I'm a slacker, apparently...

What Are My Chances?
#1

<p>The October SATs were EXTREMELY friendly to me, and now I'm afraid that my stats make me look a bit lazy. I'm a top-10% student at a fairly competitive Virginia public school, but my rank could be a lot better, considering the tough schools I'm looking at. How do you think I'll do, with an only-decent class rank but good test scores?</p>

<p>Weighted GPA: 3.93 (unweighted is 3.48)
Class rank: 24 of 252 </p>

<p>SAT I Math: 800
SAT I Verbal: 770 </p>

<p>SAT II Writing: 770
SAT II U.S. History: 710
SAT II Math IIC: 770 </p>

<p>Drama - Nine plays in high school including one as a director... five-star honors in the International Thespian Society </p>

<p>Quiz bowl team - Three years on the team, captain my senior year </p>

<p>Student newspaper - One year as staff writer, one as layout editor, one as assistant editor </p>

<p>Forensics - Three appearances in VHSL (Virginia High School League) state finals, two in NCFL (National Catholic Forensics League) nationals </p>

<p>Community service - Over 200 hours (building houses with Habitat for Humanity and working as a counselor for ESL (English as a Second Language) students </p>

<p>Employment - Have kept a part time job for about two and a half years, working three hours a week during the year and 10-15 a week during the summer</p>

<p>NHS - Joined as a junior </p>

<p>National Merit Semifinalist - 229 NMSQT index, guidance people tell me I'm a shoo-in to make finalist...</p>

<p>Placed top 5 in state in National Spanish exam sophomore year </p>

<p>AP Scholar With Honor, I'm pretty sure...
Calculus AB: 5
US History: 4
Computer Science A: 4
English Language: 3</p>

<p>Schools I'm looking at are Georgetown (EA), UVA (feeling fairly confident, since I'm in state), Yale, Columbia, Northwestern, Tufts, Wesleyan, NYU, and BU. How do I look, to those schools?</p>

#2

<p>as for eclinchy, your chances are fine. obviously you just messed up that day you took the english AP test. maybe you had others on the same day. if moe bothered to look at your SAT I verbal and your SAT II writing as well as your exceptionally high psat score, he'd (assuming) see that your english is fine.</p>

<p>i think you have a fine chance at the schools you are considering. also depends on the major you are looking at.</p>

#3

<p>Just my thoughts on your chances:</p>

<p>Georgetown (EA)...Good
UVA (In-State)...Very Good
Yale...Less Likely
Columbia...Decent
Northwestern...Good
Tufts...Good
Wesleyan...Decent
NYU...Very Good
BU...Excellent</p>

#4

<p>"Less likely," eh?</p>

<p>How bad is it? Should I even bother applying to Yale?</p>

#5

<p>Yes, you should apply, or you'll wonder about it. Plus, Yale can be unpredictable. UPenn is more stats driven, so it's worth a look. Cornell & Dartmouth are good ones for you too. As for LACs, Carleton would be doable, as would Amherst, Williams and Swarthmore. They are more predictable than Wesleyan for some reason. Weird, huh?!</p>

#6

<p>Your unweighted GPA is a bit low, which will probably go against you. To schools ranked 25 and above i think you have about a 6/10 chance, if you can get good rec and a great essay.</p>

#7

<p>Wow, in terms of stats you and I are very similar. We have the exact same SAT breakdown and I'm 24 out of 254 at my school. My writing is 20 points higher then yours, my History is 20 points lower, and my Math II is...well, it's embarrassing at the moment, but I expect it to be 750+ when I retake in November. I like to think you have a good chance at your schools because that would bode well for me.</p>