College List Help

College Search & Lists
1

<p>Hey guys, I just got my December Scores in and wanted to see what you all think. Is it worth retaking it to try to raise my CR score? I got a really good CR score on my PSAT so I was just thinking.</p>

<p>I was also wondering if any of you think I should add/remove any schools. I want to major in either Government (International Relations concentration or as major if offered) or Biology. As for location, nothing past the midwest. Thanks for your input!</p>

<p>Stats:
-GPA:4.361 (W)<-Prob. highest/2nd highest in class. Doesn’t include 11th grade
-PSAT: 223 (CR:80 M:73 W:70) (should be NMSF)
-SAT: 2290 (CR: 740 M:780 W:770)
-SAT II: Bio (740), Math 2 (790), World History (770)</p>

<p>Classes:</p>

<p>9th:
Bio HN (A)
World History 1 HN (A)
English 9 HN (A)
Alg. 2 HN (A)
PE 9 (A)
Photo 1 (A)
Spanish 2 (A)</p>

<p>10th:
Chem HN (A)
AP World History (A) Score:5
English 10 HN (A)
Precalc w/Trig HN (A)
PE 10 (A)
AP Stat (A) Score:4
Spanish 3 (A)
Leadership/SGA (A)</p>

<p>11th (current):
AP Chem
AP Lang
AP Physics B
AP Calc BC
US History HN
Spanish 4
Advanced Composition/ Writing Center
(FYI- 4 AP is the max juniors take)</p>

<p>12th:
AP Physics C
AP Lit
AP Gov/AP Comp Gov
AP Bio
Mulitvar Calc/ Matrix Algebra
Spanish 5
Advanced Composition/ Writing Center</p>

<p>ECs:
MUN (9-12) Secretary 11th, Pres/VP 12th
Debate (10-12) Varsity team and some tournament awards
Math Honor Society (10-12) Executive Council 11th, Pres (most likely) 12th
Writing Center-Peer Tutor and I have a nondescript leadership pos.
Spanish Honor Society (11-12)
Science Honor Society (11-12) Will run for position
National Honor Society (11-12) Will run for position
Volunteer at hospital (on track for 200 hrs by application time)
Rec League Basketball (7 years, 5 championships)
Rec League Basketball Coach for 6th graders (75 hrs)
Shadowed some businesspeople at a local chamber of commerce</p>

<p>-Academic Honor Roll
-2012 Gov. School as a sophomore
-This summer, I will be doing an internship either in a lab or a Physical Therapy Place and be attending Debate Camp</p>

<p>So, Here is my list of schools as-is:</p>

<p>Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Penn-CAS
Cornell-CAS
Columbia-CC
UVA (instate)
W&M (instate)
Pitt</p>

<p>Again, any constructive input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again!</p>

2

<p>No it is not worth retaking. As my D said “why would I want to waste a Saturday morning on another test when I have a perfectly good score?”</p>

3

<p>Might look at Duke and for a safety Holy Cross. Duke falls right after Harvard, Yale, Princeton. Holy Cross(don’t have to be religious) is a smaller private version of W&M. HC has strong political science program with Washington internships, and one of the better political alumni networks-Chris Matthews, Obama’s chief speechwriter,3 Supreme Court affilations(1 Alum), 1 US senator, 4 Congressmen. Holy Cross also has good science majors. The school is need-blind for admissions and the HC website is informative.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the reply! I thought about Duke but when I visited I didn’t like the feel. I don’t know I can’t define it but it just wasn’t for me. I would also like to avoid religiously affiliated schools ( just a pers. preference).but any more recommendations would be appreciated :)</p>

5

<p>I would add a few more schools-- you have some high reaches (HYP) and then you have safeties. Add a few schools like Northwestern/Rice/Vanderbilt/WashU/Middlebury/etc.</p>

6

<p>bump10char</p>

7

<p>I assume that you are a junior. Terrific list. I think you’re good to go if you want. </p>

<p>If you still want more to consider, I’d consider UChicago, Johns Hopkins, Tufts, Wesleyan, Brandeis. (Smaller univs and larger LACs). If you’ve already done your research and stood pat with that list, you would still be in terrific shape. I don’t see you not getting into W&M and that’s a great worst case. </p>

<p>I think that you are done with standardized testing. The academic index calculator puts you at 9/9, the highest grouping. The only place to go is down. Stay focused. </p>

<p>Your biggest concern should be your courses and making sure you get enough sleep. You have a brutally hard load, and the temptation is there to sacrifice sleep. This impairs cognitive function and can rapidly drop your grades and put you in a vicious downward spiral.</p>

8

<p>Thanks for the comment! I was really interested in uchicago but I heard that if I wanted to do premed there (still not sure) it would be rougher than other schools. Does anyone know if that is true? As for LACs, I just feel they are too small; my high school is markedly bigger than the vast majority of them. And for JHU, just a little too close to home :stuck_out_tongue: . So if anyone knows about uchicago premed please let me know!</p>

9

<p>UChicago premed is rougher than other schools. UChicago anything is rougher than many other schools. It’s a very rigorous school. </p>

<p>Wesleyan is a big LAC. </p>

<p>If you’re considering premed, schools with an exceptionally high fraction of their student body pursing medicine after graduation (from a list I compiled from [College</a> Admissions - SAT - University & College Search Tool](<a href=“http://www.collegeboard.org%5DCollege”>http://www.collegeboard.org) a while ago when my D thought she was premed)</p>

<p>JHU 31%
Emory 28%
Miami 24%
Wesleyan 19%
Duke 18%
Brandeis 17%
W&M 17%</p>

<p>As I said, you’re good to go.</p>

10

<p>Rocker dad, if you don’t mind me asking,how did you compile those statistics for %premed? I looked around college board but couldn’t find anything.</p>

<p>As for school size, anything below 4000 is too low.</p>

<p>Again, thanks for all your help!</p>

11

<p>I compiled it on either college board site ([College</a> Admissions - SAT - University & College Search Tool](<a href=“http://www.collegeboard.com%5DCollege”>http://www.collegeboard.com)) or the US News site. I can’t remember. </p>

<p>I no longer have the premium subscription to the US News site since my kids are done with their college search. I looked on the college board site and under majors and learning environment, there is far less data now, and what’s there is where people go within 1 year, rather than 5 years. </p>

<p>Basically, it was a survey of where graduates went. It was no more than 1-2 years ago. Sorry I can’t reconstruct the database.</p>