What are my odds? ( Review my Odds )

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

These are the schools I have applied to;

Stanford ( Restrictive Early Action )
Cornell ( Regular decision, EOP )
Dartmouth ( Regular decision )
NYU ( Regular decision, HEOP )
George Washington University ( Regular decision )
U. Rochester ( regular decision )
Binghamton U. ( regular decision, EOP )
Stony Brook ( regular decision, EOP )
UMass. Amherst ( regular decision )
U. Colorado, Boulder ( regular decision )
U. Albany ( regular decision, EOP )
Wells College ( accepted )
SUNY Potsdam ( Accepted, non-EOP)

I plan to study Economics and Philosophy

STATS ( Objective ):

ACT: 25 (composite), 22 (English), 24 (Math), 25 (Reading), 27 (science), 9 (essay/writing)

Unweighted GPA (HS): 3.0

Weighted GPA (HS): unknown, but likely around 3.5

Unweighted (Community College): 4.0 (12cr. earned)

Rank: 31/43

AP: AP not available at my school

IB: none

Senior Year ( with first quarter grades ):

Government: 99
Academic Writing (Dual Cr.): 90
Phys. Ed: 100
Choir: 98
English 12: 97
Economics: 99

Major Awards: none

Local/School Awards: Student of distinction, high honor-roll

MISC:

I attend a very small rural high school with a graduating class of 43. I started off as a very mediocre student especially for the first two years of High School. Junior year I began to put in more effort, earned honors status, then senior year came around and I earned a 97.17 average for the first quarter in my courses. There is without a doubt a very sharp spike in academic growth.

In spite of what seems to be endless adversity be it coming from a school so small and limited in resources, or growing up quite poor, I find myself continuously growing and become=ing a better scholar and a far more involved citizen.

STATS (Subjective):

EC’s:

Rotary/Interact Club (Treasurer), 12
Cornell Upward Bound 11,12
Literary Club 12
Asst. Coach to Mod. Volleyball 12
Community Service 10
All-County Choir 10,11
Civil Air Patrol 6,7

Job Experience: I have worked for a residential summer camp for 2 full summers, and when I was much younger I was an paid intern for a web-designer in my home down.

Volunteer work: A few hours here and there at the local library

Summer Activities: primarily work and reading ( philosophical essays, and works on economic/political/and social theory )

Essays: Very good. 9/10

Recommendations:

Business Law/College History Teacher: Absolutely amazing (10/10)
World History/Government Teacher: Pretty good (8/10)
Economics Teacher: Pretty Good (8.5/10)
Academic Writing Teacher: Good (7/10)
Counselor: Could’ve been better (6.9/10)

Interviews: I have only interviewed with Stanford, although initially quite shaky. My interviewer assured me he was writing me a good report to present to the admissions committee (8.5/10)

OTHER:

Applied for aid: Yes, and I am eligible for maximum TAP/PELL aid

State: New York

School Type: Very small rural public school ( so small and underfunded there was talk a few years back of decommissioning the school and dispersing the students to surrounding districts )

Ethnicity: Latino

Gender: Male

Income Bracket: less than $10k/yr (House of 4)

Hooks: First Gen. College Student

REFLECTION:

Strengths: My writing skills, my argumentative/analytical skills, my constant desire to learn

Weaknesses: mediocre math skills, and I am not a good test-taker

Thank you so much!

2

UPDATE: One more hook I have would be that I am graduating early ( January/2018 ) not sure if that means anything to an admissions committee, but hey!

3

I feel bad for saying this but with your act score you have near 0% chance of being accepted to Stanford, Cornell or Dartmouth. Can you retake it in December and get a 30+? Honestly i think the rest of your application seems fine and your first semester senior year grades would seem to be very good for RD.

4

Agree that your stats are low for the top half of your list.
Most of the schools that are OOS and public will be full fees.

Public universities are funded by their state taxpayers so they prioritize admission and funding for their state residents.
Rework your list and find something that is affordable.

5

Out of reach:
Stanford ( Restrictive Early Action )
Cornell ( Regular decision, EOP )
Dartmouth ( Regular decision )
NYU ( Regular decision, HEOP )
George Washington University ( Regular decision )
U. Rochester ( regular decision )
UMass. Amherst ( regular decision )

6

UPDATE:

Stanford: Rejected (I mean, nobody gets in)
Cornell University: Pending
Columbia University: Pending
Dartmouth College: Pending
New York University: Pending
George Washington University: Pending
University of Chicago: Pending (but I moved to the ED II applicant pool)
University of Rochester: Rejected (I foollishly applied for the spring semester when HEOP wasn’t available)
University of Virginia: Pending
Binghamton University: Pending, but I was contacted by the EOP office and my chances are good
Stony Brook University: Pending
UMass. Amherst: Rejected (I have no clue how I was rejected, the acceptance rates are over 58%)
Fordham University: Pending
U.Colordao, Boulder: Pending
Hofstra University: Pending (Applied using their dumb ‘priority admissions application’ they use to boost their numbers)
The New School: Deferred (Claim they didn’t get my first semester grades, though I have proof they downloaded them)
University of Albany: Accepted
Wells College: Accepted (with a $22k scholarship)
American University of Paris: Rejected (but I am appealing the admission decision)
SUNY Potsdam: Accepted
Le Moyne College: Pending (Applied using a priority application, similar to Hofstra)
Corning Community College: Accepted
Broome Community College: Accepted

Overall: 5 Acceptances, 4 Rejections, 1 Defferal, 13 Pending

Wish me luck guys

PS: My grades have been excellent my weighted averages have shown a very apparent growth (2.29 during freshman year, to a 2.75 sophomore year, to a 3.18 junior year, to a 4.44 senior year) It was a pleasant surprise to see that kind of growth. I hope colleges take this into account.

7

You asked about UMASS and I’ll give you a shot as to why. The ACT is on the low side as their 25/75 percentiles are 25/30, but your GPA of 3.0 did you in, even with your URM status. They may toss out your physical education grades in calculating your GPA as well. UMASS is getting more and more competitive and these days you would need a B+ GPA and 27/1250 to feel better about admission. Part of that 58% relates to quality of applicants and UMASS hits a nice yield because it’s the best school in the state that’s reasonably affordable.

8

Your ACT and GPA are what made Stanford (and UMass Amherst for that matter) out of reach–you didn’t get rejected because “everyone gets rejected.” You got rejected because of your scores and grades, and even if those were higher, you probably would not have been accepted to Stanford. People with near perfect scores don’t make it into Stanford, and beside the fact that your stats leave a lot to be desired, I don’t think there’s any other “wow” factor in your application to make up for it. The upward trend is great, but your grades and test scores are way too low to get you into Dartmouth, Cornell, NYU, Columbia, and many others on your list. In addition to that, you are not even in the top 50% of your class. Statistically, your chances are very low. I don’t want to be mean, but you just have to be a tad realistic here. Good luck with your other colleges, and congrats on your acceptances!

9

UPDATE:

Accepted to:

Le Moyne College
U. Colorado, Boulder

Rejected:

Albany College of Pharmacy

I have officially graduated high school with a 3.0 (UW)

SENIOR YEAR GRADES:
MP1: 97.17
MP2: 94.41
MP3: 97.50

Final Exam Grades:

Phys Ed.: 100
Economcis: 97
Government: 100
English 101: 88

I have had my Alumni interview with Columbia University and was notified that I am being considered for HEOP admission.

Wish me luck

10

@TheWapTrap congrats on your acceptances and on graduating high school!!! I wish I was done already :)).

11

Trust me, the soul-crushing boredom of having nothing to do until employers start contacting you or until you can find a good place to volunteer is far worse than the stress of class.

Best of luck with your studies!

12

Nice job getting your grades up so much and on the acceptances so far. A good portion of your list is very out of reach, as your stats are somewhat low for their profiles- and furthermore, the schools are already super extremely selective for even the most perfect student- but fortunately you do have a large range of good, realistic schools and acceptances (congrats!) that you’ll have choices come decision time. Good luck!