Chance me(strong student + URM) for top 20s

[Buffy03]

Demographics
African American woman from upper middle class background

• US domestic (US citizen or permanent resident) or international student
  US citizen
• State/Location of residency: (state is important if you apply to any state universities)
  Pennsylvania
• Type of high school (current college for transfers):
  Rigorous Private school
• Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.):

Intended Major(s)
Journalism/poli sci/ English
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

• Unweighted HS GPA:
  School does not calculate UW
• Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system):
  4.04
• College GPA (for transfers):
• Class Rank:
  N/A
• ACT/SAT Scores:
  1370 SAT, taking ACT in July but have scored 33 on all of my practice tests

Coursework
(AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores for high school; also include level of math and foreign language reached and any unusual academic electives; for transfers, describe your college courses and preparation for your intended major(s))
My school is a bit weird in that APs aren’t offered until junior and senior year, and you can only take two junior year.
Freshman year: English, Honors history, CP math, CP physics, CP Chinese
Sophomore year: Honors English, Honors history, Honors Chem, CP math, CP Chinese
Junior year: Honors English, APUSH, Honors Bio, CP math, Honors Chinese, English elective
Senior year: AP Gov, Ap Lit, AP Chinese, AP Bio, Honors Calc, Journalism
I have only one B+ on my transcript, which is from freshman year in math

Awards
Scholastic gold key for journalism article
Scholastic honorable mention for journalism article
English department distinction from my school
Character award from my school for moral integrity and courage

Extracurriculars
Junior class president
Head of student ambassadors(admissions program at my school) for 3 years
Honor council for all four years of HS
Student facilitator(diversity leader) for two years
Have worked at the gallery of a well known photographer/artist in my area for 3 years
Writing tutor
Internship at a newspaper in my area
Theater for two years
Cappies( theater journalism program) for three years

Essays/LORs/Other
(Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.)
Very strong, in my opinion and in the opinion of my college counselors and English teacher. I talk about how people have discounted me on account of being traditionally feminine and how I have learned to accept myself through struggles I have faced(depression, sexual assault, incarcerated father)

Cost Constraints / Budget
Cost is not a factor
(High school students: please get a budget from your parents and use the Net Price Calculators on the web sites of colleges of interest.)

Schools
Will definitely be applying to top school ED

Duke
Vandy
UVA
UNC(I know both UVA and UNC are huge reaches for out of state students)
Princeton
Wake Forest
William and Mary
Clemson
Tulane

Please let me know your thoughts!!1

[Thorsmom66]

You may want to calculate your unweighted gpa yourself to have a better sense of where you stand - HS weighting schemes really vary so it is hard to tell how strong a 4.04 is. As you know most of these schools are reaches for all students. I think Clemson and Tulane would be matches for you – Wake Forest and William and Mary seem like lower reaches, but the rest are high reaches just as they are for everyone. You may want to add a few more matches (maybe GW for political science) and you still need some safeties – have you looked at Penn State or Pitt for that?

[hebegebe]

Agree with @Thorsmom66 that we need either your estimated class rank or your unweighted GPA to properly chance you. If you are top decile, I think Vandy would be a good ED school. Your activities seem a bit light to aim higher for ED or EA.

[Buffy03]

Thank you for your opinions! My UW is a 3.9. In terms of comparison with my peers, my college counselor has told me that I am a top student and will be taking one of the most rigorous course loads available at my school.

[hebegebe]

I would also like @ChangeTheGame to weigh in, as he always has some good insight.

[parentologist]

First of all, you have a stellar record of which you can be proud. I’m only asking these questions because you’re looking at the most competitive schools. Do you have any idea into which percentile of your class your GPA puts you? Your school will send the colleges something that tells what percent of the class has a GPA of such and such - it will give channels that will allow the colleges to roughly rank you in your class. You have great grades, but your rigor is not as high in math and science as it could have been (some CP instead of honors). I’m wondering why you didn’t take AP Lang in junior year - your school allows two in junior year, and you only took APUSH. I’m just looking to rank you against others in your school - I would imagine that there are some students who took only honors classes, and took two APs in junior year, and all APs in senior year. They will be applying to the same schools as you.

The ACT really lent itself to prep, for my kid. He just did a ton of retired ACT tests, then corrected them, then self-studied/self taught whatever he got wrong. I think that if you do this, you might be able to bring that ACT up higher. And of course professional test prep might help even more.

I think that you will be a highly competitive candidate, as an URM. If you are thinking journalism, I’m wondering why Penn, Columbia, Barnard, Yale, and Harvard aren’t on your list - it would seem to me that you would want a T20 school that is in or at least close to a major city, where there might be more opportunity for journalism internships.

Overall, assuming your GPA ranks you in the top 25% of your class, and assuming you get an ACT of 34 or above, I think you’ve got a shot anywhere. Really nice ECs, that gold key, and URM. Just make sure that you have a safety that you’d be happy to go to, and several matches that you would likewise be happy to attend. And then there really isn’t a T20 that offers the majors that you’re interested in, that you don’t have a chance at.

[ChangeTheGame]

I have seen quite a few African-American students get into pretty much every school on your list over the years from my kids’ suburban high school and you are definitely a competitive applicant (especially with an actual 33 ACT score). I like how some of your ECs tie into your possible future college Majors and I believe you will get a shot at one of your top choice schools. Going ED with your top school has definitely been helpful to students who know where they want to attend with little to no financial constraints that I have had the pleasure to interact with. I would feel even better if you had a “gimme” safety school that you loved on the list that did rolling admissions (it is nice to a possible college destination really early to take the pressure off, but that is because I hate waiting personally).

Congratulations on your accomplishments so far and please find a way to enjoy the college admissions journey (To help with school year college admissions stress, consider using part of your summer break to work on some admissions essay prompts).