I feel like I'm overestimating myself...

Chance Me / Match Me
1

This college process is draining me, and now that its so late in the game I feel like I have severely overestimated my abilities and have chosen schools well beyond my reach…here:

ACT: 30 composite (36 English, 34 Reading, 28 Science, 21 Math) and 31 Super Scored
GPA: 3.46 UW/4.03 W
Rank: 154 out of 500+
Senior Courseload: AP Gov, AP Research, AP Japanese, AP Lit, Honors Physics, Honors Intro to College Math

Highschool Context: extremely large public school that has over 25 APs

Freshman: all honors classes
Sophomore: all honors/pre-AP classes
Junior: AP Psych, AP Seminar, AP Language

Extracurriculars:

  1. School Literary & Art Magazine (10th - 12th) This magazine had been dying since at least 2004, and my sophomore year I made it my goal to bring it back so students could have an outlet to express themselves…I’m now the editor and our coffeehouses have the largest turnouts in years.
  1. college prep program designed to help underrepresented kids get opportunities outside of the city (10th - 12th) I'm on this programs student executive board and I also am the focus of another program where I help guide 10 young freshman through their first year of high school; I had previously led them on a wilderness expedition to help them develop leadership skills.
  2. Student Council Executive Board, Senior Commissioner of Activities (12th) I organize all events for the senior class including community service and work with the administrators and class officers to help push policies/petitions.
  3. Church Soccer (9th - 11th) I played a season every fall; had to stop because of how busy my senior year was.
  4. Work (Party Bus; my sister's dad took a bus and recreated it. He knew I needed help with money so he offered me a job to manage the consoles on the bus; i've been working weekends and partial summers there since 9th grade.)
  5. Japanese Club (9th -12th) (we interact with exchange students and learn and celebrate japanese language/culture)
  6. a leadership organization designed to help keep young black boys on track, help them succeed to college, and help them become leaders within their community. lots of community service through this organization. (11th/12th)
  7. links organization - this is actually for women but they created a special section that has an emphasis on black male youth because theres a big problem with them not succeeding in my area; they help us with leadership as well (12th)

Volunteer Work:

  1. Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 11th/12th
  2. local zoo’s halloween function 11th
  3. school’s green team, cleaning the school and collecting recyling every week 11th (had to stop because student council took the slot)
  4. Martin luther king jr day of service cleaning up the poorer portion of the city 11th/12th
  5. various other events through the leadership organization im in 11th/12th

Honors:
National Honors Society (11th/12th)
Distinguished Honor Roll (9th - present)
Citizenship Award (9th - present)
Honorable Mention in my state’s Letters About Literature
AP Scholar

How I Spent my Summers:
2014: Vanderbilt Summer Academy (Writing), local college honors camp, local high school’s honors camp (writing)
2015: Vanderbilt Summer Academy (Writing), Rhodes College Summer Writing Institute, Kenyon Young Writers Workshop
2016: Vanderbilt Summer Academy (Writing), Deer Hill Expeditions (where I led the kids)

Race: African American
Sex: Male
First Generation College: No, mother went to college. Father dropped out of college and is currently unemployed. I rarely see him.
Family Income: 61k
Household: 3 (my mom, my sis, and me)
Intended Major: Sociology
Hooks: URM, single parent household, love for writing/expression(?)

I’m applying to WASHU, Vanderbilt (ED), Emory, UNC Chapel Hill, Northwestern, Kenyon, UTK, NYU, and UChicago…am I in over my head? What are my chances?

2

oh also! the magazine has been a part of the school since 1960, so it has a long history and isnt just some thing a student made to put on their resume

3

Hi I think you have a good chance on Vandy because of all the summer programs you have did there! Quite an impressive resume you have there. Remember, diversity matters and you certainly have an impressive transcript with Advanced placement classes. Your only concern should be your unweighted GPA. I would maybe add a few safeties but keep all of those. Have you considered Tulane U, they give great merit aid. Also, syracuse? These would be targets most likely. Wash U, Uchicago, and Vanderbilt,are reaches for anybody same with northwestern! Let me know if you have any questions

4

@rebecca62 thank you! I’m not sure about vandy, they have stated that they don’t care about demonstrated interest whatsoever…although I did have an absolutely amazing interview, so I hope that helps out.

I haven’t considered Tulane! I will look into that…New Orleans seems interesting

5

Is Tennessee your home state? If so, UTK is your safest option.

Even with your very impressive ECs and personal story, the other options are reaches with a 3.46 UW, 30 ACT, and class rank at the 25-30%. Your commitment to writing might give you a boost at Kenyon. I would definitely add some safeties. I don’t know how the financials would work for an out of state student, but Iowa might be worth a look for its writing program.

NYU is not great for financial aid. Also keep in mind travel costs as an added expense for some of the more distant schools you are considering.

You might want to check out some of the Colleges that Change Lives schools in your region (ctcl.org)

Good luck!

6

@mamaedefamilia so my only realistic schools are UTK and Kenyon? That’s what I feared…I think I might add Tulane–I’m looking at it now and it seems to be a wonderful school. I’ll do some more research on it. I sadly realized the financial aid situation with NYU too late (very dumb of me) :frowning:

Also, yes! TN is my home state

7

Not dumb at all. You wouldn’t believe what I didn’t know when my daughter first started looking for schools.

Is Rhodes of interest to you? Or maybe Centre College?

I will keep my fingers crossed for you for Vandy ED. With your history of activities on campus, maybe that will help! And I agree that Tulane might be a good option for you to explore.

8

Wow you have a really unique and interesting profile. Typically the students who score high on reading/writing are females. The math score on the ACT is dragging your entire average down. If only you scored a few points higher on the math, this would bring your composite score much higher.

Have you considered re-taking the ACT? Getting your composite score higher by 2-3 points will put you in competition for a different caliber of schools

9

@sgopal2 thank you! I didn’t know my profile was interesting; in all honesty I’ve felt like I don’t stand out very much :frowning:
I can’t retake the ACT, its too late at this point. I’ve always notoriously struggled with math, sadly, but I love writing so thats why I’m so good at those two

10

Your ACT math score is going to raise concerns especially at places like Chicago and Vandy. How are your math grades in school? But your URM status will provide a boost as the rest of your resume is strong. Agree, with others that you have a great chance for Kenyon.

11

I think you need to add safeties. Have you run the Net Price Calculator at Kenyon and UTK? How much can your parent(s) contribute?You need a safety that you will be happy to attend and that you can afford to attend.

12

@wisteria100 My highest ACT math has been a 25. My math grades have been an 87 freshman year, an a 90 sophomore year, an 83 junior year (this is my only slip up in my transcript; all of my other grades are stellar especially in the other subjects) and currently i’m doing really well this year, I made a 93 last quarter and I have a 100 currently in math

@suzy100 Kenyon and UTK both give me a considerable chunk of money (UTK actually gives me lots of money for my ACT, being in-state, and my mom being a state employee)

13

So even if Kenyon gives you “a considerable chunk of money” that doesn’t mean it’s affordable. From Kenyon’s website: “The average annual fees and charges for a student attending Kenyon in 2016-17 total approximately $63,330.” So let’s say they give you a scholarship in the amount of $30K/year, that still leaves over $30K that you will have to pay.

My point is that you really need to look at the numbers to make sure something is affordable. Hopefully you have a school that fits that bill without question.

14

Love of writing, sociology-- yes UTK is your obvious safety-- but don’t overlook UT Chattanooga- especially they’re honors program (Brock Scholars)- UTC has a strong writing program and could likely be combined with a sociology major-- get working on this quickly. Someone above mentioned Centre in KY-- also a good choice, offers good merit and need aid. I would think you’re not out of the running for Vanderbilt, though it may be a bit of a stretch, it’s worth the time and investment to apply.

15

Add Hamilton (reach but super strong for writng), Sewanee, Mizzou journalism + honors, Centre, Rhodes, Hendrix, Eckerd.
Right now, you may not get honors at utk due to emphasis on scores x GPA and everything else is a reach. The above would add good match schools for you.

Kenyon meets need, and for that income level it’ll be hard to beat.

16

@suzy100 current cost of attendance is 66k, and Kenyon, based on the financial aid calc, would give me 53k

I am also eligible for work study so I would get 2k from that, leaving me with 11k to pay a year. I think a combination of outside scholarships, my own work, and help from my grandfather could help me pay that. Does this sound too unreasonable or should I be aiming lower?

@oneundecided I’ll check out UT Chat! :slight_smile:

@MYOS1634 I actually had hamilton as a dream school of mine once in middle school, and I haven’t given it thought since…I’ll definitely check it out. I’ll also look at all of those other options (except Rhodes, both because they give me very little money and I’m trying to get out of my area)

17

I would defiantly also check out Emory. It’s a southern school, yet a bit easier than vanderbilt. And a little more competitive than Tulane.

18

@rebecca62 thank you! I am applying to Emory–I feel like I’m a good match for it

19

WASHU 33%
vanderbilt (ED) 27%
Emory, 39%
UNC Chapel Hill, 37%
Northwestern, 23%
Kenyon, 44%
UTK, 93%
NYU, 51%
UChicago 16%
per our algorithm

20

@Hoorent could you use your algorithm for me?

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1929903-chances-of-getting-into-my-dream-school-please-help

for northwestern (ed), ucla, berkeley, nyu stern, claremont mckenna, usc, middlebury, washu, carnegie mellon tepper?