<p>UVA or Bust.
You need to change your screen name and channel your emotions in a direction where your Passion is matched with Reason. I have been on these boards for a few years and seen students named for Duke or Vandy or Yale bite the dust in April…never having matured, wised up, broadened their visions enough and failing to appreciate the many schools that would LOVE to admit them and would offer them top educational value. Bringing up Afghanistan is just so emotional (gee, some of us have real relations and loved ones actually on the ground there, some of us might know a lot more than you do about admissions to West Point being extremely difficult and competitive …I am a 25 year military brat) but you need to be respectful …not really of those of us trying to reason with you but respectful of the institutions in America that would jump on the chance to get a male student with a 31 ACT. You should be also looking at schools like Bucknell, Villanova, and schools that consider you to be a catch and will admit you gladly. The work is hard everywhere and you might be surprised to learn that the faculty is awfully good at many many colleges. LeHigh for example…great place.</p>
<p>(They don’t call Wake Forest Work Forest for nothing for starters.) My son got into Wake and was surprised he got into Duke…so surprised that he had in fact gotten very very attached to Wake, which was a match school for him. He knows Wake would have given him a huge education, pushed him very very hard and been a wonderful college home for a lifetime. This is the attitude that will bring you happiness in April.
You need to love your match college. If you are so sure Boston is a match so be it. I am sure it is a great place and you would be happy there. Most of us would consider it to be a match reach for most applicants.</p>
<p>I know plenty of instate Virginians (I live here) who are not in UVA with over a 31 SAT which is truly sad…so many straight A instaters can’t get a chair in Charlottesville due to the high numbers of OOS students. I even question if you are the kind of student who can learn best in UVA’s larger classes…it takes a lot of self direction to make UVA work. It is small for a state university but it is not a school that works unless you are very mature and highly focused.</p>
<p>That said, you have a shot at UVA and I wish you the best as you put it together for a try there. For a state institution, I am certain that UVA actually reads letters of reference and reads essays with care. This is in your favor.</p>
<p>You are more than your test scores at UVA. HOwever to supplement, you should be trying for high scores on at least two SAT Subject Tests. Now. Move on from the ACT. Get some other cards to put down. STudy for the SATIIs. I do not think you are doing your prep school any favors putting up their scattergrams. That can be counterproductive. There are many tales these days of kids in fine private schools whose scattergrams don’t tell the correct odds all of a sudden. Our kids’ hs was so lousy that there was no money for Naviance and less than fifty percent graduated. Perhaps this is why our kids had realistic ideas and attitudes and perhaps it is harder for you to not get over excited about reach schools…if you feel everyone expects you to show up at a reach college. Don’t let that sort of thinking distort reality for you. Match colleges can be extremely excellent outcomes. Just thinking of a close friend whose daughter took the less selective school…she is at the top and she is likely to have a full ride to grad school. She got fabulous attention as a top student in her match college and does research that will open doors for her in grad school. Sometimes the match college is the smart choice…she wanted close contact with faculty mentors and she got it.
have faith in yourself and have faith in the match schools that will be thrilled to get your application. Do not hyperfocus so much on reach colleges.</p>