What are my Reach/Match/Safety Schools?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello all,
I will be applying to colleges soon and I’m just curious to know where I land in terms of chance for these schools:
Yale
Claremont McKenna
Duke
Northwestern
Vanderbilt
Notre Dame
Rice
Dartmouth
UPenn
Ohio State
Michigan
Miami University

Thanks for the help!!!

Major: Neuroscience & Economics
State: Ohio
School: Very Competitive Public
Ethnicity: Black and Asian
Gender: XY
Class: Rising Senior
GPA: 3.99 W and 3.6 UW (Yikes)
PSAT: 1420/1520, track to be commended
ACT: 31 (yikes)
Subject tests: Math 2 - 780, US History - 720
AP: AP US History (4), English (4), Economics (4,4), Calc BC (3), AB sub (3), Physics (2) (yikes)
Awards: Honor Roll, Scholar Athlete, Academic
Medallion, Salute to Excellence, Varsity Letters, Leadership Certificates, etc.

Freshie

Honors Algebra 2 - A
Honors English 9 - B
Physical Science - A
World History - A
Spanish 2 - A
Electives - A

Sophomore

Honors Pre Calc - A
Honors Bio - A
Honors Chemistry - A
Honors English 11 - B
Spanish 3 - B
AP US History - B
Electives - A

Junior

AP Calc BC - B
AP Physics 1 - B
AP Economics - A
AP English 11 - B
Spanish IV - A
Electives- A

Senior

AP Statistics
AP Psychology
AP Chemistry
AP Spanish
AP Comparative Government
AP English 12

EC:

In school

Basketball - lettered sophomore year, won division 1 districts, really big part of my life, takes up LOTS of time
Track - lettered sophomore year, won division 1 districts, takes up LOTS of time
African American Culture Club - Co founder and Vice President,
Diversity Acceptance Program - Vice president,
Youth For Christ - Vice President,
Selected freshmen mentor
S.P.L.A.S.H - Selective program for leaders within my school
Principal Advisory Board - 1 of 5 students

Out of School

Founder of STEM UP Initiative - venture to expose URMs to STEM
COO of ClevirWorks - tech startup in SF
Director at Be The Change Venture - diversity and inclusion movement within Cleveland
Junior Ambassadors - Volunteered 109 hours at Cleveland Clinic main campus in the summer
Research Assistant - Assisted post doc at Case Western Reserve’s biomedical engineering lab (WHY I LIKE BME)
Marketing Director for DifferentLikeYou.com - summer internship at non profit - website for kids with disabilities
Council Member at the City Club of Cleveland - year round
Intern at the Diversity Center of NEO
Discover U in Business at Miami University
Look Up to Cleveland Program
Lifeguard at the rec center

2

You have a shot at some of these - but you are a smart enough student to realize this yourself.

Yale - not likely
Claremont McKenna - possible
Duke - possible
Northwestern - possible
Vanderbilt - possible
Notre Dame - possible
Rice - good chance
Dartmouth - quite possible
UPenn - not likely
Ohio State - very likely
Michigan - possible
Miami University - very likely

best of luck

3

Your grades are keeping you down. You have a lot of Bs, and for the more selective schools like Ivies, the competitive applicant will only have maybe 1 B maximum. You have taken hard classes but your AP scores/grades don’t prove that you excelled in them. Your standardized test scores are below average or even 25th percentile for a lot of the schools on your list.

Your ECs are pretty good. They are nothing to complain about.

What I would recommend is to make a more balanced list of colleges you want to apply to, and don’t build your hopes up too high. These schools are not for everyone and you will be competing against people who have a better application in nearly every way.

4

Yale - Out of Reach
UPenn - Out of Reach
Duke - High reach
Vanderbilt - high reach
Notre Dame- high reach
Northwestern - high reach
Claremont Mckenna - high reach
Notre Dame - high reach
Rice - high reach
Dartmouth - high reach
Michigan (OOS) - reach
Ohio State - match
Miami - low match

You have too many high reaches/out of reach. For these schools, your stats are below the 25th %tile. These schools receive thousands of applicants with better test scores and GPA than you. Your ECs are very good, but won’t be enough to offset both your GPA and ACT. You should retake ACT, and maybe aim for a 33+. You would have a much better chance at more of these schools. Also, since you’re from Ohio, have you taken a look at Case Western Reserve University? Just a thought. Good luck!

5

@3puppies @ams355 @sparkykoolkat So since most of these schools are reaches, should I apply ED to increase my chances at my favorite one?

6

Yes.

7

That depends. I never recommend filing ED for people who may need to compare financial aid offers. If you have run the NPC and are comfortable with the aid your favorite school suggests (and your FAFSA application is straightforward - no family business nor farm, etc), then by all means, apply early. If you will need to compare offers, then don’t.

Not wanting to stir up trouble, but some folks might suggest you apply as “black” and not as “Black/Asian”

8

Do you feel it’s necessary to apply to 12 schools? Or so you hope to whittle this list down?

9

@3puppies Yeah I hear that a lot lol. The only thing is that I’m writing my essay about being mixed. @Muad_dib @sparkykoolkat chance at Duke trinity ED then?