What Universities can I get into

College Search & Selection
1

I have been constantly searching the web, using admissions calculators and websites, but it’s always a different percentage or estimation and I can never get a definitive answer. I want to know which of the top schools I am able to get into and which ones aren’t worth applying to. I mean UCs, Ivy Leagues, etc. I currently have a 3.66 unweighted GPA and a 4.21 Weighted, 34 ACT, 4 years Varsity Soccer, 3 Honors Classes, 13 Total AP classes (including the ones im taking this semester) All 5s on my AP tests, Senior Class President, and 5 Clubs. I go to an extremely competitive college prep school and took as many classes as I believed I could handIe. I’ve done selective school science trips to Costa Rica and Guatemala, Done to summer internships at Engineering startups, over 250 hours of volunteer work and more. I thought that I would be able to get into Ivy Leagues but my counselor told me that I probably won’t get into Harvard, Yale, Princeton, or UPenn. I was devastated, and looked everywhere to confirm if this was true. Any insight or suggestions would be appreciated, as I just want to here second opinions.
Ethnicity: African-American
income ~75,000

Thanks :slight_smile:

2

Congratulations on your hard work and success!

You are doing great. You have high stats and a very comfortable family income, though I’d imagine, like the vast majority of students, you’d need/want financial/merit aid when sticker prices can be close to $70k per year.

Here’s one thing I’d advise you to consider: there are amazing students, faculty, and staff at many, many universities. A family member attended a USNWR top 20-40, non-Ivy university (transferred because of the vibe). Their best friend was a national merit finalist. They had very small classes and top-notch professors. They transferred to my alma mater, which is similarly ranked and have lots of friends who were top of their class in high school and are very bright and doing very well. I see people I knew in college on TV and in the media all the time, and just went on a trip with a group of college friends, all great, all very fun, more than half doctors and professors. So not going to an Ivy is not the end of the world.

Think about any state flagship, take a Kansas or Nebraska or Arizona for example. They are going to be inexpensive for many very bright students from those states. A high % of top high school grads in those states will attend them. They are major research universities, and very accomplished professors will seek positions at them.

Think about a top, competitive college like Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. It is highly ranked and has very competitive admissions, just not the aura of the Harvard name, or the hyper-competitive admissions. The academics are just as strong as any university or college. You get small classes, and the vast majority of students are going to have similar stats to you, probably same or similar ACT and similar or slightly higher grades. Your success indicates you are bright and hard working, so you can figure the same for them. The school probably gets a 100 applicants or more for most faculty openings, so it can really choose the cream of the crop.

Again, you are in great shape. Maybe google universities that meet full financial need. Holy Cross is one. I can’t vouch for all of these: they “claim” to meet full financial need, they might be “need aware,” etc. But some others that are excellent but don’t have admit rates below 6-8%: Colgate, Carleton (great for science/premed!), Connecticut College, Davidson, Franklin & Marshall, Hamilton (great school, very small classes, very cold), Lafayette, Macalester, Union College, Richmond, Rochester (outstanding mid-size national university!), Williams (as good as anywhere, very competitive). All of these schools have amazingly bright students who will succeed to the same extent as the very bright students at Harvard and Yale. Go find a great place that’s a good fit for YOU. Good luck!

3

You don’t have much time to apply to most top schools, & some have even earlier deadlines if you want financial aid.

Sounds like you want a feeling of going somewhere special. Knowing what you want to study would help. Yes, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Penn are unlikely, but not impossible for someone with your profile. The key is just don’t count on them, & apply to some others that are more likely to accept you, ranging from slightly more likely (Cornell, Northwestern, Notre Dame, U of Southern Cal) to much more likely (Lehigh, Boston College, U of Miami (Florida)).

4

Thanks for the fantastic advice. My follow up question is how many schools should I actually apply to. My main concern is I don’t want to pay application fees if I don’t need to, but at the same time I’m applying for computer engineering, and I know that’s an extremely competitive major. Of course, I already have many colleges in mind, I’ve already done some applications but am hesitant on many schools, unsure whether or not they are worth the time. Ideally, I would apply to every school because why not, but unfortunately that’s not at all practical. I guess my question is how many reaches, maybes, and safties should I apply too?

5

Although your listed schools are a substantial reach for all applicants, your stats, accomplishments and African-American race should make you a competitive applicant for top 20 colleges & universities. Still does not guarantee admission, but you should apply to any college or university which interests you.

P.S. Do not underestimate yourself & do not let others underestimation of your chances affect your actions. College advisors main function is to get all graduating students admitted to a college or university; they are not charged with getting students admitted into the best universities. It would have been irresponsible for any college counselor to tell you that you are likely to be admitted to any top 15 national university, but that should not discourage you from applying based on your posted qualifications.

6

That’s what I want to do but the problem is I don’t have the money to pay for 20+ applications. Fortunately, I’ve received fee waivers for many of my safety schools and for the UCs but many of the top universities I have not. It would be extremely hard for my family to pay $700+ on application fees alone.

7

Just keep asking for fee waivers. Share your profile when requesting a fee waiver.

8

I think 10-12 applications is generally reasonable, though I also agree that admissions and cost are very unpredictable, and you could conceivably get into some of those very competitive and wealthy and meet-full-need schools, which would argue for taking a shot at a few extra of those, especially if you can get fee waivers.

So one strategy:

Pick a half dozen of those really competitive schools, that also meet full need (you can google colleges that meet full financial need), and take a shot. Pay attention to fit for YOU. For example, University of Pennsylvania (Penn) is right in Philadelphia and feels very urban. Dartmouth is in a very small, bucolic town in New Hampshire, surrounded by dairy farms and mountains. Dartmouth would appeal more to me. How about for you? Both Ivy League, but very different places to live for 4 years. Look at a Fiske guide or something similar to narrow that down. For example, read the entries for the Ivies, if you really want to go to one of those, and see if a few seem to jibe better with your personality, etc.

Limit your “target” or “match” group to 3 or 4 schools that you think might really suit you. Think about what you think might fit: urban (think Boston U.) v. college town (think Dartmouth); large (20,000+ students) v. small LAC (2000); warm v. cold (lots of great schools are in New England and Midwest and can be very cold); big-time sports v. D3. With your stats, I think VERY GENERALLY schools with 20-40% acceptance rates would fall into this category, though that would certainly vary and I only mean that as the most general of guidelines. One school with an 18% RD acceptance rate might look like a solid bet and another a long shot, based on geography, gender, financial aid policies, applicant pools, etc. For your general stats, I’m thinking schools like Holy Cross, Boston College, Wake Forest, Wisconsin, Georgia, Case Western, Rhodes College–I mean in terms of admissions being more or less in that range. These are very different schools and aid would be more or less likely at different ones.

Pick maybe 2-3 schools that look like sure bets in terms of admission AND have an affordable price, probably some of your in-state schools.

Using this strategy, you would apply to 11-13 and have a shot at a half dozen of the really competitive schools. (Why are they so competitive? Supply and demand, not you or your academic potential. I think the numbers at one of the Ivies last year was something like 40,000 applications and 2,500 acceptances. Think about if you entered a lottery with 40,000 tickets, with 2500 winners, and you had one ticket. Way more than 2,500 of those applicants are exceptionally qualified and would succeed at the school. The school simply can’t accommodate all the great students who want to go there.)

But anyway, you could use the schools’ net price calculators (NPC) to eliminate some schools. For example, if you had a list of 15, ran the NPCs on those, and 3 came out high, you could eliminate them to get down to a dozen.

I agree with the comment above to work on those applications hard over the break. It’s better to be in early, and some schools do have early financial aid deadlines. Some have already passed. Good luck!

9

What are your safety schools? Consider honors programs at schools with generous scholarships like U Mississippi.

10

@nw2this my safety schools are University of Arizona, Iowa State, Clemson, San Diego State, UC Riverside, and UC Merced (I was told that Merced gives very good scholarships)

11

Try Duke and Vandy, I think they favor high test scorers.

12

Iowa State is an easy admit for you with very good merit. Apply today and should know next week. Here’s the catch… It’s a very good engineering school. Really… Good college town and lots of school spirit.

North Carolina State University is worth a look. Michigan State University honors gives good merit.

13

Seems like you have great credentials for a top notch school. Do you intend to play on the team in college. Are you good enough to play at the college level-D1 or 3? (might be hard w/engineering). Basically I think your guidance counselor is wrong. Naturally you need some so-called safeties but, given you want engineering (I assume-although don’t know what kind you are most interested so you’d need to look carefully to make sure that particular type is offered), Harvard (is trying to do better in that regard), Cornell (very strong engineering), Princeton (very strong engineering), {why Yale?}, MIT, CMU, (disagree about Dartmouth), CAlTech, Georgia Tech, Hopkins, Michigan, I"d say UNC-CH but I recall something wacky about what they did with engineering. If you want a smaller school, Swarthmore has a strong engineering program for a small school. With that income, you’ll do well with need blind programs that meet full need-which I think is true of nearly all I’ve listed. Good luck. Nobody can count on any one school but you should certainly get into some very competitive (in terms of admissions) schools. Apply broadly. Good luck and as others have said, don’t let anyone dissuade you.

14

Also Duke. Your GC is off!

15

Michigan would be interesting but his GPA is a bit low but with good senior grades might be worth a shot.

16

@lostaccount Don’t plan on playing college sports, I’m not really interested in sports and only really played because I knew colleges like to see Varsity participation. I am applying to most of the universities you listed. What’s most important when I look at a college, is whether or not my intellectual abilities will truly be challenged, and that the students around me will share the same work ethic and motivation. I understand that not getting into an Ivy league is far from the end of the world, but I still want to get into the best universities I can, which to me would be a school of that caliber. My question is should I just apply to all the schools that interest me, despite the application fees and an overwhelming amount of applications to write?

17

@knowsstuff I’m going into finals with a 4.77, how will this affect my admission chance.

18

@FrankieT Michigan only does unweighted GPA. I think you said your unweighted was 3.66… Michigan avg GPA LSA is 3.8. Engineering is like 3.93. For Out of state your 34 act is right on and the rest of your application is great. Early Action results should be out today at 3:00 pm eastern time. You will be able to see the stats of everyone deferred to get an idea of where you stand. Out of state for Michigan is very tough but heh… My son’s there… And we are OOS. As I told him… Bet on yourself and you’ll never go wrong. His counselor told him that Michigan would be a reach for anyone and not count on it. He went to the number one school in our state and very rigourus. He had 6 AP his senior year with multivariate Calc as his 7 class and aced his senior year. It’s an all honor school. He thought the AP classes were more interesting and easier then his honor classes… Go figure. He was trying to match kids for merit. My son wanted to only apply to the top ten engineering schools (not in order and not all of them…
LOL.) since competition is crazy, I agreed but he also had to research some top 20, 30-40, 40 - 50… That is where he found some really great schools. I made him apply also to safeties for him like Iowa State, Michigan State and Rose Hulman. The last one since I wanted him to see what going to a small tech school would be like. Plus living in Chicago but from Michigan we were able to visit a lot of his choices and this is where he found out that a lot of these lower graded schools for him had really great programs but really good merit also. So he had safeties to his safeties but solid programs. Schools like Purdue, Wisconsin for us don’t give a lot of money if any. Illinois didn’t give anything and for instate is very expensive for engineering and so on. So his list even after being accepted got cut down pretty quickly. If you get accepted to Michigan reach out and I can tell you a lot of great things about it. Good luck.

19

What is your home state? If not Calif, then take off all the UCs. They don’t give aid to OOS students.

There are more ivy schools than HYP and Penn. either way, I think your GC may be wrong. If you’re a black male, you may be of additional interest to a number of top schools and ivies.

Have you taken and SAT subject tests?

20

In another thread you mention trouble paying for applications. If that’s the case, how are these schools your safeties?

If you’re OOS for Calif, then those UCs can’t be safeties.

If you’re OOS for Clemson, then there’s no way that Clemson could be a safety because even after some merit, your parents would still be given a $25k-30k per year to pay.

Which schools are your true safeties??? These would be schools that will accept you AND you know FOR SURE that all costs are covered.