What schools should I be aiming for/can I get into?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I will list some schools I’m interested in below and I just created my account today so sorry if I unintentionally break a forum rule. Basically, just want to know with my current stats what colleges I should be looking at/are realisitc for me to get into.

I’m a junior right now btw. Background info, my high school is extremely competitive with around 5000 students and 1000+ in my grade. Have also heard that classes here are a lot harder…not sure if admissions officer will acknowledge that when considering applications though. I’m also worried that the competitiveness will hurt me as there are so many good candidates.

Cum. GPA: 4.09 (weighted). My GPA’s SUCKED freshman to sophomore (around 3.9-4.1) but first semester this year (junior) my weighted gpa was 4.67 so pretty darn happy with that :slight_smile: Weighted still isn’t that good though. (for top colleges).
SAT: I just took my first one in January and got 1500 for mc and 15 on my essay…I plan to retake either May or August for sure. I really want a 1550+ with a good essay score
ACT: Took it first time in February, got a 35 and essay 10. I don’t plan on retaking, please tell me if you think I should to improve my chances.
PSAT: I scored a 1490, 224 index so should be enough for semifinalist (hopefully) as my state’s index for last year was a 217.

To give you an idea of the classes I take…AP Chem, IB Business, AP Calc AB, APUSH, AP Capstone, Yearbook, Spanish 4. I will continue with this level of rigor in my senior year. (AP Spanish, Yearbook, IB Business 2nd yr, AP Lit, AP Gov, AP Stats, AP Physics)

Extracurriculars:
-Co-founder and co-leader of a club at my school (Action for Animals) since freshman year
-I’ve been volunteering with an animal rescue group for about 9 months.
-Also do key club but plan on doing NHS in place of it next year
-I’ve been on yearbook staff since sophomore year, plan to continue.
-Been in “House” which is said to be part of student government but there are around 400 members…so not exactly that selective. But I’ve been doing that since freshman year.
-Started DECA this year, actually competing at state in 2 days and hope to make it to internationals.
-I’ve been on the ministry team in youth group at my church since freshman year
-I’ve worked at a local store since freshman year also.
-And I’ve played soccer but just dad’s club stuff not competitive

I honestly don’t know what I want to major in, I’ve got interests in business and medicine. But really am open to anything.

Schools I like: (tbh have no idea what chances I have of getting into them so I’m just wildy guessing besides the obvious top 10 school types which everyone knows are super hard)
UC Berkeley
UCLA
Michigan State
Boston University
Northwestern (super reach)
Columbia (NYC seems awesome but being realistic probably not even going to apply)
Brown (super reach)
Baylor
Washington University (super reach)
Indiana University
Notre Dame
Purdue
NYU
Vanderbilt
UCONN
USC

^^as you can see I’m a mess who can’t make up her mind. So I guess make give me a range of colleges that you think I have a good chance of making it in too?? And how selective they are in general? If you read all that…wow good job. Thanks in advance!

2

Just to add…haven’t taken SAT subject tests but plan to. And the major weaknesses I see in my application for next year will probably be my GPA and also dont have many rewards from doing competitions. (I’ve competed for my scioly team and placed 2nd at a meet but it was just a one time thing because they were short on people) Should I join some competition team things/ besides DECA…

Any recommendations to improve my stats would be welcome!

3

OMG, sorry I keep on seeing good info to add and can’t edit my post anymore haha.

I’ve taken 2 AP exams so far… World got a 4 and Euro got a 5.

Also forgot to mention that I took AP Macro over the summar and got an A, if that means anything.

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major?

5

You have a really curious list- it’s hard to see patterns or threads running through it. Unusual to see Brown and Notre Dame on the same list, much less UCB/UCLA and Baylor! WashU but Michigan State not Michigan. etc. How much do you actually know about each of these places? Can you sort out why they are on the list - *for you/i.

But, first things first, and on CC the first think is always: start with the money. Can you / your parents afford $60K/year, or will you be looking for financial aid (merit or need based)? If you will be looking for financial support, where are you resident? If you can’t afford $60k/yr and are not California residents, UCB & UCLA are non-starters.

After money, the next most important thing is figuring out what sorts of college you want, and then building a collection of more and less selective colleges that fit that. Usual metrics include geography (region of the country), locale (urban, suburban, rural), size (1000 or 10000?), type of socializing (greek dominant? athletic? outdoorsy?), and strength in academic areas of interest. Since the vast majority of colleges have a decent business or econ program, and pre-med reqs, that is not a limiting factor for you.

Fwiw, saying that a GPA of 3.9-4.1 “sucked” will not go down well here (unless your grading scale is out of 10). UW GPA is usually more useful for getting feedback. Fyi, some of the schools on your list will strip out your ‘non-core’ grades (eg, yearbook, possibly business), and strip out any weighting in order to compare like with like, and the California schools have their own, somewhat arcane, way of calculating GPAs.

Your test scores and marks suggest that it is reasonable for you to be looking at some pretty competitive schools; your ECs (as presented) don’t tell much of a story so can’t really address that aspect. Before you ask for people to suggest/chance you I suggest that you think a little more about why you have each of those schools on your list and what you are looking for.

6

Thanks for typing all that out! Sorry if sucked sounded harsh, I’m pretty “sheltered” as most of my classes are more rigorous. When compared to some of my peers in my classes, especially those in top 10% of my class who often have 4.4 GPA+…mine doesn’t look so hot, and what I meant was not very good in comparison to a very high GPA…hope that explains it a bit.

And the list I compiled is mostly just because of location, I prefer northeast or west coast and the fact that they are decently good schools. I have yet to really sit down and decide where I want to go, so I’m more just trying to get an idea of what colleges would be realistic for me (top tier - harvard, yale, etc. very good - berkeley, MichU…good, avg…) to really research and look into, plan out visits, etc. I don’t want to be visiting Princeton, etc. when there is no chance of me getting in xD

And regarding my EC’s I agree, it is a bit scattered. I’m trying to go for more of a compassionate type angle as I love children, animals, and because I co-lead a club about helping animals, volunteer at an animal shelter, work at Kumon (a tutoring center for children), etc. and if I did go into the medical field would probably want to be a pediatrician or work with kids.

My parents have said they will pay for my college and have been saving for many, many years so price isn’t a large factor although of course I would rather help my parents save money.

Hope I answered all that well enough!

7

Major…honestly no idea. I’m interested in the medical field so maybe bio? Also business, but heard that is a lot of partying if you major in business so would rather go for something else and get an MBA later possibly.

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Because it makes so much of a difference, ask your parents if they can and will pay $60K+/year if that’s what the college you get into costs. You would be surprised how many parents don’t realize just how expensive college is these days. If there are limits, figure them out now.

There are students with your grades and scores in colleges from the most selective on down. There are also tens of thousands of students with your grades and scores who have been rejected from those same colleges. While there are surely exceptions, it would be very unusual for somebody not in the top 10% of their class and no other obvious hooks or seriously notable achievements to get into the schools with admissions rates under 10-15%. I would treat those as being in the ‘struck by lightening’ category.

More importantly, I still think that you are putting the cart before the horse: where can I get in? vs what do I want?

The thinking part of the college process is really important- and transformative. You’ve emphasized the compassionate side of yourself here: how competitive are you? do you like to be around people whose competitiveness is more/similar/less than yours?

Academically, a lot of people choose Columbia because they love the Columbia Core of required classes; a lot of different people choose Brown because there are almost no required classes: does your personality lean more one way or the other?

Environmentally, Notre Dame and Baylor both have a really strong sense of community: clear values, very structured and tons of school spirit- but one has a clearly Catholic ethos and one has a clearly Baptist ethos (yes, I know that there are students of other faiths at each, but the underlying ethos is real)- does that matter to you?

UCLA is big and urban, with less of a ‘campus’ feel, Vandy has a classic ‘campus’ feel and is porous to a small city- does that matter?

What about Greek life?

And so on. You are more likely to end up being happy with your choice if you focus on what you want and then go looking for that, than by trying to figure out ‘what’s the most selective school I can get into’.

9

^ Yep.

Let’s help you figure out what some of your preferences are.

  1. Do you have a preference for a rural, suburban or urban setting? Or any you'd exclude?
  2. Do you have regional and/or weather preferences or any you'd exclude? (you said you like NE and West Coast, but listed several schools in neither of those regions -- just checking again)
  3. Do you care about the academic calendar: semesters, trimesters or quarters?
  4. Would you prefer a school with smaller classes but fewer majors or a school with larger classes but more majors? (or, LACs vs. universities...)
  5. Overall size of the school (population) -- does it matter to you? If so, what's your preference?
  6. Would you prefer a more intellectual or pre-professional scholarly vibe?
  7. What are your thoughts on party scene, drinking, Greek life, etc.?
  8. Do you care about the political culture at a school? For instance, does heavy activism turn you off or excite you?
  9. Do you view (heavy) academic rigor as more of a pro or a con?
  10. Do you have a preference for curricular style: standard, core, or open curriculum?

The answers to these questions will help us suggest some schools that fit you the best. We know that you’re not too sure about major – which is fine, as there are plenty of quality programs at oodles of schools – and that your parents are willing to pay. You still do want to run the NPC on all the schools you’re interested in so the bill isn’t too much of a shock and to let them know the differences in price among schools.

And – It’s just one piece of the puzzle, but a 1500 SAT is respected everywhere except maybe Caltech, and I’m certain that even they admit kids with scores similar to yours. If your unweighted GPA is 3.75 or better with good course rigor, your numbers will give you a chance at the traditional reach schools. So don’t sell yourself short.

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In my opinion if you don’t know what you want to do right away take a year off or get deferred admission. The worst thing is going into a university with a vague direction and potentially being unhappy with your initial choice.

11

^Totally disagree with above post. Many don’t know at 17/18 and many of those who think they do wind up changing there minds. Gap Years are great but being undecided isn’t a reason to take one. College is about exploring new things. There are many colleges where you have the flexibility to explore different subjects and not declare a major until the end of sophomore year.

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Right now the hard part for you isn’t to find dream schools with acceptance rates of 25% and below.
The hard part is finding matches you like (college’s with 25-35% acceptance rates) and safeties (schools with 35-50% acceptance rates) and start demonstrating interest, filling out ‘request information’ forms etc.
Get a Fisk guide and a Princeton Review’s best colleges, start reading.
Also, check with your parents : have they saved 200k? 250k? Many parents attended college back when Harvard cost 15k a year and state colleges were 300-500 dollars a semester. The costs have skyrocketed to an almost absurd, unsustainable level in the past ten years and many parents who think they’ve saved plenty realize with horror they haven’t got enough.

13

@MYOS1634

I would be careful about using acceptance rates as a metric to classify schools into reaches, matches, and safeties. Test-score ranges are probably the most accurate single metric (although using multiple metrics is even better).

Here is an example why admission rates do no justice:

Boston University and the University of Michigan and had about the same acceptance rate in 2016. To a rookie, this would make the schools seem to be on the same level academically and in terms of selectivity.

If you compare their 2015-2016 CDS reports, you will see that Michigan has significantly higher ranges for test scores.

14

It’s advice for this particular student. I’m well aware acceptance rates don’t tell the whole story ( cf. Reed) but for this particular student with a 1500+ and strong curriculum rigor it is more relevant than test scores, because test scores would let it seem all schools are matches or safeties for him/her.

15

Something to think about…while your parents may have saved a lot of money for your college education I am sure they would be happy if you got some merit money which could mean saving some of that money say for a down payment on a home when you are ready or grad school. I am mentioning this because IU has one of the best business schools in the country and I know for a fact with your credentials you would get merit money. Also, try to visit as many schools as you can. You will discover that some will come right off your list because of the campus and the feeling you don’t get.

16

Thanks for all the great responses! They were all super helpful. I live in the midwest currently so that is why I choose a few “local” colleges. But I think I would prefer a coast as I used to live on the east coast and also enjoy the environment and vibe of the west coast. I just put UCONN down because my parents went to graduate school there :slight_smile: I’m afraid this in turning into more of a what college is right for me thread, which I’m not sure is allowed here haha but I guess what I’ve gathered is that I can be aiming for selective schools? Could anyone give me a few examples of selective colleges that I have a good chance of getting accepted into? I just want a realistic idea for now, and onto some more info…

My interests:
I like biking/traveling so would like a place where I can hang outside a lot.
I like a more upbeat/fun city feel versus country fields.
I know big cities are usually expensive but I would prefer a place that has reasonable living costs, although I can go with more expensive if I’m in love with the school/city.
I want to play sports recreationally and be involved in clubs, etc. so a school with lots of options regarding that would be good.
SAFETY, I want the area to be pretty safe not shady haha.
Studying abroad (I’m currently in spanish 4, planning to take AP spanish and want to continue in college).
Maybe be on yearbook if that is an option? But not a big deal if there isn’t that option.
I also LOVE art but don’t see it as a career and enjoy playing the piano…just threw those in there.

*I’m not looking to go to an Ivy league as I know those are beyond hard to get into but would like to go to a more selective college, nothing against state schools or those with 70%ish acceptance rates but those would be more “safety” then what I truly want.

  1. I'm fine with urban or suburban, don't like rural much at all.
  2. I like the vibe of the coasts better, seems more young compared to the midwest where I am currently. I lived in the Boston Area for 4 years when I was younger and I feel like the education was a lot stronger there? Besides the area where I live, my state seems to be considered somewhat mediocre/low in terms of academics.
  3. My school does quarters but averages two quarters for 2 semester grades.
  4. I'm not sure. What would be few majors? 10,15,20? Don't have much of a preference for this.
  5. I'm at a really big high school so I don’t think it’d be as much of a culture shock to go to a larger college. I’m pretty neutral on college size, as long as I have a good group of friends it doesn’t really matter? I don’t have much experience with a small school though so don’t know if I would like it more.
  6. I think so, if that means not too much partying and more focus on academics then I think that would suit me but I’d also want a social life.
  7. I’m ok with partying and drinking but I don’t think it’s for me. Maybe once in a blue moon or just to celebrate big things. Greek life...doesn’t really matter, don’t think I’ll be rushing or anything but am open to it.
  8. As long as politics and activism doesn’t turn violent or interfere with learning then I’m fine with it. I would consider myself liberal but definitely not far left, as I hold some conservative views too. I don’t think I’d like a college that is too far left or right. I like diversity, so as long as I can hear from all types of people.
  9. Pro if it’s heavy but not to the point where people are self-harming or losing too much sleep. But I think it’s good to have a rigorous course load to push yourself.
  10. I’m not sure what these curriculum styles are but probably core? Or standard.

I’m honestly pretty open to new things and don’t have many strong preferences. There are things I like more than others but from what I just listed it might be hard to narrow colleges down. I do not see myself taking a gap year.

17

I live in Indiana haha ( not sure if that is ok to reveal?) and Kelley School of Business is pretty well known, so I have interest in that and recieving merit would be awesome!