Where should I apply?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi, my school is in the middle of this college application prep process (took several months) and it is finally due next week. One component is that you have to submit a list of all the colleges you are planning to apply to to your counselor. I am not sure where I should apply, the main reason being that I’m not sure where I have a chance.

California resident, asian female, not low income
SAT: 2370
APs: Physics 1: 4, Comp Sci: 5, European History: 5, APUSH: 5, Calc BC: 5
GPA: 4.5 weighted, 3.9 unweighted
Taking 6 APs and orchestra next year
Don’t expect my recommendations to be outstanding or anything, as I’m generally known as the smart, but quiet kid.
Essays, I think I can write decent and creative as long as I can think of some good ideas

Extracurricular, Awards, etc.

  • French National Exam Level 2 Gold Award
  • Solo and Ensemble State and Regional Competitions Superiors (2 years)
  • Regional Technology Competition 1st place in two categories
  • Youth Symphony Orchestra (3 years)
  • District Orchestra, All-State Orchestra
  • Tutoring Club (will be VP next year)
  • Tutoring Program at school (will be director next year)
  • Key Club (3 years, member)
  • French Club (2 years, member)
  • Student intern for finance professor (summer)
  • Internship at STEM summer camp
  • Highest scorer for school for Chemistry Olympiad First Year Students
  • Volunteer at food bank (100 hours)
  • Pit Orchestra for school musical (3 years, 150 hours)
  • Various things I’m not sure I should list - (MUN, CSF, music club, JV quiz bowl, etc.)

The colleges I know I will apply to for sure are: UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, USC, UC Irvine, and Stanford (dream school). For a major, I am probably going to go undeclared, but if a college requires a major, then I will probably go with Economics.

So can anyone suggest any schools I should be looking at? I have ambitions for top 20 schools, but I’m worried that I have no chance. I heard a lot of scary stories this year of people trying the “shot gun” approach, but not actually getting accepted anywhere. Some schools I am considering are Carnegie Mellon, Duke, U Penn, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern. Are these way out of my league? How about Harvard/Yale/Princeton/Columbia? Should I bother applying there? (of course, I would do research first to see if I would actually want to go there) For example, I really want to go to Columbia because I visited there once and loved it, but I feel like my chances are minimal.

Any feedback or recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks :slight_smile:

2

You have a good list. Columbia isn’t much more selective than schools like Penn and Duke. They just make more extensive use of the waitlist (we don’t know how many students they place on the waitlist because Columbia is one of a handful of elite schools that doesn’t release a common data set). You’re definitely qualified to be admitted to Columbia. Apply ED if you like it so much.

3

Why not add a couple of reaches, and a couple of matches to your current list? All the schools you listed are reaches (because they have such low admission rates), so research and pick 2.

What is your financial situation?