madicent7

Competitive Public High School in TN
High School Junior
uw GPA: 3.8/4.0
Rank: 47/435
Ethnicity and Gender: African American Male
Parents' income combined: over $100,000 (do i have any chance for university scholarships?)
Honor Diploma Student (taken at least 3 honors/AP classes each year)
Very Rigorous Courseload
(Will have at least 6 AP courses when graduating)
ACT: 29 (plan on boosting) English: 32 Reading:30 Math:27 Science: 25 Writing Subscore: 09
Have not taken SAT yet, but PSAT: (cr) 71, (m) 65 (w) 64 [200/240]

Extra-Curriculars
-Junior Class Treasurer
-Beta Club Vice President
-creator of Teens Helping Each Other, which helps minority teens socially and academically *very important to me
-over 150 hours of community service
-School Morning News Anchor
-Junior Classical League
-National Latin Honor Society
-National Forensics League
-5th in state for TV Broadcasting
-Bridge Builders, a Memphis-wide diversity program
-Camp LivitUp! volunteer, summer camp for children with special needs
-Health and Wellness Committee

Summer Programs:
Carleton Liberal Arts Program
Tavis Smiley Leadership Seminar
NSLC-Vanderbilt University
Hugh O'Bryan Youth Conference
Bridge Builders Conference
(Hopefully, TASP at UT-Austin)

Awards:
TV Broadcasting-5th in state
21st Century Grant (for Teens Helping Each Other)
Community Service Leader
Rhodes College Book Award
Bridge Builder Team Representative
(Most Likely National Achievement Semi-Finalist and probably NM Commended

Good relationship with Guidance Counselor and Teachers for recs
Should have a solid essay

Planning to Apply: Vanderbilt, Emory, Wake Forest, WashU, Duke
Are these reasonable, too high, too low? Do I have a chance of getting any merit scholarship offers at any of the schools above? Please list other schools that I may fit into. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

jmw123

Emory is a low reach to a match for you depending on your SATs and rather you boost your ACT. Duke, Vandy, and WashU are similar and I don't know anything about Wake Forest. You have a shot at getting in, and being a URM helps, but you're still slightly below average for these schools.

As for merit aid: good luck at Emory. Emory Scholars is the main merit aid scholarship opportunity, and your scores are unfortunately on the low side (on last year's scholars thread was filled with 2250+ SATs just for semifinalists.)
You'd likely receive need-based aid however. I don't know enough about the other schools' merit scholarships, but I'd imagine they're of similar caliber.

Write some good essays, get a 2100 or so SAT and you'll have a good shot at regular admittance at Emory.

madicent7

Thanks for your reply!

greg-ster

Should be in, you've got a good GPA

why worry? The only thing you have to lose is the time spent applying...