Chance current junior at UT Austin, Occidental, Pitzer, and others?

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Hello CC! I’ve posted here before, but I now have more colleges on my list of those that interest me. Also, on my previous posts, I forgot to mention that I am looking to swim at some of these colleges. Anyway, my resume and list are as follows:

Intended Major - Philosophy

3.8 GPA
Hispanic URM (Argentinian)
11th Grade
Male
Texas Resident

Work History
• Currently working as a lifeguard
• Swim instructor for kids aging 4-11
• Don’t know if this counts, but I helped my father do some paralegal work last summer, I was mainly an accountant.

Skills
• Fluent in Spanish (speak it at home) and currently in French III, plan to continue in college
• Microsoft Office (Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint)
• Leadership, public speaking, communication
• Linux and other computer skills (can pretty much trouble shoot any computer problem, am well known for fixing various operating system problems that usually require more expertise)
• Currently developing my own Linux distribution (mainly as a side project, Linux is a hobby of mine)
• Have been told by my English teachers that I am a good writer (it has improved tremendously since I took the SAT)
• A very good interviewee
• A very well rounder reader

Awards and Achievements ( I know, not so good here)
• Superintendent Scholar 2013-2016
• National Honor Society
• National English Honor Society
• 1870 SAT (first try last year, recently retook and felt very confident)
• Recently took ACT and felt very good about it, I know this doesn’t help, just thought I’d put it here
• I know this also won’t count, but I took a practice LSAT, since I plan on going into law, and score a 164. I don’t know if I should mention this or not
• Captain of varsity swim team (I have been a member of varsity swim for all 4 years)
• In the top 7.8% of my class

Courses -
• AP Physics I (junior)
• AP Human Geography (sophomore)
• AP English (junior)
• Dual Credit Precalculus (taking this summer, as I am a year behind on math since I transferred to my current school)
• AP Calculus (senior)
• AP Statistics (senior)
• AP Government (senior)
• AP Economics (senior)
• Forensic Sciences (junior)
• French I, II, and III (fresh,soph, junior)
• Dual Credit Computer Science (senior)
• Dual Credit English 221 (senior)
• AP Physics II (senior, hopefully the class makes, as it is not a very popular)

The colleges I am looking at (PS on the ones that I marked with an asterisks, I am competitive for their swim team -

• Occidental*
• UT Austin
• Lawrence*
• Williams
• Pitzer
• Pomona
• Beloit*
• Hamilton*
• Brandeis*
• Rhodes*
• Macalester*
• Oberlin
• UCLA

So for my questions, other than the obvious one of what are my chances -

• Are there any other colleges that I should consider?
• Which ones should I eliminate?
• Which one of these is best for philosophy, and then law school?

Thank you all for reading this! I know it was quite lengthy, I just need some help on this, I’m very nervous, since if I want to swim at some of these colleges I need to plan a visit soon.

2

Bump

3

You might need that testing result in order to feel confident going into some of these colleges. Currently, Williams, Pomona, Hamilton, Brandeis and Macalester are schools you would simply be more comfortable applying to with a higher score. From this group, maybe two of three of Macalester, Brandeis and Hamilton might be already within your range, should you, as indicated, be competitive for their swim teams (fill out an athletics questionnaire at the appropriate time). If you have done well on your multiple AP exams, that would also be meaningful.

UCLA may have different standards for out-of-state students.

Pitzer is a good school, but I think you might have to rely on other consortium schools for your best course options as philosophy is not their strongest area.

Overall, your list should be regarded as a work in progress until you have your testing result. It’s a solid preliminary group of colleges though, especially in terms of meeting your stated goal of eventually pursuing law school.

Your LSAT practice result will not be consequential to these schools. Competitive colleges will expect their applicants to have experimented with various achievements.

4

omission: Include Oberlin in the selective group listed (post 2). It’s a school you are not quite fully there for as of this moment. That could change of course.

5

What do you think about University of Florida? Both of my parents got their masters there.

6

As a chance? Florida residents with your record would be likely to be accepted there. Though I am not familiar with their out-of-state and legacy policies.

For your academic interests and career goals, the small, discussion-based classes and emphasis on writing at some of your LAC options may be preferable, however.

7

Have you thought about USC (California, not South Carolina)?

If your SAT/ACT score improves, I think Oxy would be a match otherwise. Pomona is a huge reach for everyone, and atm your SAT isn’t high enough. UCLA might be fine for OOS with a decent bump in your SAT, but you won’t get merit aid from them.
How about the money piece? Aside from UT in-state, can your parents afford your choices and/or are you in a place to get need-based aid? Some of your list doesn’t give merit aid.

8

Williams, Pomona and UCLA might be pretty tough, but I wouldn’t rule out any of the others given your competitive swimming and “underrepresented minority” status (ok I know it’s not PC to mention but it is a factor in your favor!) It’s fairly easy to raise your standardized test scores just by practicing with review books, and you have time for another retake if the most recent ones don’t pan out. you don’t mention your high school. It could make a difference with the top schools, whether your high school has a good track record with the schools you want.

9

My parents can afford pretty much anything, but some financial aid would be appreciated, although not necessary. Are there any other schools I should consider? University of Florida looks nice, but it is hard to evaluate the philosophy department at these schools.

10

Re #7, note, however, that by the standardized test scores of their students, UCLA would be eigth in the original group, and would not be statistically out of the OP’s range (hypothetically, when compared to UCLA’s student body as a whole), even with his current SAT result.

@lavishdolphin : Any school you are drawn to for general reasons (such as U of F) can potentially be suitable for the study of philosophy. Some philosophy departments, though, may have qualities – such as appealing course descriptions in their catalogs – that particularly interest you. Some catalogs will also list the maximum enrollments for each course section. By spending time researching along these lines, you will get a sense of what is important to you.

In terms of adding schools, once you can be more specific about what you are looking for (e.g., small or large, city or country), suggestions will follow.

11

Thank you so much @merc81 ! I’m not very picky about the location or size of the school, as long as I’m getting a good education.

12

@lavishdolphin Well, school environment actually plays a good factor in choosing a college. You don’t want to go to a college that is too big or too small, too urban or too rural, and realize you’re miserable there. Yes, I chose my college based on the education I was going to get, but I did take into account things like political and social climate, school setting (city, town, etc.), weather, and student body. It’s a good thing to consider if you want to happy in college.

13

I completely agree with you on the fact that one should take into consideration the environment of a place where one is about to spend four or more years at, but the fact of the matter is, (and I am not saying this to sound rude, so please don’t take it as such), is that it is actually of very little importance to me where I reside in. I have lived in states ranging from Florida to Texas to North Dakota, rural towns and bustling cities, and I am happy in all of those. I thank you for you consideration and warning that you have given to me, but ultimately, environment isn’t of importance to me. :slight_smile:

14

For now, learn a little about the NESCACs and Claremonts. They will not all be suitable for you, but you will gain confidence from the familiarity you acquire. Then consider terrific colleges such as Kenyon, Oberlin, Macalester, Grinnell, Colorado College, Occidental and perhaps Reed. Once your new scores arrive, you can review the same schools a second time with a clearer perspective.

15

I just got my act score back, and I scored a 31. How does this help my chances?

16

Nice job. Consider a list something like this (ACT scores included for some schools):

Lawrence (25-31)
UT-Austin
Bard
Occidental
Rhodes (27-31)
UCLA
Kenyon
Oberlin
Brandeis
Macalester
Carleton (29-33)
CMC (29-33)
Williams (31-33)
Hamilton (31-33)

Check the suitability/existence of these colleges’ swimming programs. Schools with acceptance rates below 25% may be particularly challenging with regard to admission.