Where should I apply?

College Search & Lists
1

Hello,
My dream school was UPenn and even though I knew I wasn’t the best applicant with super incredible scores or ECs, it really was my dream school so I figured I might as well give it a shot. I found out that I got rejected yesterday and even though I wasn’t too surprised, it was disheartening to know that the first college I heard back from rejected me. I have back up schools but I want to know if there are other places I should take into consideration. Here are my stats:
Female, born outside US (yes, I’m a citizen), Indian, currently living in PA
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SAT: 1360 (690 Math 670 Reading)
ACT: 28 (yeah I know, not that great)
AP classes: total of 8 (1 sophomore year, 3 junior year, 4 senior year)
Taking AP Computer Science (I’m the only girl ) and AP Calc BC right now
Top 5% of class ~500 students
ECs:

  • Treasurer of Senior Class
  • Treasurer of InterAct Club (volunteer school organization)
  • Treasurer of French Club
  • Vice President of National Honors Society
  • Robotics Club
    -STEM Club
    (I have been a part of these clubs for 3-4 years)

-Over 100 hours volunteering at local shelter

  • Interning (paid) at a non profit organization as web developer
  • I have my own website/blog (designed & created myself)
  • Worked at Olive Garden as busser/host
  • Black belt in Korean Martial Arts (more than five years of experience)

I know I haven’t really done anything outstanding, but are there any “top” schools I can get in?
I was thinking about University of Rochester, Lehigh University, UVA, UMD, etc.

2

You should definitely apply to URochester and Lehigh, and perhaps comparably selective schools such as CWRU, as well as one or two schools that would be at least somewhat less selective than those in this range. The list below will help you identify schools that may be solid matches for you:

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-610-smartest-colleges-in-america-2015-9

You will be likely to have some attractive offers if you choose carefully.

3

Your scores really aren’t that low, but if you want to shoot for top 30 schools, your best bet would probably be test-optional schools:

http://www.fairtest.org/sites/default/files/Optional-Schools-in-U.S.News-Top-Tiers.pdf
(Only the first few schools on this list would really be relevant to you - at the rest your scores wouldn’t hurt you at all.)

4

Lehigh University could be a good choice