Need thoughts on how competitive my stats are?

Applying to College
1

Hey all, I’m a junior from South Jersey. I need thoughts on my current stats/ECs/info/etc. This is a whole novel so grab a snack and buckle up:

Ethnicity: South Asian

Household/income status: two parents with bachelor’s degrees, one sibling in med school, lower middle class/lower class

SAT: 1470 (taking it again next month)
EBRW: 740
Math: 730
Essay: 16/24 (ouch!)

Class Rank: 8/160 in a historically small class at a small public school (yeah it’s not the best)

GPA: weighted = 101.78 (idk how to turn that into a 4.0 scale, but I have all A’s, honors classes multiplied by 1.075, AP classes multiplied by 1.1, e.g. 100 in an AP = 110)

Courseload: most rigorous classes offered
APs for this year: AP Calculus AB, AP Statistics, AP Eng Lang and Comp, AP US History, AP Chemistry
Other classes this year: PE and Honors French III

ECs (sorry if these are really vague, I don’t want to specify for obvious reasons):

  • Varsity cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track since sophomore year, team captain junior year
  • Chair of a youth county-wide political organization
  • South Jersey Reg. Coordinator for said national political organization
  • Managing editor of school newspaper
  • Features editor of a national online publication
  • Student body treasurer
  • National climate lobby representative
  • National climate organization creative team lead
  • Youth representative for a presidential campaign
  • Youngest volunteer ever at a state innocence project
  • Lead organizer for multicultural banquets
  • Select audition-based choir member
  • Asian national caucus member for said political organization
  • 7 regional and 3 national awards at Scholastic Writing Awards
  • Debate watch party host for said presidential campaign
  • Volunteer honor society secretary/head of outreach
  • Research/outreach lead for honoring veterans
  • Members of a lot of other things (National Honor Society, Diversity Committee, etc.)

Summers:
9th into 10th: not much, some local volunteering
10th into 11th: organized Philly Climate Strike, gained various leadership positions, went into Philly a lot for volunteering
11th into 12th (ideas): LEDA, HSDA Summit, Boys State, more political activism

Planned major: political science, public policy, or any law-related undergrad

(A few) top colleges in mind:
Columbia, Georgetown, Rutgers NB, Stanford, Princeton

Extra info/questions:

  • #1 and #2 grads at my school usually attend either Princeton or UPenn (everyone else usually goes local or really far)
  • I’m a first-generation US college student (my parents got degrees overseas)
  • Should I bring up my SAT or class rank? I go to a small public school but it’s low-key competitive (not really)
  • My XC and track times are decently fast (15:59 in the 5k this year, 4:34 in the mile last year, 9:51 in the two-mile last year), but I don’t know how next year will pan out in terms of improvements and recruitment. D1? D3?
  • Are my ECs too diversified? I really love all of what I’m currently doing (I’m a little stressed about the quantity) and I have a depth of commitment/leadership in almost all of them.
  • Should I consider the ACT? That 1470 only came from studying all summer. Then again, I’ve only taken it once.
  • Main priority: going to college for free. After some research, I found that my household income status falls under the interval for full tuition at Princeton, Columbia, and others. Some of these are need-blind, others aren’t. Any suggestions on need-blind selective colleges that fit my major/interests?

If I think of anything else, I’ll post it here later. Thanks for putting up with this mess and I look forward to your thoughts!

2

You are not a first generation college applicant as colleges define it.

3

You have great GPA and fine activities. But you may be over recruited minority. Have you heard about lawsuit against Harvard for discriminating against Asians Americans? Blog at prep scholar website has article about admissions process based on testimony that the trial produced.

  1. Are you a U.S. citizen or green card holder?
  2. Have you run Net Price Calculators for colleges you mention above?
  3. Or see FAFSA Forecaster website, will your parents pay room, board, etc., even if you were to win merit scholarships at less prestigious schools?
  4. Test prep takes time. See how your PSAT went. Yes, consider ACT.

Take a look at Bucknell, University of Richmond, George Washington, run Net Price Calculators.

Rutgers NB is great option, possible merit acholarships.

4

You will need to get your SAT up to be competitive at a school like Princeton or Columbia.

You may need subject test scores if those are the schools you are reaching for.

Run the NPC on Rutgers and other instate options. Usually that’s your best bet in terms of affordability.

5

Congratulations on your achievements so far.

Full rides are rare. It is good that you are taking the SAT again, as a higher score may translate to more merit at some schools, and a higher score will also make you a more competitive applicant. Not sure about taking the ACT, I would wait until you receive your Dec SAT scores.

Run the fafsa4caster to estimate your EFC…it may be a required input for some of your school’s net price calculators (NPCs). NPCs may not be accurate if your parents are divorced, own a business and/or multiple properties. https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa/estimate

You should be contacting coaches and filling out online recruiting questionnaires now if you want to be recruited. To assess where your times fit, look at conference championship results, then at individual school results. Note that Ivy league and D3 schools offer no athletic money, but they are some of the most generous schools regarding how they calculate a family’s EFC. All the Ivies meet full need, as do some more of the most selective DI/D3 schools.