Help-do I need more safeties??

Chance Me / Match Me
1

<p>What are my chances for getting into these schools?</p>

<p>MIT, Cornell, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, Brown, Dartmouth</p>

<p>SAT I: 2200
SAT II: Not yet taken, but assume 750+ (practice tests show good results)
Class Rank: 22/500 (top 5%)
GPA (unweighted): 3.93
GPA (weighted): 4.5</p>

<p>AP Classes:
Psychology
English Literature
Language and Composition
World History
US History
Environmental Science
Calculus AB/BC
Biology
Chemistry
Physics B
Statistics
Spanish Language</p>

<p>Outside Activities:

  • Environmental Club (3 yrs, 1 year accountant and 1 year president)
  • Calculus Club (1 yr)
  • Global Issues (2 yrs)
  • National Art Honors Society (2 yrs)
  • National Honors Society (2 yrs)
  • Spanish Honors Society (1 yr)
  • Students Against Destructive Decisions Club (1 yr)
  • Library Volunteering (80+ hrs)
  • Teacher Aid (1 yr)
  • Work at shop, all proceeds go to Hospice of the Chesapeake (non-profit organization helps families care for terminally ill loved one)
  • Volunteering at assisted living nursing home</p>

<p>Fluent in 4 languages: English, Spanish, Urdu, Punjabi
Ethnicity: Pakistani</p>

<p>**Please tell me if you think all my choices are out of my reach and I should look focus on finding more realistic ones. I have a few safeties, but I haven’t found many schools I genuinely like except for the ones listed above.</p>

2

<p>Hi Phoelo~
First-pat yourself on the back. You have obviously worked hard in HS.
As to your question, I am interpreting it as the listed colleges include your safeties…That being the case, I, personally, would not describe any one of these schools as a safety based on your stats. Now…that is not to say you don’t have good solid stats. Instead, it is because those colleges can’t possibly accept EVERY applicant with good stats, so therefore can not be considered as a safety.
Please look at colleges that offer the major you seek, and where your stats reflect the top 10%…college stats ie:average GPA UW 3.0-3.5 and SAT 1600-2000+…
I hope this helps-
~APOL-a Mum</p>

3

<p>Most of those are crapshoots for geniuses, so apply to some high acceptance rate colleges too</p>

4

<p>APOL: Oh, no, I don’t consider any of those safety schools at all. I meant to say that I have a few safety schools in mind but haven’t really focused on finding more, because the schools I listed are where I’m really hoping to get in. I wanted to know if maybe I should put my effort into finding other schools if the ones listed are too unrealistic.
Sorry for the confusion! ^^</p>

5

<p>Find a few match colleges, you seem to have two ends of the spectrum but you havent ventured into the realm between. Your EC and stats give you a fair chance for your reaches.</p>

6

<p>I’m assuming you are an international/foreign born* student? If so, good luck, you will be competing with a huge pool of well-qualified students for those top schools.</p>

<p>*Even if you live in the US, if you were born elsewhere they may categorize you differently, depending</p>

<p>On a personal level, if you are Pakistani, I would try to aim for a university on the West Coast or Northeast; those tend to be the most liberal and accepting. A few Americans can be very close-minded about the Middle East and Islam in general, so you want to be careful. This is not to say that you will be harassed in the South or Midwest, but as an American in the Midwest, I can tell you that I hear very offensive things that were intended to be innocuous.</p>

7

<p>I was born in Pakistan, but have lived the majority of my life in the US and am a citizen. </p>

<p>I’m not worried about being harassed, as my family is very westernized and not Islamic, but thank you for taking that into consideration! </p>

<p>Anyway, I thought foreign born students living in the US had an advantage? I don’t know if Pakistanis get any minority benefits, though.</p>

8

<p>Pakistanis are an over represented minority at the schools you list. They would be underrepresented at LACs in the South and MW.</p>

<p>Yes, you need matches ND safeties. The competition for the ones you list will be brutal.</p>

9

<p>Apply to those schools, but make sure there are matches</p>