Can I get into Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, Caltech, Penn, or Dartmouth with these credentials?

Question

It's my senior year and I'm just really nervous about getting into college. My high school is public but is one of the top ones in the nation (New Trier HS). I'm in the top 10% of my class with both my unweighted gpa (3.86) and weighted gpa (5.00). The top weighted gpa in my class is 5.33. I got a 32 (33 english, 35 math, 29 reading, & 32 science) on the ACT, 770 on the SAT 2 for chemistry, 730 on the SAT 2 for u.s. history, and 690 on the SAT 2 for math level 2. I'm involved in a lot of religious activities, played freshman basketball, am the co-president of the persian club at my school, and have played violin in the symphony orchestra throughout my high school career. I received a letter of commendation for the National Merit Scholarship. I will have taken 5 AP's by the end of high school, 2 of which are in the sciences. I got a 5 on the AP chemistry exam and a 4 on the AP u.s. history exam. I'm getting pretty good recommendations from both my AP chem teacher and my AP u.s. teacher. My essay should be really unique bc i'm talking of my experience as an epileptic in my early teen years. I have no idea what my chances are. Just hoping I get in. I'm also looking at duke, northwestern, johns hopkins, vanderbilt, university of chicago, ucla, and uc berkeley. Please help me out! I'm just extremely nervous over all the uncertainty. Thanks.

Answer 1

The first answer is a great answer. I only want to add that while you do seem a great candidate for a top university, there's a lot to be said for education outside of the Harvard realm. If you don't make it into Harvard, Princeton, or Yale you can still get a respectable education.

Yes, you're likely to find a more marketable degree from Harvard, but the quality of education is dependent a lot on you and your professors. I attended a state school and many of the teachers in my department had PhDs from Princeton, Harvard, Northwestern, etc.

Don't be nervous - you are a great candidate and you obviously care about your admittance to these schools. Just make sure you're focusing your attentions on what matters - like how lucky you are to have the opportunities and experiences you have. :)

Good luck!

Answer 2

When you go to a school like New Trier, you have excellent information right at your school. They keep scattergrams showing you exactly what grades and scores people who got into all of these schools coming from your school had.

You have lots of competition, and the most fierce competition for top colleges is your own high school classmates. In an affluent high school like yours you will find that many kids are legacies at top schools and they will get in with lower stats. You'll also have a fair number of recruited athletes and some of the most qualified minority applicants. All of them get a big boost.

Rank is more important than GPA. For most of these schools you will need to be top 5%. You could maybe be a little lower at Penn. If your school wasn't so competitive, you'd have to be val or sal.

Your biggest issue is the 32 ACT. It's just not competitive for an unhooked (above referenced groups) candidate. Another 2 or 3 points would really help so I suggest a retake. I'm also thinking 5 is a low number of APs for a school like NT, but you would know.

Other than that it's just going to come down to great recs and a great application. This year's class is the largest graduating class in 4 decades. That combined with the huge push by these schools to attract more international applicants makes this the hardest time ever at these very top colleges. Bottom line: have back ups you really like. Even UCB and UCLA from out of state could be tough this year.

Answer 3

I should think you stand an excellent chance of matriculating to a top tier school.  You have the credentials that will put you in good stead.  The only thing I see lacking is volunteer work for the good of the community.  But noting your involvement in so many other things that would be understandable.  

Also, stop being nervous > be more confident & don't worry.  There will be many colleges would love to have you> if not Harvard, certainly one of the others.  

Best wishes.