Okay, I’m currently a full IB Diploma Program Senior
Class Rank: 2 out of 470 (but two people are tied for first)
GPA : Weighted 4.41 (up to and including junior year) Unweighted 4.0
SAT: 1950 (planning to retake and take some subject SATs, probably literature, maybe math 2 and French)
I’m mainly aiming/reaching for Princeton, Columbia, UC Berkley, UVA, NYU
Current Classes: IB Eng SL
IB Math HL
Top Choir
IB Biology HL
IB History HL
IB Human Geography SL
IB Theory of Knowledge
(took IB Econ SL and IB French SL last year)
Chorus all 4 years (freshman chorus, then 2nd top choirs for 2 years, and now in top choir) which is a small group)
Awards: Honor roll, got into All-County Honors Choir (sophomore and junior year) and All-District Honors Choir (sophomore year),
Virginia Summer Residential Governor’s School Vocal Music nominee in the county (made it through county auditions but didn’t pass state auditions though).
IB Econ Student of the Year, IB Eng Student of the Year
Extra-Curriculars:
Drama Club (freshmen & sophomore)
National English Honor Society
National French Honor Society (possibly VP this year)
National Math Honor Society
National Honor Society
National Science Honor Society (possibly VP this year)
Tri-Music Honor Society
Chemistry Club
Volunteer:Freshman year volunteered at libary
Volunteered to help shovel mulch at a university for their running forest grounds
Math tutoring
English tutoring
Helping teachers grade quizzes? Is that important?
THANK YOU SO MUCH!! Half my class has already applied and I feel really behind.
Your SAT is low, so make sure to aim for 2200+ for your schools.
What is your major? Do your EC’s show passion? Try to show a deep interest for something, maybe in your ec’s or explain it in your essays. Maybe try to show a passion that corresponds to your major, too, but nevertheless, you need some passion. With your choir going on, I think that is your passion unless you don’t think it is. (I just realized I said passion too much in this paragraph lol)
Princeton, Columbia, UCB, and NYU are mid to high reaches.
Good luck!
Re:#2 - The OP is already a senior, and so casually suggesting that he or she “aim for 2200+” borders on cruel. Do you know anyone taking the SAT who wouldn’t like to receive that score? The probability of a 200+ score increase in a single seating is quite small; a 100-point increase is cause for elation. Princeton and Columbia are extreme reaches for everyone, and would remain so even if the OP’s score were to increase by more than 200 points… I’m afraid that the SAT score probably removes this candidate from the competition there. NYU (other than Stern) is a match, if the OP and family can pay for it. UCB is a plausible reach, since they pay more attention to grades than to test scores, but the SAT score is still a weakness for them. UVA is a mid-reach/high match if the OP is a VA resident; it’s a reach from out-of-state.
I will presume that the OP has a state college, or some other safeties. His or her list as specified above would be risky with a 2300+ SAT.
@woogzmama I’m assuming that OP put a lot of dedicated time into studying for the SAT, which would surely bump up his/her score by a lot. I am simply saying “aim”, not “get”. Especially with the type of schools that OP wants to get into, high scores are key. Even 2100 is fine, but 2200+ boosts his/her chances by a tiny bit, which is very helpful for such selective universities as Princeton and Columbia.
Also, I know quite a few people who have increased their score by 200+ points, and I know people who aren’t satisfied with a score above 2200 too. But that doesn’t matter.
If I seemed cruel, sorry. I’m just saying the truth.
nuimancel (re:#4) - The College Board has a vested interest in encouraging students to take the SAT repeatedly, and their own figures reveal that it is statistically very rare for students to achieve that sort of increase in a single seating. Of course it happens, but this is a senior who needs to be finalizing college applications now. The OP should concentrate on colleges where he or she can get in with existing stats. According to the College Board, the majority of students (55%) will increase their scores on a second try. Approximately 35% will see a decline, and 10% will remain the same. The majority of score increases are less than 50 points across three sections. That means that roughly one quarter of repeat testers will increase their 3-test scores by more than 50 points. The odds of any greater increase decline steadily. It is likelier, therefore, that the OP’s scores will decrease than that they will improve by more than 50 points. No student ever re-takes a test because it’s a fun way to spend a Saturday morning, and there’s no better way to spend the money than on a registration fee. Every student who sits for a second testing does so hoping for a significant improvement.
The students who will get into Stanford are not dedicating all their time in the fall of senior year to prepping for tests. They already have competitive scores. They are fine-tuning their essays, participating in extracurricular activities at a very high level, doing rigorous course-work (which the OP is, as an IB diplomate), etc.
If the OP’s scores increase by 250+ points, then he or she has the same chance as most other applicants to Stanford: about 5%. As of now, I’d place the OP’s chances below that.