You got some background. Kudos to you for coming so far. And I am sure you’ll succeed at every step.
Your scores might be slightly weaker, but you can pull out amazing essays about your background which more than makes up for it.
-Vanderbilt University- No Idea
-Harvard- Reach
-Princeton-Reach
-Brown-Low Reach
-Georgetown-High Match
-Cornell-High Match/ Low Reach
-USC - No Idea
-Dartmouth - Low Reach
-UC Berkeley - High Match
-UCLA - Match
-UChicago- Low Reach
-UPenn - Low Reach
As others have said, your unique story and URM status make you a competitive candidate. Of course, all of these schools are reaches for everyone. Curious which 2 or 3 would by your top choice and what you plan on studying? Good luck - and please do post results as they come in.
Things I cant judge: Your essays, LoR, those kind of things
Strengths I see: Strong background story, pretty good UW GPA, Decent Subject test scores, leadership positions, ethnicity
Weaknesses: Your main test score, your course rigors, mediocre EC’s (Can’t find much that would relate to a major. I don’t know which major you are pursuing"
It really depends on how your retake SAT test score looks like, and if you can raise it by a lot, you will have significantly better chances. Also, this is estimate is without considering your LoR and essays.
-Vanderbilt University- Medium reach, they tend to look at scores
-Harvard- High-mid reach
-Princeton- High-mid reach
-Brown-Low reach
-Georgetown-High Match
-Cornell- Low Reach
-USC - I don’t know about this place
-Dartmouth - Mid reach
-UC Berkeley - High Match
-UCLA - High / medium match
-UChicago- Low Reach
-UPenn - Low Reach
Really, all ivys are reach for everyone, so can’t say for 100%.
Well, ordinarily your scores would be too low for most of these schools to consider you, but your special situation makes things much more favorable to you. As a result, you probably have a very real chance depending on your ability to express your situation via essays/recs.
Vanderbilt University: High Match/low Reach
-Harvard Still probably a mid/high reach
-Princeton Mid reach
-Brown low/mid reach
-Georgetown high match
-Cornell low reach
-USC I am unfamiliar with their “special cases” policies, and can give no reliable info
-Dartmouth low/mid reach (lower than brown though, since they take your situation more seriously)
-UC Berkeley mid reach (very scores based, situation marginalized)
-UCLA mid reach (same as Berkeley)
-UChicago low reach
-UPenn low reach
I’m confused why you applied to the UCs, I hope you are not planning to take out the huge loans it will require to attend them.
And did you get 2 rec’s from hist and lit? no science or math rec?
Please don’t pay too much attention to the chances. You can’t be a reach for Brown and a match for Dartmouth it doesn’t work like that, they are both reaches for anyone. And these scores, 730 R, 700 M, are fine for any school that isn’t the only thing they are looking at. I also know plenty students accepted with these scores.
Also, I’d be wary of saying you could boost your SAT by over 200 points for your next test. I took two college board practice tests where I ended up with 800s on several sections and overall like 2350. The second time I took it I got over a hundred points lower than this (so from a 2130 to 2210 on the actual tests). But your score will probably go up some. Good luck!
I think your story is very unique and should benefit you very positively. To be really competitive for Harvard and a few of the others, the SAT score should be a tad higher.
-Vanderbilt University - Low Reach
-Harvard - Reach
-Princeton - Low Reach
-Brown - Match
-Georgetown - Low Reach
-Cornell - Match
-USC - Match
-Dartmouth - Low Reach
-UC Berkeley - Match
-UCLA - Match
-UChicago - Match
-UPenn - Match
Thank you for chancing me by the way! @homeless2Harvard
You’re EC’s and your background definitely stand out!
Vanderbilt:Low reach
Harvard: High reach
Princeton:High Reach
Brown: Mid Reach
Georgetown: Low Reach
Cornell: Low Reach
USC:You’re in
UCB: Match
UCLA:You’re in/High Match
UChicago: Reach
Penn:Reach
You have many factors that will make you stand out as extraordinary. Your application seems very strong! Good luck to you, as well.
-Vanderbilt University: High match
-Harvard: Reach
-Princeton: High match
-Brown: low reach
-Georgetown: accepted
-Cornell: high match
-USC: accepted
-Dartmouth: accepted
-UC Berkeley: low reach
-UCLA: match
-UChicago: Low reach
-UPenn: low reach
Your story reminded me of a speaker I once heard at a dinner. Her name was Liz Murray and she did go from “Homeless to Harvard”. Really great story.
One thing that Harvard wants is the hardest workers, and I have no doubt that you are that. You’ve made it this far, and have risen against the odds, so while others here are saying that Harvard is a reach for you, I believe that it is a 100% match.
I hope you achieve all you set out to do and I wish you the best of luck.
You have great stats, so I imagine you have a much better chance than most at all the colleges you listed (with some like USC being a likely acceptance IMO). You have the academics and the story that makes you interesting and desirable. Not many people can say they were ever homeless and ended up that high in class rankings against kids who presumably didn’t go through the same struggles. But that being said, “better than most” chances at those colleges is still really low. I have faith in you, though.
Vandy Match
Harvard Reach
-Princeton Reach
-Brown Match
-Georgetown Match
-Cornell reach
-USC Easy Match
-Dartmouth Reach
-UC Berkeley Match
-UCLA Match
-UChicago Reach
-UPenn Reach
You have some great stats! The only thing that concerns me is that you are 7/287. The people that go to Harvard, Princeton, etc. are usually valedictorians, possess a unique skill, and possibly have legacies. A girl from school a couple of years ago had a 36 on her ACT and was ranked 2nd (she wasn’t valedictorian b/c some girl played the numbers game better), but she didn’t get accepted to MIT. Their reasoning was because she did not have a unique skill or trait. You have an inspiring story, so that might help. But don’t feel down if you don’t get accepted to these schools because you have a bright future ahead of you. All of the other institutions on your list are exemplary. You will get into a top-tier university.
So your SAT score is very low for someone at these schools, but apart from that you’d be a competitive applicant. All of these schools are extremely competitive- they reject many qualified applicants every year, but I think IF your SAT score goes up, and provided your recs/ essays are as good as you think you are, you could pull it off
Vanderbilt: high match/ low reach
harvard: reach
princeton: reach
brown: reach (medium reach)
Georgetown: low reach
Cornell: low reach
USC: you’ll get in
Dartmouth: reach
UC Berkley: match
UCLA: match/ safety
UChicago: reach
UPenn: reach (harder to get in if applying to Wharton, easier to get in if applying ed)
-Vanderbilt University: Low reach
-Harvard: Reach
-Princeton: Reach
-Brown: Low reach
-Georgetown: match
-Cornell: match
-USC: match
-Dartmouth: match
-UC Berkeley: match
-UCLA: match
-UChicago: low reach
-UPenn: low reach
You have a pretty good chance getting into all of these schools.
Here are my guesses: