<p>Hey I'm a junior and I'm trying to figure out which schools are worth applying to. Can you guys help me out? Thanks (I'll return the favor).</p>
<p>Schools:
William and Mary
UVA
Notre Dame
Carleton
Kenyon
Macalaster
Boston College
Georgetown
McGill
Indiana University</p>
<p>caucasian male, Indiana</p>
<p>Academics -
4.0 GPA unweighted, >4.0 weighted.
34 ACT composite; 35 English, 33 Math, 35 Science, 33 Reading, 31 Combined English-Writing
IB Full Diploma Candidate
Tied for first class-rank
Will probably qualify for National Merit Finalist (I've made the cutoffs for all of the last 5 years)
I took 1 AP test freshman year (got a 4), 2 AP tests last year (got 2 5s), and I'm taking 5 AP tests this year</p>
<p>Important ECA's -
Concertmaster of local youth orchestra
Swim Team - 3-4 practices a week
Teen Court - this is not mock court; more than an hour a week since freshman year
I organized my school's involvement in Race for the Cure
I play violin at a serious level and study with a university professor
Summer study abroad in France; no English allowed</p>
<p>To be honest, I think you could reach a little higher if there are more selective schools you could see yourself at (not that any of these schools aren’t amazing). The only reach schools I see here are UVA (OOS is really difficult) and Georgetown (with ND right on the fringe, but I give you a bump up because you’re actually from Indiana), but even those two are low reaches and you could even argue for them being matches. I don’t know much about McGill admissions, but I think a lot of kids here underestimate how difficult it would be to go to college abroad full time and I don’t think you’re going to get much financial aid as an international student.</p>
<p>Thanks malan89. I actually can’t really picture myself at an ivy or other ultra-competitive school anyway so these are probably as high as I’ll reach.</p>
<p>Haha Indiana University. I live right next to it.</p>
<p>McGill… Are you referring to the one in Canada? That one will be tough, especially given (if I remember right) you have to use French full time there I think. You’d have to show some serious scores in French tests. Not only that, Canadian colleges focus big time on Test Scores and GPA. Right now your scores don’t scream amazing at the moment.</p>
<p>Like Malan said, I think you should try to reach higher in U.S. universities/colleges. The only “reaches” I see are ND and maybe UVA & Georgetown, and none of them are particularly selective compared to Ivies. </p>
<p>Have you given thought to any top 20 National Universities and top 20 LACs? Top 10 schools will be tough to get in with your resume (unless you get handpicked by a music professor at a school), but schools ranked 10-20 I can see as minor reaches.</p>
<p>Bleh, I looked it up again. McGill made me think Quebec, so yeah.</p>
<p>Yeah, Carlton is number 8. If you use that logic, ND is in top 20. What I’m saying is consider <em>more</em> in top 20 than just one or two.</p>
<p>Look into places like Pomona, Amherst, Yale, blah blah blah. I haven’t been seriously into music for awhile, so I can’t tell you which ones you should look into.
But I DO know that (since you are pretty serious about violin) if you audition in a top school and a prof there picks you out, your chances of getting in will increase dramatically. I know of someone who got into Yale this way. Consider going to various places and auditioning or sending in CDs of you playing, etc.</p>
<p>I’m not a prodigy, so I don’t think a professor would use his/her chips on me but you’re right it’s prolly worth a shot. I don’t want to major music either so I’m not taking music programs into consideration to much at the schools I apply to.</p>
<p>But isn’t being surrounded by other good students part of the draw at a competitive university. Oh well point well taken I don’t want to kill my GPA.</p>
<p>Probably worth a shot? No, it’s <em>definitely</em> worth a shot. You are not gonna get to anywhere if you don’t even bother trying.</p>
<p>But if you don’t want to do anything related to music… you’re just throwing your years of experience into the garbage can…
Your resume doesn’t really scream anything spectacular if you take out the music part. It just becomes a laundry list. Your serious study in music would’ve been the explanation for it.</p>
<p>Okay good point geekorathletic. I know at a lot of competitive schools you can send in performances along with your application. Has anyone ever done this?</p>
<p>Wow bro, you’re above and beyond for most of what you’ve mentioned. If I were you, I’d switch my scopes for tier 1 schools like JHU, Cornell, UCLA, Berkeley, Georgetown. Guess it’d have to do with what you plan on majoring in anyway as well</p>
<p>I wish I could help but I don’t personally have any experience with that performance thing. Like I said, I haven’t done any music stuff since I was a frosh.</p>
<p>But what I do know is, NEVER send any performance DVDs CDs or whatever directly to the admission officials. Chances are, they don’t know what in the world what you are doing and they will use it for end of year party or something (believe it or not, heard it from an official). Send it to a music professor, email him/her beforehand about it, ask, use your logic + common sense. That’s about the most I can tell you.</p>
<p>You have good chances at all of them, although some could be Low Reaches (Georgetown), but, realistically, you’ll have a wide range of choices. Don’t let people put your choices down, Macalester and Carleton are some of the best LACs in the country, and quite frankly I think its just as difficult if not moreso to get into UVA and W&M OOS as opposed to UCLA and Berkeley. You have a great list here, don’t be surprised at a rejection or two, but I would expect having a slew of choices.</p>
<p>On the McGill point, don’t not apply because you are scared that the students will be too smart. That is ridiculous, you seem more than capable of keeping up a good GPA even at a school as competative as McGill, and if you want to surround yourself with other students of your academic caliber and presumed work ethic then you owe it to yourself to apply. I don’t know how their financial situation is, so if that is a consideration then that would be my caveat (if weather doesn’t bother you, which it doesn’t seem to given other schools on your list). If anything, being in Quebec just means you are more likely to turn out of college knowing more languages, and that is only beneficial.</p>