Chance a NYC Male Community Organizer (3.96 GPA, 35 ACT)

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Demographics: Male, NYC, Small (85-person class size) Private School (kind of a feeder), high-income.

Cost Constraints / Budget
I’m incredibly fortunate to have budget concerns effect my college process.

Intended Major(s)
Public Policy, Political Science, Sociology, Urban Planning

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.96/4.0, school doesn’t rank or have weighted GPAs
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 35 (32 M, 36 E, 36 R, 35 S)

List your HS coursework

School offers no APs, but does offer advanced classes as alternatives for rigorous courses starting Junior Year. I took Advanced Victorian Literature, Advanced Environmental Studies, and Advanced Programming Workshop in my junior year. I am taking Advanced Shakespeare, Advanced 21st Century Democracy, Advanced Neuroscience, Advanced Statistics, and Advanced Programming Workshop (can be retaken once as long as your independent work is different). Also worth noting that I have taken 4 years of Spanish and am taking Calculus in senior year.

Awards
Superior designation in NCTE essay writing contest (2nd best designation, only 100 students get nationally every year).

Extracurriculars
(I’m gonna be copy-pasting my activity list descriptions to give you the most accurate picture of what AOs are gonna read, feel free to comment if you want more in-depth info about them)

  1. Community Organizing: Led an advocacy campaign for mental health resources; built a 1000-student statewide coalition, trained 18 student activists, wrote an op-ed and met with legislators and lobbyists. 3 years, 10 hours a week, 36 weeks a year

  2. Paid Campaign Staffer: Only high school student promoted to paid staffer; led 50+ adult volunteers in canvassing and phone-banking for successful State Assembly campaign. 1 year, 20 hours a week, 9 weeks a year

  3. Student Council Co-President: Elected Co-President, serving 370+ students as a leader and liaison; championed DEI curriculum improvements, increased prom attendance and met bi-annually with school Board. 2 years, 2 hours a week, 36 weeks a year

  4. (Omitted) Teen Council and Fellow: Meet monthly with executives and activists allocating resources to nonprofits; Attend trainings on anti-poverty programs and writing grant proposals. 4 years, 3 hours a week, 37 weeks a year

  5. Co-Head Editor of Literary Magazine: Curate and edit student submissions of short fiction, poetry and art for publication in an annual literary magazine; train over 15 junior editors. 4 years, 3 hours a week, 36 weeks a year

  6. Captain of Cross Country, Indoor Track, and Track and Field: Named team Captain and MVP; led team to first league title since 2006; lead daily practices, instill culture of acceptance, discipline and success. 4 years, 12 hours a week, 38 weeks a year

  7. Delegate to International Conference; Round Square Club Leader: Help welcome foreign exchange students; promote global programming; selected as delegate to global youth leadership conferences in Morocco and Kenya. 3 years, 2 hours a week, 36 weeks a year

  8. Junior Sleepaway Camp Councelor: Provided for health, safety and enrichment of fifteen 8-10 year olds, 24/7, for nine weeks; awarded highest performance rating from camp management. 1 year, 112 hours a week, 9 weeks a year

  9. Nominating Committee Member: Recruited to help lead annual replacement of NFTY (North American Federation of Temple Youth) North American Board of Directors; Interviewed, evaluated and selected new Board members. 1 year, 2 hours a week, 12 weeks a year

  10. Captain of Debate Team: Led parliamentary debate team lessons and practices; Increased membership by 212%; Led team to first regional competition in over four years. 3 years, 2 hours a week, 36 weeks a year

Essays/LORs/Other
LORs: Predicting pretty strong, I’ve had both teachers for 3 years in some capacity and work with both outside of class as well so they know me very well.
Essays: Very strong, just had my personal essay reviewed here, had a senior member say that there was no area where I could improve it. Hopefully adds personality and likeability to my application.
Schools

Likely:
American University, George Washington University
Toss-up:
UW-Madison, UMD, Boston University

Lower Probability:
NYU, Wesleyan University, WashU,

Low Probability:
Georgetown, Northwestern, Brown University (ED)

Thank you so much for reading! I apreciate it.

1 Like
2

Things like advanced neuroscience confuse me.

Have you taken the core science trilogy- bio, chem and physics with labs??? It’s not clear to me from what you list that you’ve covered off a rigorous HS curriculum.

Re: Brown- what’s your HS’s track record there?

3

You mean no budget concerns - correct ?

Talk to your private school counselor about your list since they have data - as you said it’s a feeder.

Congrats on a positive essay review.

Good luck.

4

For chancing you should see how student’s from your school with your profile have done (ask your GC). I think that you have a good list and have some definite acceptances. Make sure you apply to UMC and UW-Madison EA. The lower probability schools are impossible to predict but I wouldn’t be surprised if you are accepted to one. Good luck!

5

Sorry! I was just listing junior and senior classes as that’s where we get to pick and add rigor. We have a core of classes freshman, sophomore, and some of junior year that help us get all those requirements. 4 years of English, history, math, foreign language, as well as lab sciences in physics, chemistry, and biology.

My school’s history with brown is pretty rough, they haven’t gotten someone in since Covid, but my counselor isn’t that transparent about how many people have applied and got rejected vs. just not applying. My school has an alright track record with Ivy’s overall (6 kids into Cornell, 2 into Columbia, 2 into Yale, 1 into Princeton) but idk about Brown specifically

6

Overall that seems like a really solid list to me. So if you wanted just to be done with that, I think that would be fine.

One observation I would make is you only have one LAC on your list, Wesleyan. Again, that’s fine, but if you wanted to consider more, there are others that might be suitable for you, including some that would be easier admits and possibly offer you merit (which I know you don’t need, but it doesn’t hurt).

Like, in my experience, a lot of people who like Wesleyan also like Vassar. And it is maybe a touch less hard of an admit for men (not a lot, but a bit).

Much more on the Likely end for you, and since you are (understandably) looking at DC-area colleges, I always like to suggest such people check out Gettysburg College. It functions as a greater DC area college as well, and has a pretty robust merit program. Richmond, Franklin & Marshall, and Dickinson would also be possibilities to consider.

Speaking of greater DC area colleges, I would suggest you also consider William & Mary (if you have not already). It feels a lot like a private despite being a public. Also has a very cool honors program (the Monroe Scholars) you might be competitive for.

Again, none of this is necessary. But based on what you seemed to be thinking with some of your other choices, I thought these would be worth checking out if you have not already.

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7

Have to disagree with my friend, @NiceUnparticularMan, just a little bit here. I’m not feeling Richmond as a suitable comp for a self-described community organizer. It has a drop-dead gorgeous campus that screams “little ivy”. But, it’s one of those LACs that tuck a little bit of liberal arts and science inside a larger universe of business administration and accounting. In fact according to College Raptor, more students major in Accounting than in Math, History and Physics combined. University of Richmond College Majors Data

Macalester would be a better comp for Wesleyan University IMO.

3 Likes
8

As a former Hoya myself, I’m going to say that I am rooting for Georgetown for you. I think this would be an excellent fit and I do think you have a solid shot at it.

1 Like
9

I agree with you in terms of feel, Richmond is quite different from Wesleyan. And if that is a dealbreaker for the OP, that of course is fine.

However, they do actually have a decent number of Poli Sci (and even some Sociology) majors, plus their PPEL major which might (or might not) be suitable for the OP’s interests. And I also think Richmond being a state capital is potentially useful for someone with a politics/public policy interest, plus they have a lot of train service to DC.

But again, I would not insist on it. I am just noting it for the OP’s consideration.

Edit: I believe the fourth entry on that list, Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other, is at least mostly PPEL majors, and then of course Poli Sci is tied for 8th. But for sure, Business is the 800lb gorilla at Richmond.

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10

Not to put too fine a point on it, but you’re describing almost any flagship state university.

This.

1 Like
11

I believe you meant this:

12

Certainly some (minus the train service to DC), including Wisconsin, which is on the OP’s list.

If the OP would like more suggestions like that, we could do that as well. I might start with Ohio State, Minnesota, and actually Michigan State (which has an excellent Poli Sci department and I think sometimes gets a bit overlooked due to Michigan).

13

Demographics: Male, NYC, Small (85-person class size) Private School (kind of a feeder), high-income.

Cost Constraints / Budget
I’m incredibly fortunate to have budget concerns effect my college process.

Intended Major(s)
Public Policy, Political Science, Sociology, Urban Planning

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.96/4.0, school doesn’t rank or have weighted GPAs
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 35 (32 M, 36 E, 36 R, 35 S)

List your HS coursework

School offers no APs, but does offer advanced classes as alternatives for rigorous courses starting Junior Year. I took Advanced Victorian Literature, Advanced Environmental Studies, and Advanced Programming Workshop in my junior year. I am taking Advanced Shakespeare, Advanced 21st Century Democracy, Advanced Neuroscience, Advanced Statistics, and Advanced Programming Workshop (can be retaken once as long as your independent work is different). Also worth noting that I have taken 4 years of Spanish and am taking Calculus in senior year.

Awards
Superior designation in NCTE essay writing contest (2nd best designation, only 100 students get nationally every year).

Extracurriculars
(I’m gonna be copy-pasting my activity list descriptions to give you the most accurate picture of what AOs are gonna read, feel free to comment if you want more in-depth info about them)

  1. Community Organizing: Led an advocacy campaign for mental health resources; built a 1000-student statewide coalition, trained 18 student activists, wrote an op-ed and met with legislators and lobbyists. 3 years, 10 hours a week, 36 weeks a year
  2. Paid Campaign Staffer: Only high school student promoted to paid staffer; led 50+ adult volunteers in canvassing and phone-banking for successful State Assembly campaign. 1 year, 20 hours a week, 9 weeks a year
  3. Student Council Co-President: Elected Co-President, serving 370+ students as a leader and liaison; championed DEI curriculum improvements, increased prom attendance and met bi-annually with school Board. 2 years, 2 hours a week, 36 weeks a year
  4. (Omitted) Teen Council and Fellow: Meet monthly with executives and activists allocating resources to nonprofits; Attend trainings on anti-poverty programs and writing grant proposals. 4 years, 3 hours a week, 37 weeks a year
  5. Co-Head Editor of Literary Magazine: Curate and edit student submissions of short fiction, poetry and art for publication in an annual literary magazine; train over 15 junior editors. 4 years, 3 hours a week, 36 weeks a year
  6. Captain of Cross Country, Indoor Track, and Track and Field: Named team Captain and MVP; led team to first league title since 2006; lead daily practices, instill culture of acceptance, discipline and success. 4 years, 12 hours a week, 38 weeks a year
  7. Delegate to International Conference; Round Square Club Leader: Help welcome foreign exchange students; promote global programming; selected as delegate to global youth leadership conferences in Morocco and Kenya. 3 years, 2 hours a week, 36 weeks a year
  8. Junior Sleepaway Camp Councelor: Provided for health, safety and enrichment of fifteen 8-10 year olds, 24/7, for nine weeks; awarded highest performance rating from camp management. 1 year, 112 hours a week, 9 weeks a year
  9. Nominating Committee Member: Recruited to help lead annual replacement of NFTY (North American Federation of Temple Youth) North American Board of Directors; Interviewed, evaluated and selected new Board members. 1 year, 2 hours a week, 12 weeks a year
  10. Captain of Debate Team: Led parliamentary debate team lessons and practices; Increased membership by 212%; Led team to first regional competition in over four years. 3 years, 2 hours a week, 36 weeks a year

Essays/LORs/Other
LORs: Predicting pretty strong, I’ve had both teachers for 3 years in some capacity and work with both outside of class as well so they know me very well.
Essays: Very strong, just had my personal essay reviewed here, had a senior member say that there was no area where I could improve it. Hopefully adds personality and likeability to my application.
Schools

Likely:
American University, George Washington University
Toss-up:
UW-Madison, UMD, Boston University

Lower Probability:
NYU, Wesleyan University, WashU,

Low Probability:
Georgetown, Northwestern, Brown University (ED)

Thank you so much for reading! I apreciate it.

14

If that is your real name, I strongly encourage you to change it to something more anonymous.

2 Likes
15

If all you’ve written is true without embellishment, I think you’ll fare well with this list with both your likelies and UMD / U Wisconsin happening. Make sure to demonstrate interest at the first two.

Most your schools are small so UMD and Wisc seem off kilter. You have a chance at all on the list btw.

I’m thinking Pitt, Denver and Charleston might fit better than Wisc and UMD. All three are safe. Charleston has the Fellows which you might qualify for. And the Mroz Institute which is global but lots of relevance to policy. .

But I think you’ll be more than fine with your list as is.

Good luck.

16

First, congratulations on your accomplishments.

Second - like others, I think that you have great selections, and they seem the correct selections for your interests, and that your categories are mostly good.

A couple of things:

  1. Wesleyan is a liberal arts college and a different sort of place than the other schools.

  2. Boston U has a pretty low acceptance rate these days - does your high school have a history of students being accepted at a much higher rate than their average? Otherwise, it should be shifted to Lower Probability.

Good luck!

If you know what it’s like, and still want it on your list, I would say that your list is good as it is. If there are

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17

Change your screen name to something anonymous. I think this is a very reasonable and appropriate list.

2 Likes
18

No notes. Whaddya need us for? :smile:

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19

Is this a typo…

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20

Linking to OP’s previous threads for reference. Chance a NYC Male Community Organizer (3.96 GPA, 35 ACT) and Chance an NYC White Male Policy Nerd [3.96 GPA, 34 ACT]

1 Like