HELP! I have strange stats/ecs and I dont know what schools will make of it

Chance Me / Match Me
1

So I’m currently a rising senior interested in Psychology & Asian Studies and I have a bit of an usual schedule for a high achieving student and many people find it strange.

So the main thing is that I’m currently enrolled in a BOCCES program at my school for Cosmetology, which takes up half of my class day. But I took it thinking it was something I was interested in and could use as a second job/job to get me through college and grad school.

Because of this, I of course can’t take as many classes junior/senior year, but I will give you background on all my regular non AP classes:

-All Honors classes including french for 2 years (I had to stop taking it bc of cos), alg I & II and geometry, chemistry, and bio

AP Courses w/ scores:
-Sophmore=World History(5), AP Chem(4)
-Junior=US History(5), Psychology(5), AP Language & Comp(5), also currently taking precalc online (93) thru a community college bc I couldn’t take it this year
-Senior(plan on taking)= Economics, Biology, Calculus AB, AP Literature

SAT: 1400 after taking it twice
ACT: 30 superscored
GPA: 97 out of 100

ECs: field hockey (grades 8-10), math league (10-12), Rotary Volunteer Club (10-12), International club (11-12), Chess Club (11-12), Link Leaders (12), National Honor Society (12), Art (I take 3D art classes and am doing an independent study in ceramics 11 & 12 grade), Competed in 2 NYS Cosmetology SkillsUSA competitions and placed 1st for juniors in NY, took a 2-week japanese language summer class at the UofR and plan to get tutoring in japanese.

So basically I just dont know how colleges will view my Cosmetology program and if my other things outweigh it. Like what are my chances of getting in a top school, but not necessarily as high as ivy league.

Thanks for reading all that, sorry lol

2

My initial impression is that colleges will probably find your cosmetology experience very intriguing, and if you spin it right in your essay, it could add a lot of personality. (I would frame it as being a creative outlet or an example of your strong work ethic if you use it to earn money; avoid implying you’re doing it as a backup plan because you don’t think you can hack it in college or something.)

My second impression is that your ACT score is sort of low, especially if that’s a superscore, and your ECs could be stronger, though not bad.

You have a lot of APs, so I don’t think they’ll question the rigor of your HS curriculum, particularly if you can get a good rec letter from your guidance counselor. Is there any way you could move up to AP Calc BC instead of AB?

Honestly you sound like a super interesting person and very resourceful, I’m sure you’ll do great! :slight_smile:

3

Thank you so much for your reply! I plan on retaking the ACT and SAT 2 more times and possibly getting tutoring if I need to. The reason i was only going to take AP Calc AB is because I’m not going into a science/math and I wasn’t sure how well I would do since I’m taking precalc online. I’m generally pretty good at math but I know calculus is hard. Do you still think I should do BC?

4

The cosmetology thing is certainly different (afaik). I don’t think it will make a big difference one way or the other–I don’t think it makes you seem any more or less impressive and maybe it will make you seem more interesting to some people. Aside from that, your application doesn’t seem too out of the ordinary. Overall, it seems like you have a pretty solid app for most schools. May want to improve scores for more selective schools.

5

Your SAT is good. I wouldn’t bother with retesting ACT. That’s not the big issue with your profile.

First of all, what schools are you considering? You need to look at what those schools want in a scholar. That’s what is all about, you know, when it comes down to first principles. If X college wants 4 years of English, math, foreign language, you had better have that. You should also be taking rigorous versions of those courses. It seems to me you are lacking in sciences. That your BOCCES Cosmetology classes are taking up too much of your school day to be up there with your college bound peers isn’t going cut it.

Having an intense interest in Cosmetology IN ADDITION to doing due diligence with your academics would be an interesting thing. But INSTEAD, isn’t

6

Thank you for your reply! One of my topdream schools is Boston University but I’m also considering Binghamton, Stonybrook, Hofstra, Amherst College and a few more. Since I couldn’t take foreign language this year, I decided to pursue japanese instead because it interests me, so I’m planning to take tutors classes this year. For science, we got a science credit this year for BOCCES because we do labs so I didnt take it this year, but I’ve taken Living Environment, Chemistry, AP Chemistry, and I plan to take AP Bio. Thanks for your advice!

7

I am really interested in what others are going to advise you.
You are no question and very different applicant. Which is kind of refreshing. Your scores in AP and your GPA are great but there is a drop in the Act /Sat that doesn’t match up yet 5’s on your AP tests (awesome!). I would retake the Act or Sat. Merit might be there with 33 Act area. You have many skills in the arts and play chess, that makes you a very interesting person and that doesn’t even start to touch upon the whole
BOCCES thing. On one hand I want to tell you to stop it and take regular classes but your skilled at it and something tells me this is who you are,this makes you… You.
When looking for colleges some will want 2-3/4 years in the same language./courses. I think it’s great you are taking Japanese, which is a crazy hard language but will not give you 3 years of one language. Look at schools profiles to see what they want. The trick is to exceed their minimum requirements.
Sometimes I tell students like I did my kids to “Bet on yourself”. Somethings tells me this is what you are doing. Good Luck and will now see what others say.

8

Thank you so much for your reply! I’m really praying that I can improve my ACT/SAT because I know I can do better and it would really give me that final boost. This has been plaguing me so much because it’s very complicated and I feel like my admission to good school is a bit of a wild card, but I’m hoping my essay will pull it all together.

9

I’d advise you to stick with this plan.

Note that in any given year Amherst College might be more selective than a few Ivy League schools.

10

You’re probably right about calculus, if you’re not feeling very confident; it’s not a huge deal, it just might add some rigor if you wanted a boost. I know there’s a wide range in terms of quality of online programs, however, so you could double check with a teacher or counselor if you want. Hard to say.

Two years of foreign language is barely, but probably, enough. Depends on the college.

Is your SAT a superscore too? What’s your highest ACT composite score? I sort of glossed over the SAT because I’m an ACT kind of gal, but if your SAT’s not superscored I’d focus on that, since it’s higher. I can PM you some ACT tips though if you want. :slight_smile:

11

Your state colleges may be the most forgiving, but you still need to understand what each expects in high school coursework and scores. If in NY, you may benefit from comm college for 2 years, making up for lost rigor, plus meeting their requirements, then possibly using the guaranted trasnfer program to a 4-year.

Colleges like Amherst have enough trouble when kids skip courses and rigor for something like a CNA course, thinking it is a boost for premed (not.) Admit to a tippy top is mega competitive. They look for the thinking and preparation and cosmetology is not an acdemic path. And not something you did on the side or weekends or via summer courses.

All your i’s need to be dotted and your t’s crossed. And even then, Amherst and its peers are a long shot.

12

Your candidacy to the top schools will depend on how your present yourself in your personal statement, because you have the potential to create a really interesting story about yourself. Too often kids have a hard time standing out, but I don’t think this is the case with you. Have you come up with a strategy to make sure you stand out from the crowd?

13

My highest SAT score is not superscored and the 30 for ACT was, but my highest composite ACT score is a 29. I was hoping that even though I only did 2 years in highschool of french that because I did a 2 week summer japanese course and am now getting tutored in that, that it would show I’m still trying to learn a language.

14

I know that my essay will have to be really good to help my application, but I’m not sure what to write about without sounding cliché or like pretentious.

15

Your lack of 4 years of language would be an impediment at schools who require or recommend it. It’s far easier to take Independent study, on line, tutoring for first year language than to have 4 years of a high school college prep language regiment with preferably AP language senior year. That is the gold standard. Anything else is not as good. Also few colleges have a Japanese language program are department. What good are you going to do them? It’s not like they have any shortages of students fluent in certain Asian languages. So understand that though you may find it intriguing and interesting to take Japanese the way you are, it’s not going to show that way in selective college admissions. If you did this IN ADDITION to having 4 strong years of one foreign language under your belt, it would be a plus. Not INSTEAD. Doesn’t cut it