Chances at Brown, Reed, UW-Madison, etc.

btotheg
Mon, 17 May 2010 19:47:00 +0000

Most Sophomore don’t take the ACT, due to the fact you haven’t actually learned all the info sometimes(i.e. Trig). Definitely retake next year.

Also, I personally wouldn’t do the trip to Haiti. You need to show leadership and service work within the community. Yes, it’s great that you are sacrificing time and money to better the lives of other people a world away, yet it looks more promising to see a student who wants to create a better community for himself, his family, and his peers. In the eyes of an Adcom, that looks more desirable than traveling to Haiti.

But since you are instate for UWMad, I’d say you have a good chance. Their ACT average isn’t very high, and you GPA is clearly above their 3.6-3.7 Avg. So that’s definitely your best bet.

But unfortunately, many of your schools on that list: Berkeley, UCLA, Michigan, Princeton, Notre Dame, and Harvard, have MUCH MUCH MUCH higher ACT/SAT expectations that a 26. Get that 26 to a 30 or better and you’ll have a much better chance.