyond the shelter?
Risky if you don’t have at least one safety that is affordable and that you won’t resent having to attend. We’ve seen threads recently where people get shut out completely. Then either they waste a year twiddling their thumbs, or they go to a lower-ranked school they think is beneath them and hate it all the while.
First, figure out which Ivy League schools – and other highly sclective/reach schools – you actually like, based on fit variables like academic structure (open vs. core, class sizes, majors, etc.), environment (city vs. rural, weather, etc.), and social vibe. The eight Ivy League schools are quite different from one another. And keep in mind there are probably about 30 other private schools (LACs and universities) that are on par with the Ivies.
I think I am a dynamic candidate because of my passion for learning and helping the environment, and I feel like I need a challenging school to keep me interested and help achieve my full potential. I want to attend a school that is competitive and where my peers are equally engaged, and one that has the best resources.
That is what I am working on right now. I want to narrow down my list and then visit the remaining schools to really get the feel of them and whatnot. I’ve been considering all those variables and I am meeting with my college counselor tomorrow to get some more advice.
So they next question is how does that “passion” show? Many, many applicants will claim a passion for learning and for their hoped-for major. Most just say it. Where the competition is so fierce, adcoms can cherry pick those who “show, not just tell.” (And that extends to other qualities they seek, too.)
And “a challenging school to keep me interested and help achieve my full potential” is common and problematic. (“I want a top school and you’re a top school.”) What do you really know about those reach colleges and what they offer? You have time to dig in and figure this out, then refine.