<p>What are my chances for going to some prestigious colleges?</p>
<p>I don't know what type of college I would be able to get into. I know I want to go to a semi-prestigious college, urbanish setting, and study with scholarly students and dedicated professors, but what kind of college do I go to that isn't exactly Ivy League but close? I've seen NYU and I thought it was great, but I don't know my chances of getting in.</p>
<p>My high school is a 4A in Texas, but our region isn't very into academics so it's fairly easy to qualify for state.</p>
<p>4.0 GPA unweighted
730/740/680 SAT
690 Lit SAT
720 US History SAT
32 ACT</p>
<p>Freshman year I did basically nothing for EC's.</p>
<p>Sophomore year:
Science Olympiad State Qualifier
Nat'l History Day State Qualifier
Coastal Bend Science Fair Honorable Mention
UIL Lit Crit Regional Qualifier
2nd Prize at Internat'l Sonatina & Sonata Comp.
Volunteered 30 hours through Key Club and Chinese Dance Teaching
Newspaper Staffwriter</p>
<p>Jr. year:
Science Olympiad Regional Medalist
UIL Lit Crit Regional Qualifier
Business Professionals of America Nat'l Alternate
Personal Financial Literary State Qualifier
Newspaper Features Editor
Creative Communications Top Ten Winner
Volunteered 50 hours through Key Club and BPA</p>
<p>Senior year: willl graduate May 2014
I am president of BPA and Science Olympiad. I am also in SHS and NHS and Math Honor Society. I plan to make to Nationals at BPA and State in SciOlym and Regionals in Lit Crit. Could I have a rough estimate of my chances of getting into a school like NYU or any alternates?</p>
<p>I’ve played piano for most of my life, but since I’m Asian will that matter? I really hate to stereotype myself, but I have cousins with packed resumes that make my list look shorter than a pickle.</p>
<p>NYU is notorious for being stingy with FA: will your parents be able to pay $60,000? If not, are you within the top 20% of their applicants (i.e., above the highest stats they present in their 25-75 range for SAT scores and GPA)? If the answer is still no, you may end up admitted with no scholarship and that’s a terrible position to be in. :s
(To understand scholarship basics:
[Seven</a> Things to Know About Scholarships | The College Solution](<a href=“http://www.thecollegesolution.com/seven-things-to-know-about-scholarships/]Seven”>Seven Things to Know About Scholarships))</p>
<p>You may get in but not get any financial aid, so you need to think of alternatives.
For the kind of “intellectual climate” you’re describing, I think a LAC might be best, especially the more tight-knit, intellectual ones (v. preprofessional). Otherwise, look into your instate universities’ honors colleges (Plan II, etc).</p>
<p>More ideas:
[50-50</a> Highlights: Colleges in Big Cities](<a href=“http://diycollegerankings.com/50-50-highlights-colleges-in-big-cities/5600/]50-50”>50-50 Highlights: Colleges in Big Cities)
Look into “Colleges that change lives” and LACs ranked 35-60, especially outside the South/Southwest. Applying to midwest, midatlantic, and Northwest would probably increase your odds since you’d bring some geographical diversity to the school so schools ranked higher from these regions would be good too.</p>
<p>By any means, apply to your dream schools too, but have a sensible plan with schools where you can afford to go where you’d be happy to attend.
Avoid OOS publics unless your parents have $50,000 set aside for each year of your schooling.</p>
<p>And just because your region isn’t into academics doesn’t mean that the level of students going to UT is low. Consider yourself lucky. Don’t rule out Plan II and you might look at the honors program at UH or Rice.</p>
<p>If you’re really interested in an urban environment, why not just start looking up cities over a certain size and see what colleges are in the area? There are plenty of options besides NYU.</p>