Rising Senior in PA -- Please Chance Me

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Hello, I’d first like to thank everyone who replies to this, very much appreciated.

So I am a white, male rising senior at a very prestigious all boys private academy in Pennsylvania, and will be graduating in 2020. I have a 3.82 Weighted GPA and a 1320 superstore after my 3rd SAT attempt. I am also a member of NHS, which basically means nothing lol. I am looking at various schools including UPenn, Emory, Georgetown, Drexel, Wake Forest, Villanova and Michigan, these are mostly my favorites. I am looking at either being a Chinese major or an Economics major, with plans to go to law school and get an MBA. During my freshman summer, I spent three weeks in Puerto Rico, teaching english and working on road construction, etc. During Sophomore summer, I spent three weeks in China working with orphans with physical and psychological ailments, this proved to be an experience for me to gain cultural awareness, immerse myself in the Chinese culture, and perfect my Chinese speaking skills. I am currently the only junior in Chinese 4 Honors at my school, and due to the fact that my school won’t offer any higher in Chinese, I will be taking a higher level of Chinese at Drexel next year as a senior in high school. During my summer after my Junior year, this summer, I will be spending three weeks at Georgetown, at a policy debate camp, as well as spending two weeks doing service work in Bolivia with my school. I am extremely competitive and dedicated at/to policy debate, placing fifth in the state, and winning outright countless local tournaments. I have over 500+ service hours in a high school that doesn’t mandate service hours. I also tutor a child in Mandarin Chinese for about 5+ hours a week as a job. I am an extremely dedicated student, and although I have been very privileged in my life, I have had a lot of hardships, moving frequently, severe alcoholism in my family, etc. I am extremely passionate about Chinese, and hope that I have demonstrated it. I think that majoring in Chinese may make my admissions process at more competitive schools a little easier, but please weigh in on that. I also will be taking 3 SAT subject tests in the fall. My course load has been extremely completive as well with by the time I graduate having over 10 AP’s and countless honors.

A couple questions for everyone:

  1. Please Chance Me for the Above Schools
  2. Should I take my SAT a fourth time in August?
  3. Anything that you are curious or concerned about?
  4. General Comments or Tips

I greatly appreciate any comments. Thanks!

2

I would say that your GPA and test scores are a little below what they should be for most of these schools besides Drexel. I would recommend trying to get your SAT score up, but only if you are really willing to study and work hard for a better score. However, since you do go to a prestigious private school and have taken challenging classes, that definitely helps your chances, especially at some of the private schools you are interested in. I would definitely make sure to have stand-out essays about your hardships and your love for Chinese. That would help your chances a lot. Also, make sure that you show lots of demonstrated interest towards by visiting them and emailing your regional admissions counselor. And also this is kind of random but I go to an all-girls private school in PA lol I wonder if you go to my brother school. Overall, you seem like a very passionate guy and I wish you luck in future college endeavors.

3

No one here can know what a weighted GPA means without context. Unweighted GPA with context of curriculum choices is more useful.

Cost constraints and state of residency would also be relevant because most students’ college choices are money limited.

4

All those schools are reaches, except maybe Drexel.

5

If your school uses Naviance, that will be a better indication of where you stand than what folks on CC say.

For the kinds of schools you are targeting, it would help to have a higher score. If you think you can improve your SAT score, go for it. But you may want to give the ACT a try. I am guessing, based on your interests, that your math score may have been weaker, and the ACT is often a good choice for test takers with that profile.

Pitt is a school that has a great Chinese department and looks like it is of the "type " you are targeting.

6

Run net price calculators at the reach schools you are planning on applying to.

Full price is quite steep and it would depend on whether you qualify for need based aid, since most of these schools don’t give merit.

I would definitely study and retake SAT or ACT, for increased admission and merit chances at schools that might give it.

Identify some safety schools, IUP Cook Honors college might give you a lot of merit.