Chance me for my remaining colleges (Updated Stats) [NJ resident, 3.8-3.9 GPA, 1570 SAT, English / creative writing and PPE / political science]

Chance Me / Match Me
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(yes, I know these are all very selective reaches! they are the colleges I am still waiting for. thank you :slight_smile: )

Demographics

  • US domestic (US citizen or permanent resident)
  • State/Location of residency: NJ
  • Type of high school (or current college for transfers): Competitive public high school

Intended Major(s)
Dependent on specific schools, but generally I put a double major of English/Creative Writing and PPE/Government/PoliSci

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.8-3.9/4.0
  • Weighted HS GPA: 4.4/4.0 (7-semester GPA including senior year - 4.33 prior, sent by my counselor in my mid-year report)
  • Class Rank: 4.4 is in the top 5-10% based on school profile (percentile; school does not precisely rank; approximate percentile range confirmed by counselor)
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1570 SAT
  • AP Scores: Five 5’s (US Gov & Politics, English Lang, US History, Seminar, Chinese) and three 4’s (Physics, Precalc, Research) | pending: English Lit, European History, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Calculus, Statistics, French

List your HS coursework

My high school does not allow students to take any APs freshman year. We can take a max of 2 in our sophomore year.

  • English: Honors English (9th), Honors American Lit (10th), AP Seminar (10th), AP English Lang (11th), AP Research (11th), AP English Lit (12th) - highest rigor
  • Math: Honors Geometry (9th), Honors Alg II (10th), Honors Precalc (11th), AP Calc AB (12th), AP Stats (12th) - level 2 out of 4 in terms of rigor (second-highest)
  • Science: Honors Bio (9th), Honors Chem (10th), AP Physics 1 (11th), none 12th - highest rigor for all years taken
  • History and social studies: Honors Global History (9th), AP US History (10th), AP US Gov & Politics (11th), AP Euro History (12th), AP Economics (12th - micro and macro are combined in one class) - highest rigor
  • Language other than English: Honors French II (9th), Honors French III (10th), Honors French IV (11th), AP French (12th) - highest rigor
  • Visual or performing arts: Intro to Photo (9th), Enjoyment of Music (12th)
  • Other academic courses: Intro to Law, Honors Personal Finance, Tech Design

Awards
Main 5:

  • John Locke Institute Global Essay Competition Finalist (International, Philosophy category - 19K entries from 138 countries)
  • Minds Underground International Essay Competition, High Commendation in Law (3rd Place; ~4K entries)
  • New York Times Writing Contests, International Runner-Up (top 0.9% of 1K+) & Honorable Mentions (3)
  • Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, National Gold Medalist (1) (top 0.3% of 350K+ entries) & Silver (2)
  • NCWIT Aspirations in Computing Impact Award (1/50 winners)

Extracurriculars (generalizing descriptions for privacy)

  • Writer: Creative/critical writer published globally, reached 15K+ people, 25+ awards (9-12)
  • Senior Editor of school newspaper: lead team of 60 to publish regular issues for student body of 1.7K; commended for “compelling” journalism & promoting dialogue on current events. Section editor before that and Staff Writer for all years (9-12)
  • Creator & blogger: launched successful writing platform to inspire others w/ personal work, resources/support, & literary/culture blog; reached 2.2K+ readers in 13
    countries
  • VP of Mock Trial team: Co-managed 100+ meets/events. Represented school as witness in comps. Coach 50 members on legal strategy (9-12)
  • Research Author (accepted for publication): Conducted year-long, IRB-approved study on law-related topic. Paper forthcoming in global research journal (10-12)
  • Legal & Economic Research Intern at well-known schools: Research law and economic-related topic. Analyzed ~2.2K pages of relevant laws/cases for 65 countries; co-draft paper for publication in peer-reviewed journal (11-12)
  • Founder & President of linguistics school club: Lead workshops (reached 1.3K students) featuring profs/experts from top tech companies and universities. Won natl
    NCWIT award among hundreds of applicants (11-12)
  • Co-Founder & Youth Advocate of educational nonprofit: Held reused/recycled book drives; collected 700+ K-12 books; led creation of Zhoushan school’s first library; benefited 1K rural Chinese students (10-12)
  • Leader, Volunteer & Advocate for Youth Leadership @ 2 volunteer organizations:
    Lead tech help club & organize monthly concert program at senior living
    home. Raised $10K for disaster relief. 550+ hrs of service (9-12)
  • Pianist: Pianist for 13+ years; top 3 pianists statewide in age division for concerto (2023). Earned highest distinction in annual piano auditions 12 years in a row (9-12)

Essays/LORs/Other
I would guess these are one of the strongest components of my application since writing is my spike, and all the counselors/teachers/etc. I showed them to really loved them. I think my rec letters are also very strong - I got them all from teachers who know me very well in and out of class, and have read some of the rec letters they wrote for summer programs before, which were amazing. I think my counselor rec is also pretty strong since I have known and talked to my counselor regularly throughout high school, and she knows a lot about me as a student and person and has written rec letters for things like NJ Scholars, National Merit, school awards, etc. I submitted supplemental rec letters from my piano teacher of 14 years and my professor research mentor, who I am working on publishing a paper in a peer-reviewed journal with. She let me read my rec letter and it was awesome!

Additional info

  • Included transcript context to explain slightly weaker grades in earlier years - parents’ divorce, major injury + surgery with year-long recovery, etc.
  • Other things I put in additional info: several other international and national writing awards/publications, link to writing blog, National Merit Semifinalist (now finalist and awaiting final results), service awards, nonprofit grants, athletics, etc.
  • Submitted music and creative writing supplements to those that accepted them
  • Penn: have been actively in contact with creative writing recruitment director for over a year; sent her regular portfolio work, updates, etc. I am visiting for a Writers’ House event in the next few days and made her aware.
  • Georgetown: interview was genuinely amazing and we talked for much longer than the time limit; interviewer said 1000% recommend etc.

Schools pending, not in any specific order

  • Wellesley College
  • College of William & Mary
  • University of Michigan
  • Northwestern University
  • Georgetown University
  • Princeton University
  • Harvard University
  • Cornell University
  • Dartmouth College
  • Brown University
  • Columbia University
  • Williams College
  • Rutgers Newark Honors College

Waitlisted Schools - any chance of getting off waitlist if I send a good LOCI?

  • University of Chicago
  • University of Florida

Sorry to throw all this info at you! thank you so much :slight_smile:

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Did you apply to UF by Nov 15th ? Surprised by the WL.

I can see acceptance elsewhere. You have rigor. But these are all reaches except Rutgers Newark, not including Honors. That school is safe.

W&M can happen but as a female is tougher.

Are there cost issues ??

Have you got a place to land just in case ?

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I applied RD, so that was probably a factor.

Cost issues are very minimal - we won’t get a ton of aid, but my parents said the financial aspect will not be an issue.

I do have several alternatives I love - University of Richmond, Drexel Honors, University of Maryland, Rutgers New Brunswick, Susquehanna (University of Edinburgh and University of Glasgow for international schools, still waiting for LSE and KCL)! I did not get merit aid from Richmond or Rutgers NB, but I got ~$32K/year scholarships for Drexel, UMD, and a full one for Susquehanna :slight_smile:

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Congratulations on your wonderful acceptances. At this point, it’s a wait and see.

Please update us! :crossed_fingers:t2:for some more acceptances…but you know you are going to college already!

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Full tuition or everything ?

Wow.

That’s awesome.

Sounds like you are in good shape already.
Richmond is a hard get.

Yeah I suspect your late app to UF was the culprit but not easy to get into UMD is a fair sub, probably stronger for poli sci.

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thank you so much!!! :heart_hands: :heart:

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Thank you! I did also receive a Carillon Communities invitation for UMD and I picked Deliberative Democracy as my session.

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Susquehanna and UMD - I mean, that’s polar opposites.

When you look at your acceptances thus far, who is in the lead?

Have you visited any?

Find the right one for you (at the proper cost for your family) - don’t go by rank.

You want the right fit for you.

Sometimes at the smaller schools, or where your academics are above the norm, you get more opportunities vs. just being another student at a big school. My daughter has that at her school - so while it was a low ranked school vs. others she got into, it was definitely the right choice - she has so much enrichment in a place not everyone seeks enrichment.

That may or may not be similar for you - I’m just saying, don’t say UMD is highest ranked therefore I’m going. Make sure the school you choose is the best for you - your personality, your desires, your interests.

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Personally this is my ranking - Richmond, Drexel, UMD, Rutgers NB, and Susquehanna. I visited Drexel and Rutgers so far, but am definitely planning to visit more if not all of these if possible.

I 100% agree with the idea of being a “big fish” in a “small pond”! I’m thinking unless I get into a school that is my absolute top choice, it will be really difficult to choose between standing out at a lower ranked school vs. attending a higher ranked school.

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Are your parents able to support full price Richmond vs. free Susquehanna?

That’s over a $300K savings or did you mean Susqueanna is tuition free only?

That’s a lot of money - can’t imagine from an ROI POV Richmond would be worth it.

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This poster already stated that the financial aspect will not be an issue.

This means that all of the colleges he has listed are financially OK with the family.

@blooberry88 do I have that right?

Please give your parents a huge hug and a huge thank you for supporting your higher education options! Some families won’t be full pay even if they have the resources to be…so…please…give your parents that thank you!

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Yes! I am so grateful for my parents’ support :slight_smile:

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You have some great choices already so Congratulations! The remaining schools are very competitive so it’s hard to chance. I think you have a fair shot at Wellesley and W&M. The rest are really tough admits — so many outstanding applicants and so few spots. Good luck.

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Update: Wellesley acceptance!!! :smiley:

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Congratulations! You can’t go wrong with Wellesley. Cross registration available at Babson, Brandeis, and MIT!!

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Update: accepted to William & Mary! :green_heart:

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The problem with so many acceotances and great offers.

Picking one. Not easy.

Congrats

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Update - a couple Ivy waitlists + Georgetown waitlist (alongside my original UChicago one). I sent in a LOCI but I really love Wellesley so I’m leaning towards that!

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