What colleges are realistic for me?

Question

Hello everyone,

I have been doing a lot of college admissions stuff lately. This mostly entails filling out applications to scholarships and getting my Common Application all finished up. As I was composing a list of colleges and programs for my conselour to send my transcripts to, I stopped for a second and looked at all the schools I am applying to and thought,"How do I expect to get accepted to ANY of these schools?"

Most of the schools I am applying to are all top-tier--except for my fallback schools, of course--and I just don't think I stack up to their expectations. A few of the schools I plan on applying to are American University, Middleburry and Beloit; I also am applying to a Low-income program that would send my application to schools that include but are not limited to Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Wesleyan, Northwestern, and the University of Penn.

I have a 3.47 unweighted and 4.08 weighted GPA; I have taken mostly honors and AP classes every year of secondary school. I am 48th of the 448 in my class; meaning the top 11% of my class.

My SATs--which I plan on retaking--are CR700 W620 M640, and I have taken the SAT Subject tests for Physics and US History and recieved a 600 and 710 respectively.

I come from a low-income home that makes about 33,000 per fiscal year.

I am an Eagle Scout; I have been actively employed since I was 15; I volunteer at the hospital twice a week(four times during the summer); I was in Academic Decathlon; I am currently in NHS;etc.

My question is:

What kind of colleges do I actually have a chance of being accepted into?

Answer 1

Sounds like you're working with Questbridge. I've always wondered if they help you choose schools because I've seen many Questbridge kids not get into any of the schools.

You can go to the College Board site to see how you stack up at each school. If you are not a minority, you'll see that the ivies and similar are not very likely with your class rank and scores. Low income (required by Questbridge) is a tip factor, but it Can't make up for scores below 2100.

Schools like American and Beloit should be no problem. Unless you think you can really raise the scores, you need to look at schools where you are at least in the middle of the 50th percentile.

Answer 2

You might have a chance with a top tier school if they are impressed with the fact that not only have you taken all AP and honors classes, but you also have quite a bit of outside activities.  I don't think you should give up on those schools.  Also, try applying for state schools that are listed as being highly competitive, as they might be easier to afford.  You should also apply for scholarships, as I don't see any reason why you wouldn't be able to get one.  Good luck to you, even if you don't get into Yale, that doesn't mean that you won't be able to get into a very good school.  

Answer 3

You have a good resume, but so do many others.

How about the top state university for your state?

Answer 4

Alright, I am actually going to give you a truthful answer. The one thing I notice with people who answer these questions, as i have asked similar ones, is that they always say "ivies are not likely given scores below X". Ignore them! Obviously SATs are an important factor, but are really only designed as a way to filter out applicants who really don't belong. All those top tier schools could easily make an entire class with 800s and 4.0 gpa, but they don't, because they realize that would be a train wreck of a class. My brother got into Dartmouth with 2050 and a 3.7 gpa (i think). the top notch schools get an average of like 15,000 applications. they go through them the first time and use your grades, classes, and scores, as a way to knock out a few thousand applicants who definitely can't cut it. So then they end up with like 10-11,000 people who make the grade and score cuts. you definitely make that cut. they then knock out another 1000 who got all A's in unchallenging courses. you don't have to worry about that. What is left is a pool of 9-10,000 kids who all are academically qualified to be in that school. they have to knock out another 7,000 so they then use extra-curriculars as a way to knock out kids who did well in school, but showed no leadership or initiative. they also use recommendations to knock out some more kids who don't seem like active learners. Finally you have a pool of 6,000 kids who are all very qualified to be there. So, the question is, how do they choose? Obviously there are a bunch of uber-kids who have like written a concierto for the new york philharmonic or something that will get in for sure, but for the other kids it's almost just dumb luck. If your essay and activities come across as very unique and make you stand out, you may beat out someone with higher scores and grades. that's how my brother must have gotten in. But even if you look like the most unique person they've ever seen, there is still a roll of the dice involved, because there are another 6000 kids just like you. So it's almost like they roll a die and if it lands on your number, lucky you, if not, it's not your fault. So, yes, with all those schools, no matter who you are, it's a long shot, but there is still a chance regardless of SATs below "2100". Go for it, it may be your lucky day. My college list is similarly selective, and im going through the same thing. i even asked my own question about it :)