Chances after ED rejection?

Chance Me / Match Me
1

I got rejected from my first choice so now I am looking at other school but want to be realistic and narrow down my list…
SAT OLD: 1890
New: 1340
ACT Composite: 31 (just retook it and will probably bump composite up to a 32/33)
SAT II: US History: 720, Spanish: 660
GPA Weighted: 4.4
Unweighted: 3.95
AP Courses: APLAC (3), APUSH (4), APES(4), AP PSYC, AP GOPO, AP Lit, AP Calc AB

Activities:
Sports: Field Hockey JV 9 & 10, Softball JV 9 & 10, Basketball JV 9
Art: I do woodworking and I took classes 10, 11, and 12, and have done extensive projects
Clubs/Activities: Sketch Club (11)
Job: I worked after school for my woodworking teacher (10), I worked part time at a convenience store (20-25 hrs/week) (11)
Other: I helped start the community garden, recreational cycling 3-4x per week with group rides (10-11), Multilingual (3)
Misc: 80 hrs of community service

Letters:
3 Rec Letters and they were all exceptionally wonderful

School Type:
Very Small private (9, 10, 11), Medium Public (12)
Female, white
Hooks, etc: none
Other: I intend to apply as a fine arts major and am submitting a portfolio

Schools: Columbia, Brown, Cooper Union, Duke, Vanderbilt, Wellesley, Tufts, Swarthmore, UCSB, UCLA (art), Scripps, Pitzer, CMC, Occidental, Colorado College

2

Your list is really reach-heavy- CoCo, Occidental and Scripps are the closest to a match, and I don’t see anything that I would read as a safety. - do you have any?

Fwiw, Vanderbilt has a reputation for putting a lot of weight on test scores, which (unless your new ACT is higher) isn’t your strongest suit.

3

I agree with above. Get some more safeties on your list. Esp schools that don’t place as much emphasis on test scores.

4

Occidental is my saftey

5

What would you recommend for matches? I have a hard time finding schools to match with

6

I still think Occidental would not be a safety. Your SAT score would place you at about the 30-40th percentile, which is on the lower end. You might need more safeties than just Occidental. Have you considered using the Supermatch tool on CC? Click on the top left

7

For a range that would include probable sure admits to reaches, look into Wheaton (MA), Connecticut College, Skidmore, Smith, Scripps, Wesleyan, Vassar and Hamilton.

8

None of the schools on your list are safeties to you, and that includes Occidental College.


[QUOTE=""]
Your SAT OLD:1890

[/QUOTE]

Occidental College SAT 25th percentile: CR 600, Math 600, WR 610 = 1810
Occidental College SAT 75th percentile: CR 700, Math 720, WR 700 = 2120
<<<

Perhaps your GPA will raise your chances, but since you are not “far above average” in every area taken into consideration during evaluation by Occidental College, it won’t necessarily be safety to you. When you already look slightly wobbly for your “safety” school, I am not sure if you really will stand out when compared to averages in more tough schools on your list.

Also, being blunt with you, your ECs are not that great either. It looks like you are not holding any leadership positions or officer positions in any of the clubs you are in, which will not impress colleges, especially when it comes to very tough colleges you are seeking to go like Vandy, UCLA, Ivy League, Duke, etc.

In addition, your SAT II score is quite…bad…if you are applying to those reach schools. Those tough schools expect above 750 on every SAT II subject tests if you are submitting SAT II scores, yet you have one with a score of 660, which won’t help you at all. I’m sure some of them require SAT II scores, and if that’s the case, that will hurt your chances.

There are honestly a lot of things you have to improve on, including your community service hours, hooks, etc., to at least look competitive at tough schools.

My suggestion is, try to add more safety and match schools “realistically.”

9

I agree with the other posters that with those test scores your list is very, very reach heavy. For something a bit safer, have you looked at LMU or Chapman (since you seem to like the LA colleges)? And how about Puget Sound or Wilammette in the PNW? I would not count Occidental as a safety; it’s just too unpredictable.

It looks like you are open to women’s colleges. What about Mount Holyoke or Bryn Mawr? Not safeties, but not in the same reach category as most of your list.

10

That is why I retook the ACT to raise my super score which is higher than my SAT scores…I probably won’t submit my SAT I/SAT II scores, and will add a saftey

11

Check out Mills College and Whitman College, both very good.

12

I think Mills is a good safety if you can afford it.

13

Wondering why comments have focused on the posted SAT score when the OP could submit a stronger (and generally superseding) ACT result . . .

14

That being said, that puts me in the middle 50% for a lot of these schools (tufts, scripps, cmc, pitzer, etc)…I haven’t won any awards for my art but I have spent a significant amount of time doing woodworking and I am submitting an art portfolio which may help

15

The middle ACT range for Oxy appears here as 28-31:

http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/college-profiles-new-sat/

You can read through to compare yourself at other colleges as well.

16

Columbia, Brown, and Tufts are for sure 100% not happening (sorry :(, just trying to be realistic). Your SAT is way too low and your AP exam scores are mediocre. I think you should rewrite your list-- not to get rid of these schools, per se, but to add realistic safety schools that you would be happy to go to.

17

What about my ACT score?

18

People keep overlooking your ACT score . . .

Though regarding reworking your list, some highly selective schools you have included (I’d say CMC, CC, Duke, Pitzer, Swarthmore, Vanderbilt and Wellesley) would offer you little in particular in terms of what you would like to pursue academically. UCD, btw, might be a good addition, and might be preferable to UCSB.

19

Thank you

20

Don’t submit the SATS - Do submit ACT and do add a few safetys.