Chance a history major for UChicago/Brown/Amherst and T20s! [GA resident, 94.3 GPA, 1540 SAT superscore]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics

  • US citizen
  • State/Location of residency: Georgia
  • Type of high school (or current college for transfers): Semi large public where a few kids get into ivies/t20s every year but its not every
  • Other special factors: none

Cost Constraints / Budget
Considered full pay

I’m worrying about money myself I just need to know if I have a chance at these colleges haha

Intended Major(s) History

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA (school doesn’t report this but): 94.3
  • Weighted HS GPA (100 point scale): 98.475
  • Class Rank: School doesn’t report this
  • SAT Scores: 1540 Superscore (800 RW 740 M)

List your HS coursework (in chronological order)

  • English: 9th Lit H, 10th Lit H, AP Lang (5), AP Lit (5), IB Lit and Performance SL
  • Math: Algebra 1 H, Geometry H, Algebra 2 H, AP Precalc (5), AP Calc AB
  • Science: Bio H, Chem, AP Environmental Science (4), Physics
  • History and social studies: AP Gov (5), AP World (5), APUSH (5), AP Euro, AP Macro/Micro
  • Language other than English: Spanish 1 H, Spanish 2 H, Spanish 3 H, IB Spanish SL, AP Spanish Lang
  • Visual or performing arts: Drawing & Painting 1-4

Awards (not my strongest)

  1. 1 of 27 selected from 400+ applicants for nationally competitive journalism summer camp (being purposefully vague)

  2. 2x Regional Scholastic Art & Writing Award, Silver Key, Journalism, '25 & '26

  3. AP Scholar (9-10); AP Scholar with Distinction (11)

  4. 2 filler awards - top 10/semifinalist placements in statewide journalism/speech competitions

Should I replace one of these with NHS or leave it? I’m worried the top 10/semifinalist placements in #4 might reflect poorly on my prowess in journalism/speech bc I know I could’ve done better but I didn’t care to study and entered those competitions for fun :confused:

Extracurriculars
1. Founder + Editor-in-Chief of HS newspaper (10,11,12)

  • self taught journalist resurrected paper, recruited 25+ students + trained them, quarterly issues
    2. Independent Research/Journalist (11,12)
  • Investigated unmarked graves; published city’s link to slavery on [local teen journalism publication] reaching 25k+; created map of city cemeteries; created personal archive
    3. Advocate + Lobbyist to erect a monument (11,12)
  • Launched project to memorialize abandoned cemetery through the institution of a historical marker; wrote proposal; lobbied historical society board; wrote inscription; marker will be erected in a month or 2
  • this is probably my fav extracurricular
    4. [city] Youth Journalism Project (self-initiated) (11,12)
  • Addressed youth apathy toward journalism; held series of workshops at middle schools encouraging interest in journalism, then went national w virtual webinars; trained 90+ kids (want to train 100 more but we will see)
    5. Internship at [local teen journalism pub] (11,12)
  • Led journalism workshops for a cohort of 30; mentored 3 young journalists 1:1; executive producer for an NPR podcast collab; 2 articles reached 25k+
  • promoted from contributing writer (10)
    6. Summer internship at local historical society (11,12)
  • handled 500+ historical documents - organizing, filing, archiving, accession records, etc
    7. History Tutor (11,12)
  • Created original curriculum to teach world history (1400 A.D.-present) to 29 high school students; spent 50+ volunteer hours
    8. [city] Journalism Competition Organizer (11,12)
  • Launched citywide writing competition for grades 6-8; created website; held 1:1 trainings for students; judged student submissions; designed showcase
    9. JV girls xc runner (9,10)
    Attended daily practices; ran in weekend meets; uplifted team culture; Dynamic Duo Award ‘24—not the fastest, but proud to be a great teammate

LORs (haven’t been written yet but my predictions for how they’ll be)
AP World Teacher + my newspaper advisor: 9/10 maybe? She knows me very well and watched me build my club from the ground up, and even asked ME to write my letter of rec instead of the other way around.

AP Lit teacher: 7/10 i think. he doesn’t know me as well but we had lots of great conversations in his class.

APUSH teacher: wondering if I should even bother including her letter because she accused me of using AI in writing an email to her, which I clarified wasn’t true but I don’t know if she believed me or not…

Schools
(Won’t bother including assured/extremely likelies)

  • Likely: William & Mary RD, GWU RD, UGA EA
  • Toss-up: William & Mary RD UGA Honors EA, Uni of Florida EA
  • Lower Probability: Grinnell RD, UMich RD, Amherst (considering ED1)
  • Low Probability: Columbia RD, Brown (considering ED1), Rice RD, Emory (ED2), Yale RD, Dartmouth RD, UChicago (considering ED1)
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No. Ask your AP English or AP European History teacher if you require an additional or alternate recommendation. Your college list looks solid!

Be careful! Admissions committees are well trained to screen for student-produced essays … and letters of recommendation. I don’t recommend submitting student-produced letters of recommendation for Ivy League admissions. You could be wasting a recommendation. Encourage your AP World History teacher to write the letter even if s/he allows you to review it.

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thank you for the advice! what i meant is she asked ME if SHE could write my letter, rather than me having to ask her if she would write it. i would never write submit a letter of rec i wrote about myself haha that would be a bit crazy even if my teacher sanctioned it!

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She must be your top recommender! What about the AP English Language teacher? A possible recommender?

How about your guidance counselor? How would you rate the counselor recommendation on a scale of 1 to 10?

Also, are there any colleges on your list that specifically require a math/science recommendation regardless of program or intended major?

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For the study of history, Yale, Brown, Columbia and Grinnell are some of the stronger schools on your list.

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All of the low probability and lower probability schools on your list are incredibly hard to get into. For anyone. But you are an A student with superb test scores, excellent extracurriculars, and a rigorous course selection. So, you have a shot.

Since you like Brown enough to apply there ED1, let me suggest another school to add to your list - Wesleyan. Where I live in New England, it is sometimes referred to as “the mini Brown” because the two are so similar - same caliber of world class professors. Similar kind of open curriculum. Same small class sizes. Same excellent resources. Similar highly selected national student body. Brown is Ivy and Wesleyan is Little Ivy.

So why am I suggesting that you add Wesleyan? Because Brown had a 5% acceptance rate last year and Wesleyan had a 16% acceptance rate. It’s just a little more accessible. And you get so much of what makes Brown special. It’s the natural back up choice.

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What do you intend to do with a bachelor’s degree in History? Are you thinking about law school as one option? If so, then can you afford both four years at full pay at a private university and also three years of law school without burying yourself in debt?

Do you have a sense for what your rank might be?

If you get into any of the schools where you are considering applying ED1 or ED2, then are you okay with not finding out what sort of offers you might get from all of the other schools on your list? As one example, my understanding is that Grinnell is a very good college and does offer some merit aid. If you get in ED1 or ED2 then you will not find out what sort of offer you would get there.

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Deleted, OP already addressed the point I made.

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Congrats on a great record.

Here’s a few thoughts:

  1. I think your record is strong - but with Calc AB and if I’m reading right, only APES for a high rigor science, your rigor is a bit off.

You note you are full pay but worried about $$. Are your parents ok paying $100K? If not, there are subs that will be much less for you - and outstanding schools.

Looking at your awards - I’m not sure the first is an award - but it is a great accomplishment / EC. #2 is great.

Don’t worry about 3 and 4 (i.e. you don’t need filler). I think awards matter little - what matters is what you did to earn them. In other words, walking dogs at the shelter or scooping ice cream at Baskin Robins are great ECs - but you don’t get an award for doing it.

So I think overall you have a nice profile.

You likely only need 2 LORs (check each school) but I certainly wouldn’t use her, given the doubt you expressed she may have. Why take that chance?

As for your chancing:

W&M - if you are male, your chances are likely better than if you are female - so I think if you are male, you get in. Female - as well - but less certain - sort of a low target.

GW - yes, but make sure you demonstrate interest.

UGA - yes.

UF is likely

Grinnell - likely. U Mich - toss up. Amherst - reach - but I have to believe your test score really helps as their test submission rate isn’t overly large.

I think you can get into Emory and maybe Chicago but unlikely the rest. I just think the rigor may not be enough - even though you’re not STEM.

But let me ask you - beyond a name or rank, what do you seek - because you have Grinnell and thinking of Amherst ED but then you have super large UF and UM.

Given you’ll have free tuition so not sure why you’d apply to UF and even UM, if that’s what you want.

If you are full pay and money is an issue, then why not apply to some LACs that are strong in history and will give you money.Nearly all your list is need only - although Grinnell can give you some, etc. Not on your list but a Vandy and Emory do haev some full tuition scholarships, etc.

You need to have the chat with your folks - if Amherst is $97K x 4 and UGA is $15K, where are they sending you?

It’s more than a $300K difference.

LACs that will give you money that I’m sure are solid range from Macalester to Connecticut to Furman and Gettysburg.

What are you planning to do with your degree.

I think your list as is - is fine - but do wonder what you want in a school and focus on that - and if you had the money chat with your folks - as you noted you are full pay but worried.

Here’s Amherst’s career outcomes. You can set to MY25 and History and see the first and job roles people have - to see if that’s the sort of outcome you’d want. Sadly, they don’t list salaries.

Good luck.

Student First Destinations – Amherst College | Loeb Center for Career Exploration and Planning

Different schools specialize in different eras -

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Note that the OP says that

, which suggests a desire to separate financial concerns from that of the question here, rather than an active state of worry about finances.

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I don’t think there’s any point in going down this rabbit hole until the OP comes back with some NPC results.

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OP, note that your post has been misunderstood twice already (someone thinking your teacher asked you to write your own recommendation letter and someone else thinking you were expressing worry about finances). I, myself, had to reread parts of your post a few times to understand your meaning. These misunderstandings are happening because you are not using punctuation, are writing in run-on sentences, and are being generally careless about what you’re writing. When you’re texting with friends, this sort of casual writing is fine. Everywhere else, it’s helpful to get in the habit of writing well and using standard punctuation. It will serve you well as you enter college and, later, the workplace.

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Writer’s Guide: History by H. J. Stephens & M. J. Dickerson (1987) is a nifty historical reference handbook for illdoubt which also covers some grammar, punctuation, & usage.

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You’re in great shape. The one (tiny) thing may be that you haven’t taken a foundational AP level science class (Chem/Physics/Bio). Although you’re majoring in history, schools at this level usually expect the highest level rigor in each basic subject. You did take AP Env. Sci. and other honors science courses, so this may be a tiny issue or a non-issue.

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I don’t understand the comment.

The student listed schools. I chanced them on each without utilizing finances. So it’s not as if I didn’t respond to what they wanted.

I noted my concerns were rigor in science and a little math, not to use the teacher for an LOR who accused them of using AI (they’ll likely just need two anyway), and that they don’t need to fluff awards, just to fill space.

I answer/responded to all points brought up.

But I wanted them to know, if that’s a concern (as they did bring it up), they could find strong schools with $$ too to lessen the financial load and named a few.

So I’ll stand by my post.

Thanks

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To clarify, my intent was not to criticize the body of your contribution, or your comments at all really. I’d simply made a technical distinction. Based on the language chosen, I don’t believe the OP is actively worried about finances, or at least any more so than might be expected regarding a major investment of this type.

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So looking at your list, you have a lot of midsize private universities and a couple LACs in the most selective categories, then none in the less selective categories. William & Mary does largely feel like one, so that’s a good choice. But I would at least suggest you consider some more Target/Likely sort of LACs, and maybe more private universities as well.

To sort of get you started, you might want to check out this list of PhD feeders in History, per capita version on the right:

I wouldn’t take this too strictly in terms of order, but there are a lot of interesting colleges on that list. And if you tell us more about what really drew you to your current list, we can help identify more like that.

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