Chance Me! (or Match if you have any suggestions) CA resident -- Good ECs + Average Grades [3.8 UW, 4.2 for UC]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Hi! I am a little worried because my academic stats, at least among competitive pools, many not stand out, but I have good ECs and have been told I interview pretty well… I’m looking for any notes whatsoever. My current list feels unrealistic so feel free to roast me, I just want to get in somewhere and have a good time while being able to pursue my interests!

Demographics
US Citizen
California
Public Arts High School (prestigious & free to attend – very good rep)
Multiple siblings have gone to brown – but I don’t think that makes me a legacy (tell me if wrong haha)

Open to any costs as I have work savings + potential merit

Major
Applying to some schools for Public Policy, Government, or Policy Science
Other schools I am applying for Film (only NYU, USC, Chapman)

Grades
Unweighted HS GPA: 3.8
Weighted HS GPA: 4.2 (UC Recalculation)
Class Rank: Top 5% (Arts school means academically uncompetitive-- school’s average SAT is only 1100)
SAT Scores: Still studying – based on practices, hopefully a 1500

Not listing coursework – sorry, I find it a bit too personal as my school notes which specific arts classes I take (I take 5 every year on top of academics), and that would be likely indicative of what school I go to. The only notable things are that I am only doing three years of Spanish and 3 of science. (The school only offers 3 science classes)

APs
AP World - 5
APUSH - Still taking
APLANG - Still taking
AP GOV - Will take senior year
AP LIT - Will take senior year
AP STATS – Self-Study, Will take Senior Year
(Note – school only offers 6 APS – only one I’m not taking is Calc)

Awards: Gold Award Girl Scouts, Guest Speaker at UCLA, Emerging Filmmaker at Regional Competition, National Civics Program Exemplary Delegate Award, 3 Other film awards, all for directing, 1 national scholarship for my specific culture.

Extracurriculars

  1. Elected to the highest position you can get in a state civic program (I won’t say which one for privacy reasons) – ran a yearlong campaign and won with the votes of around 2000 students. I also met with and worked with the other state civic elected officials across America – there are only 50 of us.
  2. Youth Ambassador Culturally Focused National Nonprofit (on team of 4) HIGHLY SELECTIVE: I ran scholarship competitions, organized social media campaigns, worked with a national advertising company, directed youth voices, etc. This was a JOB that I was paid for.
  3. Youth Ambassador of Global LGBTQIA+ Nonprofit (on team of 10) EVEN MORE SELECTIVE: This is a nonprofit that is VERY BIG-- I got to run campaigns for their millions of followers which was really fun, published blogs, wrote for magazines, organized pride parades, did some political campeinging-- fun job ahha. Also, technically a paid job.
  4. 25+ Short Film Directing, Producing, Editing, Writing, Etc – I won a bunch of awards for this, did a couple of film festivals, and I also do commercial photography as a side gig.
  5. Culture Club President – partnered with nonprofits to raise TONS of funds-- high-impact club.
  6. Poetry Nonprofit sponsored me to be their first-ever student director-- got a couple of thousand dollars to make content for them.
  7. ASB Involvement Three Years – Class VP, General Member
  8. Girl Scouts + Awards – Since Kindergarden
  9. Section Editor of Local Art Review – In charge of film section.
  10. (In Progress— but will fulfill all goals surely due to major collaboration with Political conglomerates) Founder CEO of National Letter Writing Campaign that partnered with two major global nonprofits, with garnered thousands of views online, and is currently in the process of compiling a docket of 100 letters from queer youth across there nation— which we are sending to representatives to advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights.

No essays yet… Still a junior – will do over the summer.

COLLEGE LIST
Yale
Dartmouth
UPenn
Duke
Stanford
Brown
Berkeley
UCLA
USC
NYU
Tufts
U Chicago
Georgetown
Barnard
Chapman
Syracuse
Bryn Mawr
Sarah Lawrence
Mount Holyoke
UM Amherst
DePaul
UC Santa Cruz
UC San Diego
UC Davis
UC Santa Barbra
UC Riverside
UC Irvine

I am hoping to narrow down the list to 21!

Thank You :slight_smile:

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So first, I can’t tell if sibling counts at Brown - but they are reconsidering legacy per an article - and besides that, I think you get in or not on your own - and make sure you want to be there.

In the end, you need one school - and for it to be affordable.

When you say - open to any costs because you have savings and potential merit. Do you have $400,000 to pay for Brown - which has no merit aid btw?

So make sure your parents fill out a net price calculator - to ensure wherever you apply is affordable. That’s very important.

Of course, it’s hard to rate chances without an official score - but if we use a 1500, here’s what I think:

You’ve obviously done very well - and have accomplished a lot.

What is your highest math - I know it’s not Calc. That will likely hinder you at many of the schools - so you might rethink that. Don’t take it if it’s outside your comfort zone or will over strain but be aware that it could cost you admission.

I’m not an AO so take it as that - but I’m first worried about affordability, hence the need to do NPCs. If you get into, say a Chapman but can’t afford it, then it’s a rejection. So your family doing the net price calculators is critical.

I’m curious why you are applying for Policy/Poli Sci at some but film at others. What is your preference? There’s lots of film schools and some very good ones, like Syracuse, on your list - and that impacts.

For example, you’re an easy in at Chapman - but for film, it’s a very difficult admit.

But I will chance you with these majors - but frankly, majors should trump a school in my opinion because you want to study what you want to study.

I think- from the top - the top 13 through Gtown are unlikely - but that doesn’t mean you won’t get into one or two.

Barnard is unlikely but a better chance. Chapman for film is unlikely.

Syracuse is likely and is strong in all your majors.

BM is likely as is Sarah Lawrence and Mt. Holyoke.

UMASS is safe as is DePaul - but why would you do Poli Sci at a school at Depaul (not strong) as opposed to film?

The UCs are unpredictable but certainly Riverside is likely and possiblyl Santa Cruz.

I think your list is a bit long and I’m concerned that it’s all over the place - size, environmental (rural, urban, etc).

I think you need to figure out the budget first, then see if the net price calculators support that budget, but most importantly figure out what you want to major in.

I don’t see why it would be different based on different schools.

Good luck.

Welcome | Net Price Calculator

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You don’t have to list the names of the specific courses, but it could help others help you if you listed general descriptions of each subject like number of courses and whether they were the harder (honors/AP/etc.) options and the level of Spanish and math you will complete.

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Congratulations on building a strong profile in high school!

Below are my guesses as to what your chances for general admission might be if you get your projected SAT of 1500. For schools with highly selective/rejective film programs, the general admission rate does not match the acceptance rate to the film program.

For admission into a film program, I don’t think there’s anyone who can chance you who is not very familiar with your portfolio of work and specific film awards. @Dadbodthor has a kid who will be going to college for film in the fall and may have additional insight for you.

Extremely Likely (80-99+%)

  • DePaul

Likely (60-79%)

  • Chapman
  • Sarah Lawrence
  • Syracuse (if you show interest)
  • UMass-Amherst

Toss-Up (40-59%)

  • Mount Holyoke

Lower Probability (20-39%)

  • Bryn Mawr

Low Probability (less than 20%)

  • Yale
  • Dartmouth
  • UPenn
  • Duke
  • Stanford
  • Brown
  • USC
  • NYU
  • Tufts
  • U. of Chicago
  • Georgetown
  • Barnard

Will defer to @Gumbymom for chancing on the UCs. With respect to Brown, it appears as though siblings may count as legacy, according to this article.

Two schools that could be of interest, and would be extremely likely admits for you, are:

  • George Mason (VA): About 28k undergrads and in a suburb of D.C. with all of its political opportunities, but also has a film program worth investigating.

  • Virginia Commonwealth: About 21k undergrads. It has a strong arts program and is a short distance from the Virginia State Capitol with all of the political opportunities available there.

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Your stats, scores, APs and extracurriculars are very close to my son’s (he’ll be going to Loyola Marymount for film in the fall). You have more awards than he did.

For film, it comes down to your portfolio which is really hard to assess. I would also add Cal State Northridge. It has an excellent film program (highly ranked, and lots of connections to the industry) and will be very affordable.

Definitely do the net price calculator. LMU is likely to cost you between $55k and $75k per year. I imagine Chapman will be the same.

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For the UC’s, can you indicate which schools you are applying as a Film major and which schools are you applying for Public Policy/Government?

As @DadBodThor stated accessing schools for film that require a portfolio is very difficult.

The UC’s consider 3 UC GPA’s so you can use the linked calculator and post your results:

RogerHub UC GPA calculator

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