What do you guys honestly think?

Pre-College Topics High School Life
1

I’m currently a sophomore at a very diverse high school and I was wondering if you could critic my predicted 4 year plan/transcript?Colleges I’m interested in:
Top 3:
Yale University (6.3%) (Applying for Early Admissions) $80
Stanford University (5.1%) $90
Georgetown University (16.4%) $75

University of Chicago (7.8%) $75
Duke University (9.4%) $85

University of Notre Dame (21.2%) $75

Harvard University (5.9%) $75
Princeton University (7.4%) $65
Brown University (8.7%) $75
Columbia University (6.9%) $85
Cornell University (14%) $80
University of Southern California (17.8%) $85
University of California Los Angeles (17.3%) $70
John Hopkins University (12.4%) $70
Northwestern University (12.9%) $75
NYU University (35%) $70
University of Pennsylvania (9.9%) $75
Backup:
Rice University (14%) $75
University of Texas (40.2%) $75

Total Application Fees: $1,455

Clubs and Organizations
National Honor Society (3) Junior Historian and Senior President
National Art Honor Society (3) Junior President and Senior President
National Speech and Debate Honor Society
FBLA (3) Sophomore President, Junior President and Senior President
Speech and Debate (4) Sophomore Treasurer, Junior Vice President and Senior President
Golf (3) Sophomore Team Captain, Junior Team Captain and Senior Team Captain
Class Officers (4)- Freshmen Class President, Sophomore President, Junior President and Senior President

Volunteering Hours: 1,000 (Interning at a Nonprofit Organization dedicated to immigration: BPSOS) (Sophomore, Junior and Senior year)

Summer Activities: Attended University of Texas debate camp (Sophomore, Junior and Senior year), Stanford Intensive Law & Trial summer program (Junior/Senior year), Ivy League College tour (Junior/Senior year)

Job/Work Experience: McDonald’s Employee (Junior/Senior year)

Major Awards and Accomplishments
National Merit Scholar Finalist (Junior/Senior year)
National Varsity Lincoln Douglas Debate Qualifier (Sophomore year)
President’s Award for Educational Achievement (Junior/Senior year)
District Secondary Science Fair Grand Prize Winner (Sophomore/Junior year)
Elected FBLA Vice President of District 5 (Junior/Senior year)
Representative of FBLA VP for the Southern Region (Junior/Senior)
Student Representative to the Board of Directors (Sophomore/Junior/Senior year)
Income: Below Average
Hooks: First Generation, Underrepresented Minority and Polyglot (Chinese, Cantonese, Mandarin and French)
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: Asian American
School Type: Public School
Intended Major: Political Science/Pre-Law

Freshmen Class Averages
Pre Ap World Geography (91)
Pre Ap Biology (92)
Pre Ap Geometry (88)
Principles of Arts, Audio/Video Technology and Communication/Principles of Business Marketing and Finance (100/92)
Debate I (98)
Tennis (100)
Pre Ap English I (94)
GPA Weighted: 4.35 GPA Unweighted: 3.75 Rank: 10/1102

Sophomore Class Averages
Public Speaking I (A)
Pre Ap Algebra II (B)
Pre Ap Chemistry I (A)
Pre Ap English II (A)
Ap Art History (A)
Debate III Honors (100)
Ap World History (A)
Online Classes
French I (A)
Ap Psychology (A)
Expected GPA Weighted: 4.66 Expected GPA Unweighted: Rank:
Summer Class load: French II (A)

Junior Class Averages
Public Speaking III Honors (A)
Pre Ap Pre Calculus (B)
Ap Physics A/B (A)
Ap English III (A)
Ap US History (A)
Debate IV Honors (100)
Ap Computer Science (A)
Online Classes
French III Honors (A)
Ap Microeconomics (A)
Ap English Literature and Composition (A)
Expected GPA Weighted: 4.9 Expected GPA Unweighted: Rank:
Summer Class Load: AP Chemistry

Senior Class Averages
Public Speaking IV Honors (A)
Ap Calculus A/B (B)
Ap Physics B/C (A)
Ap English IV (A)
Ap United States Government and Politics (A)
Debate V Honors (A)
Advanced Journalism (A)
Online Classes
Ap Biology (A)
Ap French (A)
Ap Macroeconomics (A)
Ap English Language and Composition (A)
Expected GPA Weighted: 4.9 Expected GPA Unweighted: Rank:

Total AP Classes taken: 18 out of 38

2

How did you choose this list of schools? Other than the University of Texas, they all appear on the first three pages of the US News national university rankings. This can be a useful starting point, but ultimately you should think about what you personally want from your college experience and try to find schools (elite or otherwise) that can help you get there. If you apply blindly to a ton of schools, you’re likely to get fewer acceptances because the admissions counselors will be able to see that you didn’t show any particular interest in their institution.

If possible, I would recommend talking to your mom about the college search and how you’re going to pay for college. Colleges have net price calculators on their websites that will help you figure out how much financial aid you’ll get. This can help narrow your search.

3

You do have a lot of good points, trust me, I will be rethinking some of my college choices based on what I personally hope to become my college experience. Thank you so much for responding to my thread!

4

You have no test scores, and no idea if you will make NMF. You are currently an A- student – If you live in Texas, you may not be an auto-admit for UT even. That is the only way UT could be a “backup”, and don’t even think of putting Rice in that category. You will need safeties and matches. And what is the “Ivy League College Tour”? Is this just visiting s lot of high reach colleges, or something else?

Agree that you also need to look at the finances. A few of these schools give little or poor FA.

5

From what I’ve heard, there is a program where you tour all of the Ivy League schools during the summer

6

I apologize if I’ve had a different perception on what getting into UT took. If I might add, many of the seniors that have graduated from my high school last year are currently attending UT Austin. Needless to say, their SAT scores/ grades were not that up to par if you may. There is also this senior in my AP Art history class who did indeed get into UT Austin auto admit based on our school’s ranking system. Although she wasn’t in the top five percent, she did manage to stay within the top eight or ten percent. I might be missing something here, but would you please fill me in on what aspects one look at to get accepted into UT Austin auto admit?

7

Not chancing you because you don’t have the stats yet. Come back after you actually take the tests and complete the classes.

These are all your intended scores and hopeful ventures that you are projecting, right? You can’t say that you will definitely be assured of being identified as a NM finalist. You are only a sophomore and assuming that you are getting this award isn’t a given. It is very competitive within each state, with extremely bright students all vying for a scholarship. There are lots of qualified students who don’t make semifinalist or even winner. Do not presume that you will be chosen.

UCLA will not fund OOS students and NYU has horrible financial aid.
A number of schools on your list will meet need according to THEIR definitions, IOW, what they think you need; not what you actually need. Did you run the NPCs for these schools??? For someone who is below average in income, you are not being really budget-conscious for your parents. $14K in application fees is really ridiculous.

URM=Native-American (registered tribes), African-American, Hispanic-American and Pacific Islander (e.g. islands of the South Pacific like: Guam, Fiji, Samoa). How are you URM? If you are Asian, that is considered ORM. Over-represented minority.

Pre-law?

http://www.bls.gov/ooh/legal/lawyers.htm
There are lots of attorneys out there with HUGE law school debt who can’t find jobs.

Do more research on the schools you can afford, the definition of URMs, law school costs (mostly no scholarships) and which schools will not fund you.

Take your classes and tests. Redo your lists. Don’t embellish or lie on your applications. You will get caught and you will be rescinded.

8

Thank you for thoroughly looking at my predicted transcript and taking your time to pinpoint certain areas of it. What I meant when I put under represented minority next to my race was that because I live in a very impoverished and diverse community, I just thought maybe that title would include me in it. I apologize if I was wrong, I will correct that asap. Also, I will take your advice on redoing my transcript with my guidance counselor. Thanks again for taking your time to respond!

9

The current total cost of application fees is $1,455. I have planned on finding work this following summer to save up and cover that cost.

10

You are low-income. Lots of kids are low-income who would like to go to college. Your community is diverse, but that doesn’t make you a URM. Underrepresented minority is the ethnicity of the student, and is something that you can’t control; you are born that way.

Your instate colleges will be the least expensive. If you apply to out of state public schools, they will not fund you. Public schools, like the UC’s, do not provide scholarships to students who are not California residents. So any public colleges like UCLA, Cal Poly’s will charge full fees to students who hope to go to school in California. UC’s are $55K per year for OOS students. Most state schools will be similar in charging full fees to non-residents of their states.

11

Thank you so much for helping me research some of these things. I do somewhat have a plan to start saving up to cover parts of out of state tuition (if I end up going somewhere outside of Texas). But as of now, I pretty much have nothing to rely on.

12

UT Austin is autoadmit for the top 7 or 8% percentile of students in your school (number changes annually). IF you are within that and can afford the in-state tuition when the time comes, then it can be a safety. I don’t know how grades are at your school, or if they rank on weighted or unweighted, but at some schools your current GPAs would not be within those percentages at this time.

The Ivy League College Tour is not an extra curricular you would list on your applications. It is just a tour to visit colleges… that isn’t an EC. Agree with posters above that at the schools you have listed you will be an over-represented minority, not underrepresented.

Texas is a state with a pretty high national merit semi-finalist cutoff score on the PSATs. Every state has their own cutoff, and you happen to live in a state with a fairly high one. Your odds of making NMF are not great.

Out of state tuition at state schools is over $50,000 per year in many cases, at least the types of schools you are looking at. You won’t be able to save up or borrow enough for it. However, because your family is low income, there are a few state schools that offer need based aid to out of state students, but they are very competitive for admission. There also are a few state schools (Alabama comes to mind) that offer nice scholarships for students with high stats.

You need to come back for advice and chances once you have actual test scores. Right now your list is really “high reach” heavy with no evidence that you will have the stats needed to get in. Most of those schools are also looking for extra curricular activities that go well beyond your school boundaries, and awards related to those ECs at a fairly high level. However, there are schools a notch down from these that “meet need” for college costs that you may want to consider if you have strong stats and ECs when the time comes.

13

Just to add to what intparent said, although UT has the top 7% auto-admit rule, it only guarantees your acceptance into the university itself, but not into the school of your choice. Two of UT’s schools (Cockrell Engineering School and McComb’s Business School) are very prestigious and selective, so keep that in mind if you consider UT a safety.

14

As a father of a current HS senior, I commend you for thinking ahead and planning for your college applications. However, your primary focus should be on doing well in your current classes and enjoy HS. Focus your EC on things that interest you. As a low income applicant, you might qualify for application fee waiver, so you might not have to spend that much on college applications. Having said that, I applaud your plan to work and save for the application fees.

You can prepare for PSAT and SAT in your spare time and in the summer of 2016 (more intensely) and try to get NMSF in 2017. When it’s time to apply, you don’t have to apply to every single top-tier schools. Assuming your GPA and SAT (ACT) are up to par with top schools, apply to 4 top schools that you really want to attend along with some safety and match schools.

FYI, if you are low income and get accepted to Ivy or Ivy-level schools, you will likely pay very little for your education. If you are NMSF, you will get full scholarships from schools like U Alabama, Fordham, and others.
Good luck!

15

Thank you guys for giving your advice!

16

I think its been mentioned before, but you should use the NPCs to calculate how much each college will cost and you can research more about the affordable options.
Hint: Put all the information in a spreadsheet and update it if/when your circumstances change.

17

I will do that :slight_smile: