Chance me - Asian American History Major with top-tier research and political science [NC resident, 3.97 GPA, 33 ACT, 1520 SAT]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics

  • US Domestic Citizen
  • Location: North Carolina
  • Public High School
  • Male, Asian American, Upper middle-class
  • Legacy to Georgia Tech and UNC Chapel Hill

Intended Major(s)
Either a Double Major in History and Political Science or a Major in History and a Minor in French Language and Cultural Studies

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted GPA: 3.97/4 (rounded)
  • Weighted GPA: 4.71/4 (rounded)
  • Class Rank: ~top 10
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 34 ACT, 1530 SAT (Superscores)
    (Since Georgetown takes all scores, and both my scores were superscores, my scores were a 1480, 1470, and 1520 + 33/32 respectively)

Coursework

  • 13 AP’s and got 5’s on most of them, heavily centered around humanities (I took like 2 STEM courses and virtually every history/government course)
    Everything else was an honors class, only got one B in Pre-Calculus Honors
  • Only student in school history in AP World to get a 100+ in all three terms and score a 5 on the AP Exam (got an award for it)

Awards

  • 6-0 (Undefeated) at Durham Cavalier International Debate Conference
  • Youth Legislative Assembly Outstanding Delegate
  • 1st Place for Public Speaking at the FBLA Regional Championship
  • 2nd Place for Public Speaking at the FBLA State Championship
  • 2nd Place for Sales Presentation at the FBLA State Championship
  • My school’s Outstanding Achievement award for AP World
  • Honor Societies: NHS, NEHS, NSHS
  • Selected for 2024 Library of Congress Internship (Had to turn it down due to Gov School)

Extracurriculars

  • NC Governor’s School (Summer '24), it had a 33% acceptance rate and I studied social studies for 6 weeks in Meredith College
  • A LOT of history research. I was an intern at UNC Charlotte, Fort Mill History Museum, and I started my own research organization specifically for the Napoleonic Wars, where I published on our website
  • Campaign Intern for both Nikki Haley for President and Josh Stein for Governor
  • Volunteered at my local museum and got around 150-200 hours, also did some community service, chess tutoring, was a piano instructor and did the majority of history/humanities tutoring at my school
  • Started a Non-Profit called “Francolina” which was founded to promote French culture, language, and history in the Carolina’s. Raised a couple thousand in our major fundraiser and I spoke at a couple museums for promoting French and History Classes
  • Ran an organization that created 1:1 replicas of historical landmarks, spent a lot of time doing game design and learning blender and 3D Modeling along with team leadership, also delt with the Napoleonic Wars

Clubs/Leadership

  • Founder and President of my school’s History Club, organized some trips to local IAC Bowls
  • President of Model UN, and Competition Coordinator for Junior year
  • Speech and Debate Vice President
  • Cultural Presenter for French Club
  • National Honor Society Treasurer
  • I was also a member in FBLA, DECA, HOSA, Physics Club, Astronomy Club, and Quiz Bowl

Essays/LORs/Other
(Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.)

  • AP World Teacher - (10/10) I took all of his classes throughout highschool and was his TA, we knew eachother really well
  • AP Comparative Gov Teacher - (7/10) I was a really good and bright student but I accidently broke his waterbottle once. He was also the club advisor for Model UN, the club I was a president of
  • AP Lang Teacher - (7/10) I was a good student and I think she liked me, but we only really had one class together. She did nominate me for Governor’s School, though.
  • Bonus: Fort Mill History Museum Founder - (11/10) This was an insane letter of rec that really highlighted my strong history foundation and dedication to the organization

Cost Constraints / Budget

  • My parents are okay with paying for my college or taking out a loan for certain super expensive universities, so thankfully cost constrains are not on the table

Schools

  • Safety - UNC Charlotte
  • Likely - NC State, Wake Forest, UNC Chapel Hill - I’d like to get Morehead Cain
  • Match - Georgetown! (EA), Georgia Tech, UMich, Vanderbilt,
  • Reach - Duke (ED), Cornell, UChicago

Notes:
Georgetown, Duke, and Chapel Hill are definitely my top three pics. Honestly, I wouldn’t even want to apply to any other universities besides Cornell, UMich, and Georgia Tech save for having backups. I really hope to be on the hilltop or in Durham, but my brother also went to Chapel so I’d take any of the three. Thanks for helping out!

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I forgot to mention this, but I have like 10 other speech and debate awards that are mostly regional or pretty unsubstantial compared to my 6-0 at a national TOC bid tournament :slight_smile:

also - I love french and french history but I did spanish in HS lol

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I can’t address all of these, but your matches (and reaches) are all reaches. You might get in, but all have acceptance rates below 20% (at least two below 10%), so you shouldn’t count on them.

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Class Rank - 10 out of how many? It’s the percentile rank that matters.

For a history and poli sci major, your parents shouldn’t take out loans - at least big loans. You shouldn’t borrow more than the $27K federal limit.

That said, your list is more than fine if you are ok going to UNCC or NC State.

WFU and UNC are possible - but Morehead Cain - we’d all love to see kids get but that’s a high reach.

Your matches and reaches are reaches - but that’s ok.

Why Ga Tech? Are you interested in Science Policy? And the school has just a minor in Asian studies.

Your list is fine - except if you really don’t have interest in UNCC.

You might want to add a school or sub - another major university - just in case.

But I imagine you’ll have multiple acceptances on your list - with both UNCC and NC State and perhaps more.

Good luck.

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So ordinarily I would be concerned about treating North Carolina (in state) and Wake Forest as “Likelies”, as the way our feederish HS defines Likelies they would need to have over a 50% acceptance rate. Still, if you have HS-specific data indicating people with your qualifications are almost always admitted, that could be fine since you also have UNC Charlotte and NC State on your list.

OK, so basically, the way I see it you actually have two Likelies (UNC Charlotte and NC State), two Targets (Wake Forest and UNC Chapel Hill), and seven Reaches. I’d consider trimming a Reach or two (you don’t seem particularly interested in Vanderbilt, for example, so why bother?). I’d also maybe consider an additional Target or two (like, did you consider William & Mary? Seems like a natural fit given your interests). But you could also go with this list if you wanted.

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Parent loans are not a great idea. How much will they contribute without parent loans?

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Also, do all of the colleges on your list offer significant Asian American history courses as your thread title suggests your academic focus to be?

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I don’t have a lot to add to the other comments. Your match schools are all reaches, but you will certainly have acceptances from your list. You can not apply EA to Georgetown and ED to Duke at the same time. You will need to pick one. Georgia Tech is an odd choice for history and poli sci. If you like Atlanta, take a look at Emory. They are very strong in your areas of interest and are probably a low reach for you. Also, maybe you can clarify if you are looking at Asian American history programs or if you are an Asian American who is planning on majoring in history? I interpreted your post as the latter but there seems to be some confusion.

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I gather Georgia Tech was on the list for legacy reasons, but personally I agree, to me it is not a natural choice given the stated interests.

And actually, I am not entirely sure I understand Cornell either. Georgetown, Michigan, and Duke I get. North Carolina too. But normally I would expect a History/Poli Sci kid to add different reaches (and some targets) to that list than Georgia Tech (OOS), Cornell, and Vanderbilt, absent some other compelling non-academic reason.

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Per the CDS, UNC considers legacy but Ga Tech does not.

Never a reason to go to a school anyway, unless it’s the school one wants to go to.

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You should absolutely consider adding William and Mary and UVA to your list, as they will provide opportunities in history at least as good as the schools on your list, with acceptance rates that are not quite as reachy as many of them (UVA is a tougher admit than W&M), and with lower tuition than your private schools, even for OOS.

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You have done well in high school and have made yourself a strong applicant for any college in the country.

With respect to your letters of recommendation, most colleges that ask for two LORs want one from a humanities/social science teacher and one from a STEM teacher. All of your proposed recs come from humanities/social science teachers, so you may want to think of a STEM teacher you can ask for a recommendation.

With respect to the schools you’re thinking about, these are my guesses as to what your chances might be:

Extremely Likely (80-99+%)

  • UNC-Charlotte

Likely (60-79%)

  • NC State
  • UNC - Chapel Hill (if you’re not from Wake or Mecklenberg)

Toss-Up (40-59%)

  • UNC - Chapel Hill (if you’re from Wake or Mecklenberg)

Lower Probability (20-39%)

  • Wake Forest

Low Probability (less than 20%)

  • Georgetown
  • Georgia Tech
  • UMich
  • Vanderbilt
  • Duke
  • Cornell
  • UChicago

So, why are you thinking of applying to UChicago, Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, and Wake Forest? The odds are definitely against admission (for any student, including one of your caliber), so I definitely wouldn’t consider them backups.

Additionally, how would you feel about enrolling at UNC-Charlotte? Would you be happy to send in your deposit and enroll for four years? Or would you feel unhappy and trying to figure out any other options that might be possible at the last minute, start strategizing for transfer options, or looking to race through and finish as quickly as possible? If you’d be happy to attend UNC-Charlotte, then it’s a great addition to your list. If not, I strongly recommend finding at least one (if not two) schools that you’d be happy to attend for 4 years that are extremely likely to admit you and be affordable for your family without loans.

Finances are a family decision based upon their own values. That said, however, I would strongly caution any families who are considering taking out parent loans to pay for their children’s college, with the possible exception of when the parents know that money is coming (such as waiting for payment from a contract or a will that’s in probate). There are no loans that a family can receive to pay for their retirement. Making sure that your parents have a financially secure retirement is very important, and taking out hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans for their child’s education can definitely jeopardize that. As others have mentioned, student loans are capped at around $28k total for all 4 years (starting with $5500 in the first year).

How much is your family willing and able to pay per year without taking out any loans?

Wealthy schools like Duke can be very financially generous, even with families that have significant incomes. Have they run the Net Price Calculator at the schools on your list like Duke or Georgetown? If so, are those schools affordable without parent loans?

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When my daughter was applying to UNC-CH a few years back, I was told that the “alumni/ae relation” factor in Section C7 was considered only if the applicant was OOS, not an instate (NC) applicant. (Perhaps that has changed.) Also, to the extent that it is considered, the “alumni/ae” relationship that mattered was for an applicant who had a parent that was a Carolina alum, not any other blood relationship. So when the OP states that he is a “legacy,” I am not sure what relationship with a Carolina alum he is considering.

OP – of what county in NC are you a resident?

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Union County, just south of Charlotte.

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My graduating class is 575ish, so I’d be around top 1-2% of my class.

Tbh, I would not want to go to State, but I’d like to go to UNC Charlotte. It probably would be good to add another safety.

If I applied to GA Tech, I would want to apply as a aeronautics major since I’m interested in doing patent law.

Thanks for your help!

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If you don’t want to go to state, then why apply?

If you want to do aeronautics (potentially), then you should look at Purdue, Embry Riddle, Florida Tech, Oklahoma, Auburn, etc.

You should apply to schools who have what you want - not try and fit your interests into a school that doesn’t.

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My parents would be willing to fund my entire undergrad and graduate education @ucbalumnus
And to clarify, I meant I am an Asian American applying as a History Major. Not someone doing an Asian American studies program.

@AustenNut my parents have saved up a large amount of money for my education, and I intend on paying them back dollar for dollar based on what they paid once I am able to get a nice job after graduation.

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If you’re interesting in taking the patent bar, you need to major in (or take a whole bunch of classes in) a scientific field. Aeronautics should work, but history and the other majors you mentioned wouldn’t. You can do patent litigation without a science degree.

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I note there is a lot of GPA risk, and therefore law school admissions risk, to doing an engineering major, really at any decent engineering school and particularly one like Georgia Tech.

So I am still puzzled why you would prefer that path over other colleges with excellent History and Poli Sci and yet less GPA risk.

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In your opinion, what would be another good history school? I know Vanderbilt is ranked around 8th, and I honestly forgot to put Emory on my list, but it is another school I am interested in. I am also looking into UVA more. Besides that, other ‘history’ schools are too far away or I’m simply not interested in them.