<p>Hey guys!</p>
<p>I'm applying to nine schools, and four of them are "reach" schools by my standards--Northwestern University, Brown University, Boston College, and Washington University in St. Louis. I was just curious what you guys think my chances are.</p>
<p>GPA: 3.91 (unweighted)</p>
<p>ACT: So far a 30. I'm taking it one more time in October and my goal is a 34. So far my practice tests are in a 31-33 range, so we'll see.</p>
<p>SAT Subject tests: I haven't taken them yet but I'm signed up to take Math 1 and US History at the beginning of November. (Is it obvious that I'm a bad procrastinator?) I've taken practice tests, however, and I've scored 730+</p>
<p>APs: US History (5), US Government (5), Comparative Politics (5), Statistics (4), Language and Composition (4), Environmental Science (4), Macroeconomics, Computer Science, Psychology</p>
<p>My extracurriculars kinda suck...they're next to nonexistent
-Orchestra for 3 years (got cut off for senior year because it conflicted with PSEO classes, but I do want to continue it in college)
-Organize "gigs" for my trio (2 violins and me on the cello). We've played at bookstores, church activities, and nursing homes. We probably have spent 100 hours at nursing homes in the last year alone.
-String camp counselor. This is my only "leadership". During the past few summers I've been a volunteer counselor which means I teach children how to further their instrumental skill and lead them in group activities. It's a couple weeks each summer, 30 hours a week.
-Science club for 4 years. Meets once a month, all we do is fun labs. It doesn't compete with other schools or anything.
-Key club for 4 years. Meets once a month, you only need 25 volunteer hours a year.
-I kind of have work experience, except I get paid in volunteer hours. It's this local clothing store that sells second hand clothes for people who can't afford new clothes. I usually work there 4 hours a week.</p>
<p>And now my short list of awards/honors...
-Varsity letter in orchestra
-Varsity letter in volunteering
-AP Scholar with Distinction
-Official Key Club member grades 9, 10, 11 (It's not "official" at my school until the end of the year, and you get this certificate and everything. I don't know if that's normal or not)
-A honor roll </p>
<p>Other:
-I've been told my Common App essay is really strong, so I've got that going for me. It's the "place of contentment" one. I wrote about my love for playing the piano, so maybe the music topic will fit with my ECs and show that I have a true passion for something instead of a bunch of worthless ECs. That's what I'm hoping for, anyway.
-Teacher recommendations are going to be better than mediocre, but not great
-This is more of a question, but should I ask my private cello teacher for a recommendation? She's known me for a very long time and we're really close. I don't know if colleges would care for a recommendation from someone who's not a teacher, however. The only reason I'm asking is that I know she could write a strong one. Would this make up for the possible lack of enthusiasm in teacher recommendations?
-I'm doing dual enrollment with a local community college, taking computer science courses
-I want to double major in computer science and communication and minor in political science, if I can. I have really broad interests, in case you can't tell :)
-I'm a white female</p>
<p>Also, if you have an opinion about which of the three schools (Northwestern, Boston, Washington U in St. Louis, and Brown) offers the overall best college experience, I'd love to hear it!</p>
<p>Thanks for all your input!</p>