Hi everyone, I’m a junior in New Jersey and am trying to decide on what schools I should apply to. I go to a competitive school and am in the top decile of my class, but my school doesn’t rank. I really don’t know what schools I could get into, but I would potentially be interested in most of the Ivy’s. Otherwise, I’d go to college anywhere in the east, south, or california. Note that I am an upper-class hispanic/pacific-islander/white male. Thanks for the help.
ACT: 34
AP: 5 (Macroeconomics) waiting on APUSH and AP Psych
SAT 2: Waiting on USH, Math 2, Spanish
GPA: 3.875 UW 4.23 W
Classes: 7 AP’s by the end of senior year, 3 by end of junior year – note that my school only allows you to take 1 AP before junior year (taking 2 as a junior)
EC’s: Debate club, DECA nationals, stock market club, newspaper, started a politics club, model congress, 100+ hours volunteering, academic team, national honors society, varsity tennis, some college summer program, some random summer internship
Work: lifeguard for 3 summers and run soccer referee association in my town
Interests: Law, psychology, political science
Awards: Multiple deca awards, every honor roll possible, passion award in 8th grade, some minor debate awards
Schools that I’m currently considering:
Georgetown
Boston College
Pomona (I have legacy)
USC
UNC
Cornell
Based on you interest in the Ivies, geographical criteria, legacy at Pomona and possible law school aspirations, your reach schools will predominantly overlap with a list such as this:
https://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/blog/top-lawyer-producer-schools-infographic/
USC, BC and UNC seem like good match schools for you, and possibly Pomona since you have legacy status. I’d also recommend looking at UCLA, which has a good reputation for both Poli Sci and Psych.
Anywhere ranked 1-20 on USNews would be a reach school for you, as they are for all students. G’town would be an amazing place as a Poli Sci major. I know a G’town alumna who interned on Capital Hill her Junior year. Cornell would be good too. I’d also recommend looking at Williams, Brown (good rep for Poli Sci) & Berkeley (good rep for Poli Sci and Psych).
You definitely need safety schools which nowhere on your list is one. UCSD and Villanova (good rep for Poli Sci) and Rutgers (good rep for Psych) would be possible options.
Claremont McKenna, Emory, UVA, Villanova
What size are you considering, because you could also go the Liberal Arts Colleges route. With your stats, you could make a run at Williams, Amherst, Tufts, Washington U, Swarthmore, etc.
I’d consider Pomona tier schools a low reach or a high match (Amherst, Williams, Cornell, Penn, Brown).
If I were you, I’d ED to Pomona.
*Edit
Definitely more of a low reach than a high match. The only one I would bet on you getting in is ED to Pomona.