Hi! I’m a junior and I have recently gotten the feeling that life is passing me by at an alarming yet excruciatingly arduous rate. I know the whole “you shouldn’t do things just for college” spiel, and I completely agree! I find it so toxic in high schoolers, but I, as well as likely anyone else on this site, knows that realistically, there are certain measures we need to take for college, which is unavoidable, and frankly an invaluable opportunity.
I’ve been researching colleges for a long time now, and have begun to worry about my true chances of even being accepted to a competitive university, such as the Ivies, Duke, Vanderbilt, Stanford, etc.
Basic Information:
- Chinese Female born in the United States
- Raised in a middle-income family
- Attending suburban high school with a class size of around 450, total enrollment 1800
Academic Stats:
- 4.49 weighted GPA
- 9/ 450ish
- 1550 SAT (first try)
- Plans to take at least two subject tests in the future
Courseload:
-APUSH, APHG(4), AB Calc, WHAP(5), AP Chemistry, AP French, AP Lang
Extracurriculars:
- Speech and Debate (Secretary): qualifier to nationals, state, and regionals for two/ three years, top 60th at NSDA nationals in Policy Debate, consistently place at local tournaments
- Band: have played flute for 7 years, made region every year thus far, superior rating at solo and ensemble every year
- Creative Writing: attended Iowa Young Writers Studio
- Founder and President of Girl Up Club
- Quiz Bowl Vice President
- Community Service Orchestra (President this year): Plays at children’s hospitals every semester, around 400 hours
- Student Government (Vice President sophomore year, parliamentarian now)
- French Honor Symposium (Treasurer)
Information about Colleges I’m Looking for:
Business school maybe??? This is something else I hope people could give me suggestions for. Based off of my extracurriculars, does any career path make sense?
Please help me with these questions:
Do I even have a chance at these colleges?
If not, do I have time to get to where I need to be?
What is the weakest part of my resume?
Out of the extracurriculars I currently have, especially my greatest passions which are creative writing and debate, what specific opportunities are there for me to better my resume in these areas?
Other general advice for a worried, anxious, and stressed junior already scared for college application season would be awesome!
Thank you!
Ask yourself: What would I get from an Ivy League school that I could not get from another school? What do you want in the program? Start looking for the specific schools that offer the academic program and the atmosphere - Ivy and Non-Ivy. I say this as a parent of near perfect scorers who ended up at excellent state universities and not at an Ivy. The oldest is now on to a lucrative career. The middle is doing cutting edge cancer research. Your drive and accomplishments will be noticed. Don’t be defined by an Ivy accept/reject. Breathe.
Very few Ivies have undergraduate business, so likely you will be applying as an Econ major.
The ECs seem typical of what a high achieving Asian student would do. Decent, but nothing really stands out one way or the other.
I might suggest applying as a History or Political Science major with a goal for law school. It does seem that your Chinese parents aren’t pushing you into Engineering or some sort of hard sciences as a pre-med.
If you want to be chanced for Ivies, know that they are not all created equal. Each has its unique aspects and you will need to do research as to how you will fit in.
If you want some reaches that are reasonable given your stats, consider Rice, Vanderbilt, and WashU. They love their high standardized test scores and are a little less holistic in looking at your apps than an Ivy or Stanford.
I wonder if you “researching” colleges means learning what various targets want- or just what you want. None of thisis just about stats (and it’s unweighted that matters) or a few passions. Of course you need to give them what they want.
If you think business, what in your experiences relates to business?
To me you look like a student who is going to be successful regardless of which very good university you attend. The Ivy League schools are all good schools, but they are only 8 out of at least 100 universities in the US and about as many again outside of the US where you could do very well.
You should think about what you want in a university beyond the name. Would you be happier at a larger school or a smaller school? Do you want to be in a rural or small town (eg, Cornell, Dartmouth) or a big city (Columbia, Harvard, MIT)? It is very hard to know precisely what gets one student into a top school where another top student does not get accepted. However, I think that your chances will be better if you can clearly articulate why one top school is a better fit for you compared to a different top school.
I think that you are doing enough. You need to focus on doing what you are doing well, having some fun, and considering a range of schools and thinking about what you want in a school.
You need to have two strong safeties. When I see a very strong student who is strong in French, I do wonder whether McGill should be a school that you consider (you don’t need any French to be a student there, but some French will make four years in Montreal more interesting). One reason that McGill has so many Asian students is that being Asian is not going to lower your chances there. That or your in-state public flagship look like obvious safeties for you, although there are of course many other schools that you could consider.
Take a look at Fordham or Georgetown.
Take a look at honors colleges in your home state public university . Surely study abroad, service trips, economics or speech and debate competitions, entrepreneurship classes or clubs, will be available. Why not compete for merit aid scholarships at a university that lets you continue your extra curricular activities?
PS. If you search for information on Asian American lawsuit against Harvard for discriminatory admissions practices, you may better understand why some recomend looking at other universities that will focus on your stats and qualifications.
Thank you for your advice! I agree that there are countless ways to lead a fulfilling career that doesn’t require an Ivy League diploma, but for now, I am still unsure of what I am looking for. I mentioned those colleges because they are viewed as the best of the best, but not necessarily because I think I have a chance of ever attending one of them. Speaking generally, I think I want to know if I should even consider applying to these schools with my current application and a yearish of time left to improve it. For me Ivies would be beneficial because I find that I flourish the most when surrounded in an environment with passionate, intelligent, and driven peers. This is something I don’t find in my high school, but one which I hope to have in college.
Honestly, nothing in my application is directly conducive to business. Being humanities-oriented, however, I am scared of job uncertainty and think business provides more job opportunities than something I may be more interested, such as political science. Do you have any suggestions for majors?
I would love to attend Rice or Vanderbilt! Those schools are definitely more realistic goals, but still definitely will require me improving. My ECs are conventional, so given this, do you know of any ways to stand out?
You shouldn’t be thinking in terms of “Ivies,” but of great schools where your peers will be “passionate, intelligent, and driven” - like you. My own daughter, who has some attributes in common with you, ended up at Penn, but also really loved (and was accepted into) a number of fine liberal arts colleges (I think Carleton, Barnard, and Wellesley were the hardest to turn down). I suggest you investigate LACs. If you want a business education, you can get it later, but you really don’t sound like a business major to me. Follow your interests.
So many colleges have " an environment with passionate, intelligent, and driven peers." Maybe you need to start with a copy of the Fiske Guide to Colleges.