What should be my safeties? Targets? Reaches?

College Search & Lists
1

Hello… I’m from Canada
There are no such thing as freshmen, sophomore, junior, or senior “things” at the school where I live so I’ll simply use “grade”.
K, so I am a grade 11 student. Oh, and by the way, our high school starts from grade 8 through grade 12 (yes, 5 years long)

Here are my standardized test score for ACT:
April ACT 2016
Composite: 32
English:34
Math: 36
Reading: 24
Science: 35
Writing 23 (which is a 8)
I’m retaking the ACT probably 1 or 2 more times

SAT Subject Tests:
Biology: Took it in June so I don’t know the results yet but might retake in October
Math 2: In October
Chemistry (or Physics): In October

I heard that universities consider the opportunities that your high school has provided you with and encourage you to take most of them. Taking this into consideration, the AP courses that my school offers are: AP Psychology, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Physics, AP Calculus, AP Computer Science (new), AP Macroeconomics & Microeconomics (1 course; new), AP French (new), AP English and Literature.

Unlike most American high schools, the school that I attend has prerequisite-courses that one must completely before moving onto these AP courses… Therefore, I wasn’t able to, for example, take AP Biology in grade 9, because I needed Science 10, and Biology 11 Pre-AP (these are course names) before I was able to finally take Biology 12 AP.

So, starting all the way from the bottom, I have now taken completely finished AP Biology and AP Calculus. The AP program for physics at our school is 3 years long, and I’ve just completed my second year and we’ll be taking AP Physics 2 class next year. I’ll also be taking AP Psychology, AP Chemistry, AP Computer Science, AP macroeconomics & Microeconomics, and AP English and Literature.

Since what I just said was a mess, I’ll summarize
AP Courses that my school offers: Psychology, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Calculus, Computer Science, Macroeconomics & Microeconomics, French, English and Literature
AP Courses that I will have finished by grade 12: Psychology, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Calculus, Computer Science, Macroeconomics & Microeconomics, English and Literature

In terms of AP Exams, I’ve taken the following:
-AP Physics 1 (expecting 4-5)
-AP Calculus BC (I don’t even know man…3, 4, or if I’m lucky, 5)
-AP Biology (expecting 5)

Anyways, moving on from AP…

Academics:
GPA: 4.8-4.9 (I’m not sure how this is calculated in America)

Extracurriculars:
-Played clarinet for 5 years
-Member of the high school band for 4 years
-Leader of the clarinet section
-Won gold and silver in music festivals

Sports:
-High school cross country team member for 4 years
-Cross country regional champions twice
-Short track speed skater for 13 years
-8 provincial championship titles
-Won 9 gold medals, 2(?) silver medals at the BC Winter Games
-Member of Team BC at the 2015 Canada Winter Games (happens once every 4 years like Olympics)
-Youngest athlete to participate at Canada Winter Games for short track speed skating
-Canada Winter Games finalist for 3000m team relay
-5-time gold medalist, 2-time silver medalist, 1-time bronze medalist at nationals for short track speed skating
-Was on the newspaper and TV for speed skating achievement

Other:
-Member of school team that won first place at the Vancouver High School Science Olympics
-School winner of AMC 10 (2015)
-School winner of AMC 12 (2016)
-School winner of many Canadian math contests (like more than 10…and in most of those contests, I usually score as the top 3% or 5% of all writers)
-12 time “A” honor roll
-First place in “Application of Scientific Principles” category in Entrepreneurship Cup

I also like going to summer programs to challenge myself:
-Participated in SIMUW (Summer Institute for Mathematics at University of Washington; 6 weeks long) during summer of 2014
-Participated at SHAD Valley (4 weeks long) during summer of 2015
-Will be participating at University of Toronto Youth Summer Program-Medical Research (3 weeks long) during summer of 2016

Leadership Roles:
-Math Challengers (we call it “STEM club” now) club leader
-Me To We club leader
-Leader of clarinet section in high school band
-Served as student council member during grade 8 when I was less busy

Community Services:
-Volunteer coaching short track speed skating to younger athletes
-Volunteer at Rare Genomics Institute: 350+ hours of volunteer work…
-Will be volunteering at a pharmacy hopefully in August
(As you can tell, I don’t just love volunteering for the sake of hours…but I love helping other INDIVIDUALS rather than myself)

I’m not 100% sure what I want to major in yet… I’m hoping that with good essay and good recommendation letters, I’ll apply to some good colleges

What should be my safeties? Targets? Reaches???

I’m not here to brag nor here to conceal…I want honest feedback so that I won’t be disappointed later…

I will appreciate any feedback that I get, thank you for reading this, and thank you for your consideration…

Best

2

You would be a strong candidate for many colleges.

What would be the maximum GPA for your school? Do you have an academic standing in your class (top 10%, e.g.)? Will you be looking for particular opportunities to continue with speed skating? Would you prefer more woodsy or urban?

“Since what I wrote was just a mess”

This was funny.

3

@merc81
I am definitely Top 10% (maybe even 5%) in my class…

I’ll definitely be looking for opportunities even in college to continue with my speed skating, I have even trained with the national team for Canada once… I did grow up in rural areas…However for university and studies, I don’t mind the setting of where I study…

So do you have any suggestions on Reaches? Safeties are easy to determine…but I don’t know what my Reaches could be…

Thank you for your feedback!!

4

Did I overlook how much your parents will pay?

If you didn’t indicate, then we can’t suggest safeties since safeties must be known to be affordable.

How much will your parents pay each year? Ask them, please don’t guess.

What is your major and career goal?

5

I’ll assume you are looking without geographical restrictions.

Your ECs will have additional value if you can “convert” them into colleges’ existing programs. That is, you should make clear in your upcoming applications what you will join or initiate at your respective choices.

These are simply examples of colleges to get you started: Williams, Hamilton and Brown all have a mean SAT score that matches yours and would be examples of colleges you could consider. In these cases, Williams and Brown would be reaches because of their sub 20% acceptance rates. With a ~25% acceptance rate, Hamilton would be a match. Colby and Bowdoin would offer you still slightly different selectivity options.

Williams requires 2 SAT subject tests, I believe.

6

Btw, @aidiwwwnmw1, reaches, in and of themselves, serve little purpose unless they are otherwise suitable. I’d generally recommend you think more in terms of schools that may be appropriate for your interests. If some naturally fall into the reach category, that would be perfectly fine as long as you are generally qualified for the them.

7

Your list depends entirely on how much your parents can pay.

8

Okay, you’re a gold medalist in your sport.
So, you need to find universities, likely in the Northern half of the US, where you could practice your sport and where you’ll be recruited for it, whether club or varsity.
I believe UIUC has a speedskating champion, but I think the top school for that is University of Colorado, which is a good university in its own right.
http://www.dbknews.com/archives/article_c5765822-738a-11e5-bb38-fbdbbda305b2.html
You can look up these athletes’ universities:
http://www.teamusa.org/US-Speedskating/Athletes/Short-Track/National-Team

Your universities would depend on your sport.

You’re competitive at most places where your athletic skills are your “ace in the sleeve”.