Chance Me For T25s

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Hi there CC.

Current junior year, hoping to see if there are any chance I can get into a T25 with my stats. I’m hoping to major in either economics or journalism, although I’m kinda leaning towards double majoring in both. I’m thinking of EA-ing to Harvard just because its a childhood dream of mine, but I know that with my stats its a high reach. I think QuestBridge NM Finalist is achievable if I perfect my essays and improve my SAT scores, but I’ll be unsure of which schools to rank. Can anyone provide information for top journalism/econ schools? I know Wharton is a top business oriented school so I’ll apply there for sure. I have no idea what my safeties would be with my stats, but if it helps I live in California so UCs are doable although not preferred since I’m deadset on moving out of state because of family reasons.

Ethnicity: Asian (yikes lol)
Income: <$40,000

SAT I: 1410 (710 EBRW, 700 Math), 21/24 Essay; will retake in August/October in hopes of a 1500+.
ACT: N/A (Is it worth taking?)
SAT II: Chemistry, US History (Taking in June)
APs: APHUG (5), AP European History (5), APUSH, AP Chem, AP English Language, AP Stats (expecting 4s/5s).
Senior Load: AP Bio, AP Gov/Econ, AP Literature, AP Calc BC, AP Psych (Considering on dropping this for a dismissal period so that I can have more hours to work), Yearbook

Unweighted GPA: 4.00
Weighted GPA: 4.67
Class Rank: 1/659
School: Public, mostly low-income

Awards: Nothing too major other than QB College Prep Scholar and a Yearbook Gold Medalist from CSPA.

Extracurriculars:
Key Club Division News Editor/Club Vice President (9-12)
National Honors Society Treasurer/President-Elect (10-12)
Young Investor’s Society Founder/President (11-12)
Young and Brave Treasurer/Co-Founder (11-12)
California Scholastic Federation (9-12)
Yearbook Editor-In-Chief (11-12)
School Newspaper Writer (11-12)
Knowledge Bowl (10-12)

Jobs/Internships: Currently working two jobs to help support my family, 30+ hours/week.
Summer Activities: Yale Young Global Scholars during summer to 11th, Boy’s State and UPenn’s Leadership in the Business World this upcoming summer (was accepted into Bovard Scholar’s as well, yielded spot for UPenn’s LBW), then will be working full-time the moment I get back from said summer programs.

Recommendations: One from my APHUG Teacher, known her since freshman year (wrote letter of recs that got me into a bunch of summer programs this summer) and one from my current Yearbook advisor who was also my English teacher in 10th grade.

Essays: I haven’t seen the prompts yet, but I hope to use my challenges of being a first generation immigrant that barely spoke English, seeing my father arrested, and getting into a good college for the sake of my baby brother’s future as my key motivations as to why I’ve pushed myself so hard these past few years.

Hooks: First generation immigrant, Low-Income

It’s unfortunate that I was not able to be able to participate in academic competitions like AcaDeca and MESA because of my commitments to helping support my family with working.

Appreciate any feedback that can be given whatsoever.

2

WashU Olin perhaps?

And the Asian demographic is vague. If you’re Hmong that might help with the college application as opposed to Chinese/Indian.

3

Helping support your family with a job is a very good EC. On the one hand you are helping your family. On the other hand you are gaining some experience in how the real world works. Working at the sort of job that a person can get in high school also helps students to understand why they want to attend university.

Also, you are tops in your high school in spite of having to work to support your family and in spite of being low income. Universities like to see students who overcome adversity.

Your SAT is low for Harvard or most Top 25 schools. Good luck with your retake. What sort of preparation are you doing? Do you have time for this with your other commitments?

Top 25 schools are reaches for nearly everyone. I think that your chances are at least as good as the average applicant to these schools, assuming that you get your SAT up.

4

@Hamurtle I’m Filipino - I don’t know if that will help at all. I suppose it’s better than being Chinese/Indian, but I don’t think it’ll help affect my application very much.

5

@DadTwoGirls Thank you so much for your comment. It really boosts my confidence of what you said regarding the jobs as an EC. I tend to get compared to a senior who got into all Ivies and MIT this year, and it really kills me - if I had the time and resource to do what he did, then I for sure would have gotten the same type of major awards that he attained (state champions in academic bowls, etc). Unfortunately, I had to dedicate myself to work as I have mentioned before.

As for the SAT Prep, I have been doing Khan Academy and have been reading books such as Erica Meltzer’s to prepare. My main weakness is math, and I’m thinking of getting Uworld to help ameliorate the difficulties Math has presented to me. I got a perfect score in grammar and missed 8-ish in reading whilst missing like 10 in math, but that’s because I skipped a year of math. A lot of the SAT topics were covered in that year and that year only @ my school.

6

@ChasingInfinity Filipino ethnicity might be helpful if you consider an LAC.

Expand your college search to top LACs in a different geographical region where being Asian might be an advantage.

7

For journalism, Northwestern Medill is obviously on your list.

If you want to do test-optional, Chicago is a top school for Economics and your SES would merit a look.

Also apply to flyover/overnights at selected colleges as you seem to a good candidate for one of those programs.

8

A friend of mine who got her PhD in journalism from U Chicago recently visited her old dissertation advisor and he said “it is so much better than it ever used to be and the college is the focus of the faculty’s attention now as it should be.”

This is a QB school partner so I would give it a look. Good luck!

9

For a reasonable indication of top economics programs, you can consider these analyses:

https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.uslacecon.html

https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.usecondept.html

If you have an interest in Harvard, note that you might have the opportunity to take HBS classes through a range of undergraduate colleges:

http://blogs.wgbh.org/on-campus/2015/5/5/harvard-business-school-expands-online-initiative-liberal-arts-colleges/

10

Low income usually means you need money for college. Have you filled out a FAFSA EFC estimator to see at very least how much you are expected to pay? Also try the NPCs for other schools you are considering. Be aware that for most of the highly selective schools, if you have a non custodial parent or a family business in the picture, the results may not be accurate. UChicago May use just FAFSA criteria but most of the other schools are more stringent.
Also, how much are you and your parents willing and able to pay? All of this is very important in putting together your list. Many kids stay instate for financial reasons.

11

“getting into a good college for the sake of my baby brother’s future as my key motivations” Please remember they’re looking at you as a potential member of their community, those 4 years. They tend to be less impressed by the idea you want “a good college” as it’s generic (i.e., any good college will do.) You need to know more about each target, what it’s about and looks for. Most either have a specific Why Us question or they seek it in the app and supp.

And too much emphasis on your brother can backfire, if they sense you don’t want to leave him or no one else can help him. Just be cautious.

The score bar is about 750/750.