The EDUFAX Educational FAQ

Question #131:

I attend a private Catholic school in Seattle, WA, my GPA=3.7, my SAT=1170. I have taken 4 years of Honors English, 2 years of Honors Calculus, 3 years Japanese, 3 years of Science, including AP Chemistry. I am on the Varsity Team in Drama and have volunteered at a hospital. Can I get into UC Berkeley, Emory, or Claremont McKenna ? Do colleges look favorably upon applicants from private college prep schools ?

Answer #131:

Hold on a minute while I look into my crystal ball. Oops -- I don't have one! I guess I'll have to rely on myself to help you out. UC Berkeley uses a specific numerical assessment system for out-of-state applicants. If you speak to their admissions officers, you should get a pretty good idea of where you stand. They are fairly inflexible on certain things, such as SAT cutoff scores and the GPA. Emory and the Claremonts are private colleges. Admission criteria are usually unpublished and can vary from student to student. Your high school record looks excellent, but competition is cut-throat and your SAT scores are still a bit below the norm. Have you taken the SAT II or the ACT? Those scores could be influential. Some colleges have close working relationships with private college prep schools. Your high school, however, is more likely to be in the category of parochial, rather than private, and as such will probably not have admission agreements with secular colleges. I hope you have included in your list of schools, some schools in the "range" category as well as the ones you mentioned, which would be a "reach" even for a valedictorian with SAT=1600. You sound like a terrific student - I'm sure you will do incredibly well. It is a shame his high school limits students in the choice of language courses. I often encourage students to take both a modern and a classical language course in high school. It is also important to consider where you live. If your area has a considerable population of Spanish speakers, it might be helpful to have your son be able to converse comfortably with them. EDUFAX provides services for the Collegebound High School Student.

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