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hi i am new on this site!

i am interested in theatre, playwriting, journalism, etc. and i am considering: sarah lawrence, unc chapel hill, brown, uva, carnegie mellon, rice, etc. i know that brown is a huge reach, but what about the others? my mom and aunt went to unc, and my other aunt and uncle went to uva. what are my chances? any other suggestions?

here are my stats
gpa- 3.8
rank- within the top ten i think
sat- (took sophomore year, taking again in december) 1200
activities- junior class president, drama club leader, track captain (founder), orchestra (oboe), writer for school newspaper, community/school theatre, community service, peer helpers, honor society, art council at a museum of world religions, worked this summer justifying theological latin text.

i hope someone can help! thank you!

By Jamimom (Jamimom) on Monday, October 06, 2003 - 07:10 pm: Edit

Aunts and uncles do not give you legacy preference. You have some great ECs. You can parlay them into some fascinating essays. If you will offer up that oboe into an orchestra at one of those schools, that will also spark interest.
Really too early to assess your chances without SATs, more courses and SAT2s. Brown ,Uva and Rice are always reaches. So is UNC Chapel Hill even with legacy status. My understanding is that legacy status puts you into the in-state pool which is still tough. My friend in NC had her daughter rejected last year from Chapel Hill with in-state legacy status, a 3.8 average in tough courses and a 1340 SAT, just to give you a current example. But her ECs did not have the sparkle yours do. Put together a portfolio of your writing; some schools (CMU) will want to see it. Make your EC list look interesting with some more detail. But all of these are last minute polishings--you need to focus on the meat of the matter which are tough AP level courses, top grades, and test scores, all yet to come.

By Clickspring (Clickspring) on Monday, October 06, 2003 - 08:56 pm: Edit

have you considered NYU?

By Pinklemonade87 (Pinklemonade87) on Monday, October 06, 2003 - 11:16 pm: Edit

actually i just attended a tour of NYU and went to a dramatic writing course overview, but i am not sure that i am ready for such a professional atmosphere and lack of campus, even though it is in a great area with such a great program. but i am still definitely considering it.
thank you so much for the advice and insight.

By Girl (Girl) on Tuesday, October 07, 2003 - 05:47 pm: Edit

Take a SAT prep class or buy a prep book ("10 Real SATs" is by the College Board, the ones who produce the SATs), bump up your scores 150-200 points, and you should be a strong candidate for most of those schools. Your score will actually go up without prep (additional year of math does wonders for the score), but prep work does no harm. If you're seriously considering journalism, know that Northwestern, Columbia, and U Missouri are thought of as the top in the country, so you might want to check those out as well. Best of luck!