Questioning chance of getting in to a good college

Chance Me / Match Me
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Hi! I’m a junior this year (Indian American) and living in Washington. Recently I joined a call for help on starting my essays and a college counselor of sorts told me, “it’ll be an uphill battle if you choose to apply as a business major with your current stats”, also “You definitely shouldn’t apply to Berkeley’s Business school, it’s just too competitive” I honestly agree with the latter; I was planning to apply as undeclared or something for that school(just applying there since I’m doing the UC application anyways). I’m not sure if this is the place to ask, or if there are websites that can help me with this, but any suggestions would be helpful regarding my chance of getting to the colleges on my list considering my stats.

I have a 3.7 gpa UW, and ~4.1 gpa W. (not sure if it’s accurate, but let me know if you have any conversion tools that work well for you). I took 4 honors classes, and I’m taking 4 IB classes, but in my school IB courses are restricted till junior year. I’ve done great summer programs(business), I’m part of many clubs (co-founder & co-prez of one). I do a lot of volunteering and I’m working on 2 passion projects. I’m doing IB Career Path of Business and Econ at my school. And I’m doing DECA and FBLA(awards for this one). I have letters of rec secured, and my SAT is 1400, but I’m taking it again. Sorry if this is too much info!

Here’s my list(very balanced!): (My parents don’t want anything less than 19 or 20 schools)

University of Richmond - ED 1
USC
Babson
UIUC
Wisconsin-Madison
Scripps - ED 2
Emory

Loyola Marymount
Massachusetts Amherst
Penn State
Minnesota TC
University of San Diego
Santa Clara
Pepperdine
IU-Bloomington
UW
Washington State
Gonzaga
UW-Bothell

The concern? It’s getting into schools that are at the top of my list. I’m definitely feeling the pressure from my family(getting constantly compared to my smarter twin), and my school(public) is super competitive. I’m always feeling like I’m not doing enough. My worst problem? I took a 2 year long course of IB SL Math, and I’m not doing great. Last year, I had a B and a B-. This year I have 2 C+. There is no way to take this off my transcript, so I just have to deal with it. Is this a deal breaker for my top schools? How am I supposed to figure that out? Is this even the right place for my dilemma? Any advice would be super, super appreciated!

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Can you clarify if you are just finishing your junior year or will be a junior next year?

Have you had a conversation with your parents on how much they can spend for your college education?

You’re in the right place and there are many people here that can give you great advice, but you’re missing a lot of key information. There is a Chance Me template that you should fill out.

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Thank you so much for your help! (hopefully I am replying in the right place) Here is everything I am missing: I am finishing my junior year right now, I am a female and my school does not do rank. To go more in depth, I am part of 5 volunteer organizations with leadership in 1. I have an amazon internship ready for this summer, and my two summer programs were with wharton business school and kelley business school. I do have work experience for a business as a marketing operations intern. Some of my awards are regional medals in my sport, state level achievements in FBLA, and an award in my volunteering org. Lastly, my parents are willing to pay for 75% of any college. So, right now tuition isn’t a problem. My school list goes from super reach down to safety.

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@Gumbymom can confirm, but if you don’t go to school in California you don’t get extra weighting for honors classes for the UCs. I believe you will for IB, though.

You mention Cal but I don’t see any UCs on your actual list?

I think you have a number of good options on that list, and some reaches. Is UW Bothell a safety? and WSU?

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Who’ll cover the remaining 25%?

For example, if you’re accepted to USC (which costs about $104k per year), that remaining 25% would amount to more than $100,000 over four years.

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I’m going to reiterate a request made aready. Please do the chance me/match me template. Answer the fields in the order they are listed on the template. Answer all questions.

What you are giving us here is a Hodgepodge. It will be much easier for you to get decent suggestions and information if you simply follow that template and the directions to complete it.

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I see, this was my first post so I’m new to this. Would it make sense for me to take this post down, and make another one?

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You can’t take this thread down. But do a chance me match me one.

And on this thread just post when you have done so, and ask folks to respond to that. If needed, one of us can link your chance me to this thread so folks can easily find it.

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I think you have a reasonable list, but it is somewhat top-heavy given the math grades, business major, and an SAT that will be a borderline submit.

Assuming the top 7 are the ones you want most, I think ED1 to Richmond might be the correct move. Hard for me to understand why you would apply to a liberal arts college ED2, but Scripps is also a reasonable admit. You might have also considered Babson because odds of getting in EA or RD will be extrememly low. From that list, and assuming you are using the two ED’s the way you are suggesting Wisconsin is likley your next most likely admit. Overall, I will not be surprised if you pull one of the ED’s, Wisconsin, or UIUC. The others are pretty unlikely from my experience.

On the bottom 12, I would expect you to have several successes. Tell me if there is anything I can do to help you further.

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UC’s do not weight HS designated Honors classes for OOS applicants in their GPA calculations but IB classes are weighted. It is up to each UC campus, but OOS Honors can still be considered for HS rigor in the Comprehensive review.

In calculating an out-of-state student’s GPA to determine if the 3.4 minimum has been met, UC will grant honors weight for AP or IB courses only, but not for school-designated honors courses.

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Thanks for this info!

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I agree for the most part, except that I think UIUC for business will be a long shot. Their acceptance rate is about 20%, and that includes in-state students.

I’m also waiting to hear from @Anxious4apps about how she plans to pay the remaining 25% of college costs if her parents will only cover 75%. The answer may require substantial changes to her college list.

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I appreciate these comments! I had a talk with my dad, and in summary I shouldn’t change my list based on tuition. He’ll pay what’s needed, but he’d like me to take out some version of a student loan later on as he believes that’s what will help me build a credit score/financial responsibility.

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Yes, UW-Bothell and WSU are safeties. And I did forget to add it to my actual list, but I’m applying to all the UC’s except for merced and probably riverside.

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I agree, but just better than USC and Emory.

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What is the $$$ amount of these loans?

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If spring of your senior year comes and those are the only two admits you have, would you happily submit your enrollment deposit and look forward to attending college at one of them? Or would you feel sad/depressed/unhappy at the idea of attending either of them? If you would not happily enroll, then they are not good safeties. Your sure things need to be schools that are extremely likely to accept you, be affordable, AND that you would be happy to attend. If they don’t meet that criteria, then keep investigating the good qualities of those schools until you would be happy to attend them or find different schools that meet all three criteria.

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If you attend a competitive high school, then odds are that the counselors at your school will be well-placed to give you advice and feedback on your schools. They will have a good sense of how applicants with a similar background have done.

Additionally, look at the schools’ websites to see what they value. For instance, in announcing the chance to Kelley’s direct admit process, the university shared:

Beginning with students entering in fall 2026, all applicants will be considered for direct admission through a comprehensive academic review that places a greater emphasis on the rigor of high school coursework—particularly in quantitative subjects—and overall potential for success in Kelley’s challenging academic environment. (source)

Based off this information, I would suspect that odds of a direct admit to Kelley would be lower due to your math grades over the past two years, although not entirely out of the realm of possibility. But I do think you would be admitted to the university overall, and there is a path to Kelley for students who are not given direct admission.

Essentially, you need to do this same process for every single university on your list to see what qualities it values and how well you match up with them.

Why is that? Do you think you will be able to complete strong applications for each of the schools?

For you and your dad’s information, federal loans for undergrad are limited to $28k total, with $5500 the first year, $6500 the second year, and $7500 for the last two years. If the loans are unsubsidized (which I suspect they will be if your family can afford all the schools on your list), then the interest will start accruing upon disbursement.

If the desire is to build a credit history (rather than have you contribute financially to your college education) then other paths to building credit without student loans are:

  • Being an authorized user of one of their credit cards (assuming they pay their balances in full every month)
  • Get your own credit card (there are student cards available). Only use a small portion of your credit limit, pay the statement balance (not minimum payment) every month, and always pay on time.
  • If/when you move off-campus, put the utilities in your name. Paying those bills monthly will also help with establishing a credit score.

I’m curious as to how you selected the schools on your list, including which schools to ED to.

In looking at your list, I would generally think that you’re interested in mid-size or larger schools, preferably in or near cities or in college towns. In fact, if I had to group your schools, this is how I would do so:

  • West Coast: 10 schools (USC, Scripps, Loyola Marymount, U. of San Diego, Santa Clara, Pepperdine, UW, Washington State, Gonzaga, UW-Bothell)

  • Big State Schools: 8 schools (UIUC, U. of Wisconsin, U. of Massachusetts, Penn State, U. of Minnesota, IU, UW, Washington State)

  • Outliers: 3-4 (Babson, Emory, U. of Richmond (ED1), Scripps (ED2)…although Scripps is a West Coast school, it feels very different from all the other West Coast schools which is why it’s also in this outlier category)

The thing that raises questions in my mind is that your ED selections are what I considered more of the outliers to the rest of your list. What is it about your ED schools that really appeals to you over the rest of the schools on your list? And if those are your favorite schools, would you like to find more schools that are similar to Richmond and Scripps?

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We did this for D19, and she had a score in the mid 700s by the time she graduated. (She only used it for college expenses and it was a great way to track them for qualified 529 withdrawals- if OP’s parents are using a 529 plan this is something they might find useful too.)

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Or he can just add you to one of his credit cards and after a while you’ll get his credit rating. My daughter has a very high credit score because Southwest added her to my account (she’s had a frequent flyer account since she was little and my email is still on her FF account). She has no credit card of her own, does have a student loan, but that’s it. With just her student loan, I think her credit score would be 650-700 but with my score bumping her, hers is over 800.

Student loans, for just the credit score, are not worth it. They are a very expensive way to build a credit score. Buy a car, get a credit card.

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