Rural, first generation college student thinks he can make it at great schools. (MIT, UChi, Carleton

Chance Me / Match Me
1

School: High School of less than 400 hundred students in rural Illinois. Rank: 1/77
Ethnicity: Both my parents are Syrian Native Immigrants, I was born in the United States.
Important Numbers: 4.0 unweighted GPA, 34 ACT 34,36,32,34, 770 SAT II Math (kinda sucks actually, really bad performance that day) 710 Physics. AP Calc AB 5 (AP test score)
Parents: Both parents never attended college, they are small business owners
(Please no comments on affordability of the schools listed as I have been very careful in the selection as to make sure they are affordable to the best of my knowledge, according to things like NPC’s FAFSA pell grant and % need met and so on) FAFSA completed BTW
Classes:
9th: Biology, Honors Geometry, Honors English, Government, Band, Orchestra,
10th: Chemistry, Honors Algebra II, Honors English II, Illinois History, Ancient world history, Arabic I (Virtual School) Band, Orchestra
11th: Honors English III, AP Calculus AB (Virtual School), Physics, Arabic II (Virtual School), US History, Band, Orchestra
12th: English Composition 101 (community college), AP Calculus C (Virtual School), Social Concerns, Cultures, Politics, Human Anatomy and Physiology, Band, Orchestra.

Note: This course list includes every advance course offered at my school and some beyond that. In the words of my principal, this is the “most difficult course load taken at our (my) school since I’ve been here.” He’s been Principal for 11 years.

Activities: (Most significant to me on top)
Band: Tuba Section leader, 4.25 hrs/wk (all years)
Orchestra: Cello section leader, 4 hrs/wk (all years)
Jazz Band: Trombone Section Leader, 2 hrs/wk (all years)
WYSE: academic challenge team, (no special positions offered), 2.5 hrs/wk(11th and 12th)
Politics Club: Co-founder, (11th, 12th)
Scholastic bowl team: member 11th grade, probably captain 12th, 1.75 hrs/wk (11th and 12th)
Robotics Club: Math department leader 11th grade, (11th) I quit because It wasn’t fun, honestly.

Significant awards:
WYSE State finalist in the field of Math 11th grade
WYSE Sectionals in physics 11th grade
IHSA State level Solo and Ensemble Best of the day award. (basically means best brass solo (it was a tuba solo) at the state solo and ensemble competition) 11th grade
Semper Fidelis Award for musical excellence- this is a school level award but was always withheld to seniors only until I was awarded it in 11th grade
Not really much else worth listing …
Here’s my Current list: (in parenthesis meaning I might apply)

MIT, University of Chicago, Princeton, WASHU, Carleton, Macalester, Grinnell, University of Illinois in U-C
(Cornell, UMichigan)

I can’t resist making one of these. Give me your thoughts please.

2

MIT, Chicago, Princeton are reaches for everyone. You have a shot but don’t get your hopes up. The rest are matches to low reaches.

3

@TomSrOfBoston Do you think UIUC is a match or safety?

4

Ur gonna get a great education at them all. princeton is probably the one I would go to, but be aware your gonna have to deal with some cocky and stuck up kids.

5

Intended major? UIUC selectivity can vary based on the major you apply to, and the more selective majors for frosh admission are also difficult to change into later.

6

UIUC is a match, not a safety.

7

@ucbalumnus Mathematics

8

http://www.las.illinois.edu/students/programs/declaring/ indicates that UIUC math appears to be moderately more competitive than the school overall (but math / computer science is much more competitive than the school overall).

UIUC may admit you to undeclared general studies if you are not directly admitted to your majors, but only if you include a second choice major. If you specify only a first choice major, you will not be admitted to the school if you are not admitted to your first choice major.
https://www.admissions.illinois.edu/FAQ/second-choice-major

9

@ucbalumnus Thank you!

10

bump

11

Congratulations on your achievements. They’re really impressive.
Considering your musical ability and interest in math, I’d add St Olaf and apply for the music scholarships (they also meet need). It’d be a good low match. Since you’re interested in Math, I’d add Williams and HarveyMudd (both reaches). UMichigan would be a good addition indeed, as would Vanderbilt if the NPC is favorable.
Your odds are good at Carleton, Grinnell, Macalester, UIUC, I’d say 50% perhaps 60%. The others are reaches for everyone.
Any other Ilinois public you’d consider? Of course, an issue with IL publics is defunding and general state budget problems. :s
An issue is that you have no safeties.
Some possibilities for safeties would include universities with competitive scholarships where you have a good shot, or automatic scholarships. In the Midwest, Ohio State and Miami Ohio, UMN Twin Cities but I think the deadline was Nov 1), IndianaU.

12

@MYOS1634 Yes, the general budget problems are concerning for UIUC, The thing with out of state publics is they generally don’t offer good aid (which is fine, their job is to serve the in-state kids primarily), so I find it hard to justify many of the out of state price tags for the education quality. (Umich has a few special exceptions that deal with family)
I am taking a risk with no real ( in terms of like an 80 or 90% chance) safeties, but I feel confident. Am I stupid for doing this? I had an opportunity to apply free to NIU and WIU and was accepted, but I don’t really want to go so there’s that. ( the idea is I wouldn’t be forced to go to community college if all my schools accepted me )
I considered HarveyMudd early in my search but realized I didn’t really want to go to California (at least that particular area). St.Olaf is a school that I am on the fence about and forgot to put on the parenthesis list. Williams fell in the basket of “well, do I really want to travel that far from home for this type of school?” I know this might sound crazy, but I would probably go to Carleton (WashU as well) over williams even if I got in. (tell me if this is crazy.)

Thoughts?

13

You need two safeties. I believe NIU is pretty good for the rest of Illinois directionals, perhaps one of the SIU’s ?
If those don’t appeal to you, run the NPC on Drake, Butler, Luther, Hamline, dePaul, Loyola, Beloit, Lawrence… All good schools that would make for excellent safeties. Make sure to express interest - that means emailing admissions to ask a couple questions, filling out the 'request info ’ form. No college wants to feel like a back up. :slight_smile:

14

@MYOS1634 Thank you for the advice.

15

You have a great profile. I think that you have a decent shot at most of the schools. Why is Duke not on your list ?

16

@sgopal2 Thanks for the nice comments.
On the Duke Question.

  1. North Carolina is a state that gets a little too warm for me during the summer.
  2. Though I like professional sports, I’m not really into the super RA RA sports team hype that I imagine goes on there. Maybe I’m completely wrong…
  3. Duke is great academically, but there are other schools that fit me a little bit better (based on the values they seem to value and the characteristics that they seem to promote) I would love to go to duke, but at some point my college list has to end and I didn’t like Duke as much as some of the others on my list.
    It’s also worth noting that in north Carolina my electoral college vote will matter, unlike Illinois.
17

^ Note that you wouldn’t really be in NC during the summer. But if you don’t like Duke, you can look at UNC-CH, Elon, Davidson. Davidson would be the least Rah-Rah, but many students are athletes (Division 3 so a VERY VERY different eperience compared to D1 or even D2).

18

@MYOS1634 I may not be able to return during summers, at least not all of them

19

You could look for internships in cooler climes… or invest in a fan/air conditioning…
Beside Oregon/Washington State, there really aren’t any “cool” (temp) places in the US during the summer. California, AZ, NM are hot and dry, OR and WAS are cooler, and everywhere else is hot and humid to varying degrees.

20

Davidson is most certainly Division I. Just Ask Steph Curry - he played basketball there.