What are my chances? I honestly have no clue...

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi College Confidential, I am just starting now to really get into the college process (visiting schools, etc.) and I am just curious if I could get some feedback on my chances of getting into certain schools. Thanks in advance.

Stats:

SAT/ACT: 30 on ACT (didn’t study; I will study and retake for hopefully a 31+), not taking SAT

GPA/Course Selection:

9th grade: Homeschooled

10th Grade:
U.S. History: A-
Geometry: A+
English Honors: A-
Physics: A-
Required religious class: A-
Hebrew: A-
Art (pass or fail class): Pass
3.73 UW GPA

11th Grade:
Euro. History Honors: A
Algebra 2: A
English Honors: A-
Chemistry: A-
Required religious class: B in first semester class, A in second semester class
Hebrew: A
AP Psychology: A-
3.79 UW GPA

12th Grade (planned):
AP English
AP Stats
AP U.S. History
Precalculus
Required religious class
Hebrew
Environmental Science

Extracurriculars (anything that is through 12th I am planning to do):

9th-12th: Volunteering at local religious organization (over 300 hours)
9th: Art class
10th-12th: eBay store every Summer (buying and selling Magic: the Gathering cards, several thousand in revenue each Summer)
9th-12th: Magic: the Gathering (I doubt colleges will care, but I have won many relatively large tournaments and have a few thousand in winnings)
11th: Helping uncle with research for his center (he is a Penn professor in the law school, Wharton, and CAS, also director of a large research center within Wharton)
9th-12th: Art (I paint and draw a lot during my free-time)
9th-12th: Piano
9th: Volunteer at camp during Summer

Also, not sure if I could include this on my application, but I did create and run a series of websites with over 1,000,000 hits during middle school; I quit before high school, though (websites do still exist, however).

Other:

State: Connecticut
School type: Private (very small)
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: High
Hooks: None, except for legacy at a couple schools

My main concern with my application is my low course rigor during 10th and 11th grade, the fact that I am only going up through Precalculus, and the fact that I was homeschooled during 9th grade (although my college counselor is going to create a transcript for that year for me).

The schools I am looking at (and please feel free to suggest more schools or set me straight if I am delusional):

Trinity College (legacy)
Haverford College (legacy, an insanely high reach, though)
Connecticut College (probably my top choice at the moment, though I know it may be a bit of a stretch)
Northeastern University (Dad went for law school, not sure if that counts as legacy, though)
New York University (a very large reach, I know, not expecting to get in)
University of Connecticut
University of Vermont
Vassar College (also a humongous reach)

Those are just the schools I’ve looked at and liked so far; I am fully open to suggestions, however. Also, my prospective major is likely philosophy (I am planning on going to law or business school after undergrad).

Thanks again (and sorry for the extremely long post)!

2

Also chance me for Fordham University, forgot to put that on my list :slight_smile:

3

good chance at trinity especially since you’re a legacy and UVM really good chance, try to bring up the act

4

high= harder to get into
Trinity College: High match
Haverford College: reach
Connecticut College: high match
Northeastern University: reach
New York University: reach
University of Connecticut: good match
University of Vermont: super good match
Vassar College: very high reach
Fordham University: match

I think that your course selection is what’s dragging you down a bit, but your SAT scores seem good enough for some of these! I’m not an expert though FYI

5

@ilanag3 Thanks! By high match, do you mean like a 40% shot, or more like a 20% shot? Any recommendations for more match schools?

6

How is NYU a reach. A high match possibly but not a reach. 30 is about average and your GPA is above average for them. Also, your course selection is not really that big an issue. A total of 4 AP classes is great and probably also around the average for NYU CAS. Trinity, Conn College, Northeastern, Uconn, UVM, Fordam are all matches in my book. Vassar and haverford are probably too high reaches. I think you will get into the majority of the colleges you apply to

7

@seattlegrace Thanks! Any idea about any of the other schools?

8

@SternBusiness Thanks! My main concern with my course rigor is that I am not taking any really hard APs (Bio, Calc, etc.) and that I’m only doing up through Precalculus.

9

I mean, like a pretty good shot (I guess 40%).

10

The only going up to Precalc could be an issue but the other is not in my opinion. can you sign up to take precalc over the summer and then Calc senior year?

11

@SternBusiness I looked into it, but I will be on vacation for at least a month this Summer so I don’t think I could do a full course. Hopefully the fact that I am applying for a non-math-related major will make it less important :confused:

12

I think Rutgers has a good philosophy program so you could look into that

13

Possibly… Maybe try to take Calc 1 at a Community college during your first semmester?

14

@SternBusiness That’s a good idea, though I’m not sure if the logistics would work out (I commute around 5 hours every day, so I don’t get home until around 7 or so). It would work if community colleges did weekend classes, though. I’ll have to look into it.

15

@seattlegrace That’s a good suggestion, I haven’t looked into Rutgers much, but it seems to be a decent school.

16

Here’s my edumated guess at it, including “legacy boost” where noted:

Vassar College 7%
Northeastern University 10%

Haverford College (legacy): 20%
New York University: 25%

Connecticut College: 45%

Trinity College (legacy): 85%
University of Connecticut: 90%
University of Vermont: 95%

If you are planning on pursuing a major in Philosophy, I don’t think there is any particular reason that you NEED to make a big effort to get Calculus on your schedule. It might help make your schedule look a little more rigorous, but I think it’s kind of small potatoes.