<p>Of getting into UChicago, UPenn, Cornell, Northwestern, Princeton, Columbia, Wash U, Duke, and UVA---I am a junior who attends a very competitive public high school-ranked top 100 in the country by USA world news report</p>
<p>I have a 2140 SAT, 800 math, 720 Writing, 620 CR
800 Math II, 780 Chem, 670 US----Subject Tests
Run a 4:25 mile and a 1:58 800 meter--good runner (4 year varsity)
Have a 3.65 GPA Unweighted, and a 4.28 weighted
Will have taken 10 AP classes by the end of high school--all 4's and 5's
and 8 additional honors classes
Member of 3 clubs, President of one cultural club
Completed 200+ hours of community service
Will have completed two month long internships by senior year on Wall Street, and the United Nations
Big Brother leader
Indian-American</p>
<p>PS. Should I try to raise my CR up by taking the SAT again?</p>
<p>I would try taking the ACT. Your SAT score isn’t bad, but it isn’t exactly what Pton, Columbia, and Duke look for. A 2250-2300+ would be more ideal. Your GPA (UW) seems a little low, but it truly does vary school by school. A higher CR would definitely help.</p>
<p>The time your mile is is irrelevant unless you get a school scout to like you. And those 10 ap’s - are they 4s and 5s? If not, they may not help all that much.</p>
<p>However, the UN and Wall Street internships look like gold.</p>
<p>For Pton, Columbia, and Duke, it could go either way – it isn’t unlikely you would get in, but it isn’t unlikely you would, either. It’s a crapshoot.</p>
<p>Chicago, Penn, Cornell, and UVA all look like matches to high matches. Northwestern, WashU seem like low to mid matches.</p>
<p>Your unweighted GPA is low for Princeton/Columbia/Penn/Cornell/Duke, and you need to boost your CR score if you can (maybe study over the summer and take the October SAT?). What are the three clubs you’re involved in (besides Cultural Club)? Are you passionate about them/have you done anything significant as a member in them?
I don’t know enough about WU or UVA to chance you for those, but the rest of them are all low to high reaches.</p>
<p>You should definitely take the SAT again. As you probably know, UChicago has a solid core and you’ll have to do tons of reading, so they would definitely want to see solid reading comprehension type stuff. If you can raise it, I think you’ll have a great shot at admission</p>
<p>you are definately a great student, our SAT and GPA are nearly identical. the track star aspect is nice, and I run track myself, so I know that’s a great time for the mile and 800. I don’t know exactly where you live or how competative track is in your area, so be sure to list any awards or special meets you have qualified for. List everything; for example, I’m even including the Winter Track 5th place in the Spring Melody Relay for the Novice meet I won back in 10th grade in my list of awards. If you ever qualified for districts, states, w/e, be sure to include that. unfortunately, the way these things work is that if you don’t have any medals or accomplishments worth mention, then all you really have is 4 years on varsity, which is pretty generic. (who knows how easy it is to make varsity at your school). The AP’s are impressive; and the GPA is solid, although your UW GPA may be low for those schools you mentioned. And yes, taking the SAT again is a MUST. 620 just will not cut it. A 2140 is a bit low as it is, and a 1420, which some schools will look at, is even lower. It’s nothing against you; its just that all the schools you listed are all top notch schools. Your internships are easily your most redeeming factor, and you really need to elaborate on them in your essays. Out of your colleges, I’m going to say right off the bat that UVA is the easiest out of them all to get into, and I would say you are a very solid candidate for them. Cornell and Northwestern are also good picks for you. (Sorry, dont know much about chicago or washington) However, with your current SAT scores and lowish GPA, I can’t imagine you getting into Penn, Columbia, or Duke. If you can get up to a 2230-2300, you’re in great shape.</p>
<p>It seems like everyone says that I need to raise my CR, but I am pretty confused about how to go about doing this. Does anyone have any suggestions?</p>
<p>Take practice SAT exams (preferably the ones included in the official College Board SAT Guide since they’ll be the most accurate) and do as many of the critical reading sections as you can. Understand why you got the wrong answer if you answer questions incorrectly, and practice taking them under timed circumstances.
Good luck :)</p>
<p>Vocab is probably the fastest way for CR. Dedicate 2-3 weeks to just learning as many SAT words as you can, and you’re guarenteed at least 18 or so questions right in the reading sections.</p>