Type of high school (or current college for transfers): Public High School
Other special factors: none
Cost Constraints / Budget
no budget constraints
Intended Major(s)
philosophy
criminal justice
pre-law track
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 3.63
Weighted HS GPA: 4.1/5.0
Class Rank: unknown
ACT/SAT Scores: 790 RW 690 MATH
List your HS coursework
(Indicate advanced level, such as AP, IB, AICE, A-level, or college, courses as well as specifics in each subject)
English: 4 Honors level required classes, Literature and Philosophy (unleveled)
Math*: 3 honors 1 ap*
Science: AP Biology, Honors Chem, Forensic Chem, Honors Marine Ecology, Honors Anatomy and Physiology, Honors General 9th Grade Science, Astronomy
History and social studies: Honors US History, Honors World History, Honors US Gov, American Presidential Elections, AP African American Studies, Criminal Justice, Holocaust Studies
Language other than English: French 1-4 (levels 3-4 were honors)
Visual or performing arts: Ceramics 1-3, Sculpture 1-2
Other academic courses: Ethics and Society (college course at NYU) Greek Mythology (college course at NYU)
Awards
Science National Honors Society
Art National Honors Society
School Recognition Award (College Board)
Projected Semi-Finalist for National Merit Scholarship
Extracurriculars
School newspaper
marine science club
Academic Competition Club (only 10 spots for a school of roughly 1400 students, can’t give details without doxxing myself)
Speech and Debate
Essays/LORs/Other
Essays: Strong, Teachers have noted before that I’m a good writer and I feel that shines in my essays
LORS: Exceptionally strong. The first is from my English teacher who had me for both Literature and Philosophy and English 11, she was also the teacher advisor for the Academic Competition Club. I worked extremely hard in both classes where she had me and for the club she was the teacher advisor of. The second is from my history teacher who had me for US History and will have me in the first semester for American Presidential Elections. We have a very positive relationship and he personally encouraged me to apply to ivy league colleges. Both of the teachers who will be writing my rec letters are very experienced and I feel they know me very well. This is one area of my application that I doubt I could make stronger even if I wanted to. I’m considering requesting a letter of recommendation from one of my professors at NYU as both the professors I had offered to write me letters.
Schools
ED 1: Uchicago
ED2: NYU or Emory
RD: Northwestern, UPitt, GWU, American University, Princeton
Sorry I forgot to include this in the original post, I had significant mental/physical health problems in my first two years of highschool which prevented me from doing many long term extra curriculars or really doing as well as I could have in my classes. In my junior year I had straight As and I got much more involved in extra curriculars.
Yeah, Pitt is a great choice for your interests. Make sure to apply relatively soon as they have rolling admissions. If you get admitted, it makes perfect sense if you want to keep the rest of your list short.
I am curious if you have looked into the Criminology, Law and Society program at George Mason:
In addition to being a very robust program on its own, you can do a concentration specifically in Criminal Justice, and in fact an Accelerated’s Masters in Criminal Justice.
You are also required to do an internship or a related minor/second major/dual degree. They have a bunch of options related to Philosophy . . . you can do a full second major in Philosophy, or a minor in Philosophy, but they also have minors in Political Philosophy, Philosophy and Law, and Philosophy for Social Change:
Alternatively, you might be interested in their version of a PPE program:
Get your Pitt app in ASAP. You should have a decision quickly. Why are your parents not happy about Pitt?
Maybe consider Penn State? Not urban like your other schools but it might be worth it to see if you can get into Schreyer Honors. I think it’s completely essay based and worth the effort. Good luck.
Submit your Pitt application (+ Fredericks Honors) ASAP.
Yes, the key criteria for Schreyer are the essays (another factor is the letter of recommendation; rigor and good grades matter, and they want a diversity of majors/colleges too). Apply to Penn State +Schreyer for Philosophy. If you’re not admitted to Schreyer, as a CLA major you’d be allowed to declare yourself a Paterno Fellow Aspirant, and thus join the 1st year Schreyer students in their special classes and opportunities. (Then you need to meet benchmarks and if you do, you’re in.) Finally, if admitted to Schreyer, I think you’d be interested in The Globe, a specific living/learning program within Schreyer (with the best dorm rooms/area).
For law school, criminology> criminal justice - the former is a branch of sociology&psychology, the latter is usually conceived as a less intellectually rigorous, pre professional education for future law enforcement officers, DoC officers… (unless the program has a clear specificity).