<p>SAT: 2140 (650/700/790) retaking in November</p>
<p>SAT 2: 730 Math 2 and 590 US History (lol) retaking both + literature in October</p>
<p>GPA: 4.0 UW/4.4 W</p>
<p>Rank: Val or sal. I have highest UW but 2nd highest W, so counselor is fighting for me as val because it’s a required course that brought down my weighted which the other girl was for some reason exempt from taking. </p>
<p>IB: Took 7 this year and will take 6 next year. I’m an IB diploma candidate.</p>
<p>ECs: These are the 10 that I will mention on the common app.
- Tutor kids for free to help them pass the state standardized exams (9-12)
- Virginia’s Governor’s School for Humanities
- Iowa Young Writers’ Studio
- Student Government Vice President (11-12)
- Started a creative writing center at the local library (before all events were related to books but the center holds events specific to writing like guest speakers, writing workshops and writing contests. I just came up with the idea and help with small stuff though because the library does most of the work.)
- Book Club (9-12, president 11-12)
7-9) 3 different honor societies, I have leadership positions in 2 of them and potentially leadership in another - Still debating what to put as my last thing but I have 4 small things that I don’t spend a lot of time on but I want them all to be on my application so I’m not sure which to pick. </p>
<p>Awards: 2 scholastic gold keys and 3 silver keys. Also numerous awards at school (1st place all 3 years) and regional science fair over my 3 years. Received a local leadership award and 1 very prestigious school award, but I’ve heard that school awards don’t even matter that much. Other than that it’s just honor roll stuff. School doesn’t really give out awards until the end of senior year so I can’t put that on colleges and it’s hard to find decent regional awards in such a competitive county. </p>
<p>Major: Political science or international relations. I know my ECs don’t have much to do with poli sci but that’s because I haven’t encountered a candidate near me that I like enough to campaign for and I don’t want to blindly follow my party and campaign for anyone. I also can’t drive so stuff like interning and jobs are hard for me to come by because I don’t have rides. But I’m hoping that my leadership and interest in writing and volunteering will show that I’d do well as a poli sci major.</p>
<p>Other: Indian female, which probably won’t help me out because I’m an ORM, but maybe the fact that I’m not a math/science person will add to my diversity as not your typical Indian applicant. I live in Virginia. Please don’t respond to my posts with “What can you afford? Have you plugged in your numbers to the schools’ FA calculators.” YES I HAVE! It always annoys me when people completely ignore responding to the actual question at hand and just go on a tirade about cost. I’ve plugged in all the numbers and I have multiple financial safeties and I’m applying to some not so financial safeties (but were doable according to their FA calculators) so I can compare aid. </p>
<p>List (somewhat in order of preference):
- American (low match, hoping for some $$$)
- George Washington (match, also hoping for some merit)
- Rice (reach)
- Brown University (reach)
- UVA (I’m instate so I would say match, but I would honestly be surprised if I were rejected because for multiple years the average SAT for accepted students from my school has been in the mid 1800s)
- VCU and JMU (safeties, will probably get merit at VCU and honors college at both)</p>
<p>And then other schools I’m considering applying to but it’s not dead set:
- Duke (reach)
- Emory (low reach)
- William and Mary (match, again instate so what I said for UVA also applies here)
- Wake Forest (match)
- Southern Methodist University (low match. Also hoping for merit)
- Davidson (match)
- Wellesley (high match)
- University of Richmond (match)
- Brandeis (match)
- Boston University (low match)
- University of Miami/Tulane/Ithaca (low-ish matches. I’m hoping for merit and I will probably apply to only 1 or 2 of these)
- Maybe either Stanford/Columbia/Yale just for fun (high reaches)
- Elon University</p>
<p>Do the chances I gave myself compare to what you would give me? I know my SAT scores are kind of low, especially my math/reading, but I don’t think they’re low enough for colleges to reject me outright because of them. I think the reason for any potential rejection would be merely because I have no hook. I know my ECs could be stronger but they show consistency and a lot of leadership. However, the most weight is given to the transcript and personally I think that’s the strongest part of my application. Also, are there any colleges on my maybe list that you think should get bumped up to my applying list or bumped down and not be considered anymore? The reason they’re still on my maybe list is because I haven’t looked at the specific programs of the schools yet, but I like the school in general. </p>
<p>Thank you so much for reading all of this! I know it’s long but it definitely took me a lot longer to write this than it did for you to read this. </p>