<p>ahhhh okay so my uw gpa is a 3.2, with weighted 3.6. i took about all honors and ap courses in high school </p>
<p>my SAT score is a 2380 (800 W/790 M/790 CR) and I got an 800 on the Math II sat and a 780 on the Biology M.
I also received 5's on the biology and psychology ap exams and a 4 on statistics. </p>
<p>my extracurrics are also really strong and here's a very not-so-comprehensive list of them:
-make a wish club president
-yac youth advisory commission head
-Interact club president
-Habitat for humanity club president
-youth alive vice president
-position in peer counseling
-school relations committee member (app only process)
-started my own microfinance nonprofit to help lower middle class special needs families
-attended an economics camp over the summer that is quite prestigious
-sponsorship head of my local relay for life for the past fewyears
-over 400 hours of volunteer service
-marketing internship at a recruiting firm this past summer
-another internship (social media) at a small business
-raised 5k for an orphanage in a third world country with a few other students
-tutoring every week since soph year for a group of students in english and lower level maths
-designed clothes with my friend as we put on a charity fashion show for a local hospital
-writer's block editor
-lots and lots of writing, looking to publish my novel later on in this year
-track and field since freshman year
-work with delinquents to help them avoid the juvenile justice system in a youth courts program
-traveled overseas to work in an orphanage and teach english
-basically lots of volunteering and youth activism </p>
<p>i'm a very strong writer and i'm always writing so i think i should be alright with the essays. I'm also going to be getting good recs from my psychology and english teachers and from my counselor and my mentor so I'm somewhat safe in that department I believe. </p>
<p>I'm a california resident and i'm going to be an econ major and these are the schools I'm looking at (lots of reaches, I'm aware): </p>
<p>Cal
UCD
UCI
UCSD
UCSB
Cal Poly</p>
<p>Pepperdine
UConn
UT Austin
University of Indiana at Bloomington
UMiami
UIUC
University of Maryland, College Park
Boston University
Carnegie Mellon University
NYU
Purdue
University of Washington, Seattle
Drexel </p>
<p>Tell us more about why you have stellar test scores and an ok but not superb GPA. You have terrific ECs… .and perhaps that is how you preferred to spend your time. But ot is possible that you won’t be ready for (or happy with) the rigor of some of your reachy schools. Or you may have a hs with very tough grading.</p>
<p>No you are not doomed You have some excellent qualifications.</p>
<p>my high school is one of the top 25 public schools in the nation, all though i don’t necessarily feel that this particular fact should in any way undermine an individual’s performance. i feel that instead it should push us all to work harder…but unfortunately i don’t do well under that kind of pressure</p>
<p>i know that i am competent of achieving great things. i am smart, i’m considered an intellectual amongst my peers. this makes me seem like a braggart but it’s the truth; i always have something to say, something to contribute and i have the potential to get a 4.0. </p>
<p>but i just don’t have the motivation to put in the time and effort into things that i don’t have the complete heart for (i.e. some sciences and maths). i value my education more than anything, but for me sometimes it’s more about learning things and filling my head with knowledge rather than busting my a$$ for the grade. with that in mind, i fell short several times in high school, with B+'s littering my transcript. that’s just an explanation of my shortcomings in a nutshell…kind of incoherent, sorry about that but yeah</p>
<p>I am wondering if you will be happy with economics, as it requires math, and you say this is a subject that does not excite you (though you seem to do well on standardized tests). I am also curious if you are maybe originally from another country, since you write “maths” instead of “math”. Maybe that’s how they say it nowadays at fancy California schools, but it is more British English sounding to me than American English. The reason I ask is ethnicity/origin could play a role in admissions.</p>
<p>Your list of colleges actually does not seem all that “reachy” to me. I think you have a good chance of getting in to more than one of those.</p>
<p>reviviscence==top 25 by who’s standards? I think you have way too many EC’s, not enough study time to get your GPA to where it should be. A resume like your’s tells me that you are more concerned about your other stuff and school is secondary to you, just looking at you on paper. As for your chances at the CA schools, who knows, their selection process is so goofy these days, the rest of your list, I would say you probably have a good chance of getting into 1/2 of those or better, mainly because of your test scores. I would work on getting my GPA up this semester though.</p>
<p>Top test scores and mediocre grades, regardless of the HS, show a student who doesn’t put in that much effort and may not have the study habits required to succeed at many top schools. All the EC’s in the world will not replace good grades. A student with lesser test scores and better grades has a much better chance- hard work means more than being a slacker with potential.</p>
<p>The high SAT scores will help you at most of the schools you listed. Enough to get into most of them? Who knows, but certainly some of them. I would also recommend that you shorten the list of EC’s to those that you have participated consistently in throughout high school. I think colleges look less at the quantity of EC’s than they do at deep and sustained interest. Further, they might conclude that you participated in a long list of EC’s at the expense of your schoolwork, hence the average GPA.</p>
<p>@LBowie: there are lots of pros and cons to this issue, I’ve discussed my major choice with several others so right now I do think it is the best fit for me and hahaha no my school is not fancy by any means. Much the opposite, really. I’ve been spending lots of time with my British cousins and their vernacular has been rubbing off on me. Thank you for your input! </p>
<p>@SteveMA: My school was listed on US News’s top 100 schools. Thanks, I am trying my best to get it up, we’ll see where that goes. School is in no way secondary to me, I am so blessed to get this wonderful education. I just don’t have that motivation to pull from a b+ to an a-.I am working to fix that though!</p>
<p>Also, what are my chances of getting into these particular schools?</p>
<p>UMiami
UIUC
University of Maryland, College Park
Boston University
Carnegie Mellon University
NYU
University of Washington, Seattle</p>
<p>Hi again,
I am not that familiar with every school on your list, but I think the two hardest on your list are Carnegie Mellon and NYU. I think you have a decent shot at BU.</p>
<p>(I also think you have a good shot at admission to Cal Poly and more than one UC.)</p>
<p>It was brought up at one of info sessions with college rep. The answer was that this is an indication of not very hard working attitude. We were told that if stats are lopsided, they prefer the other way around. Cannot advice which schools are good for you, I let my own kids decide where to go. Each had their own criteria for picking. I am sure you also have your own list of what you are looking for. Neither of them used college selectivity.</p>
<p>Yeah, that is sort-of depressing about scores and grades not matching, and I have heard the same thing. But I think there are some other things to factor in. For example, I would think that a student who puts in a solid and consistent B+ performance would be more impressive than someone who has a big range of grades from A to C to give the same GPA (but that could also depend on subjects in which those grades are in). Similarly, if there is an upward trend of steadily improving grades, that is also better than the opposite (downward trend.)</p>
<p>^Well, we can have OUR input. The only input that is important, however, is what adcoms think. On the other hand, Econ. major might be OK, some others might need much harder work though.</p>
<p>Over this past summer, I’ve kind of done a lot of soul searching and delving into the past to see what I can now do to become more successful and through this experience I’ve learned how to maintain a balance in my life. This is also clearly shown in my first semester grades (all A’s with 4 AP classes) and I think I’m on a new path where I can work at my passions but work harder at my education and with this perspective and take on things, I believe success is inevitable in the long term. </p>
<p>I’d love to get into CMU or NYU (my dream schools) but as I haven’t put in my 100% all throughout high school, my chances aren’t too high. Maybe the admissions officers will see something in my application that will strike them, but if not I’m sure I’ll get in somewhere else that will foster my growth just as well.</p>
<p>I think the adcoms will also consider that OP’s classes were Honors and AP classes. Further, he states that he attends one of the top 25 public high schools in the country. So perhaps they will give more “weight” to those B’s. </p>
<p>I am an eternal optimist, so I am going to go out on a limb and say the superior SAT score, coupled with the difficulty level of his classes and his high school, would put him in pretty good stead with more than half of the schools. If he is going to be a full paying student, I might even be more optimistic on that prediction. In fact, I would encourage OP to be more aggressive and pick one or two schools that are a tier above his current list. I would eliminate a few of the lower tiered schools to make the list more manageable.</p>
<p>U-Md: at an invited students admissions session (highly sought after in-state students) in one specific department (ranked highly nationally) the question about GPA vs. SAT scores came up. The department representative stated that they take the GPA much more seriously. They specifically look at grades earned compared to the difficulty of the classes. SAT scores, above a certain level, aren’t meaningful in their admissions process. They have tracked student success over a number of years, and found that GPA was a better indicator of success in college.</p>
<p>This was in the fall of 2010. I also heard a similar statement in a session in the fall of 2008.</p>
<p>@HarvestMoon1: thank you for your optimistic inputs, I am looking for an objective view but your comments are very much appreciated also, I’m a girl haha</p>
<p>I also don’t think it is all doom and gloom. Yes, at every college info session I went to with my son they made a point to say grades and difficulty of your course load are the most important factors. And yes, it may look like you didn’t work to your potential because your test scores are very, very high. But, it’s not like the the admissions counselors just look at the GPA alone. They look at the whole transcript and transcript package. </p>
<p>Your extra-curricular activities are good as long as you emphasize quality and commitment over quantity as others have said. It looks like you have a counseling theme going. The volunteer hours are impressive. (Special camp not as much. Check threads here about those.)</p>
<p>You should definitely show interest in the colleges you want to go to. It can’t hurt, as long as you don’t make a pest of yourself. Email the admissions counselor for your area. Visit if you can. Set up an interview.</p>
<p>Just apply and see what happen. Most others in the same boat, join the crowd. Our inputs would not change a thing. I wish our positive thinking will move somebody…but this is just a wishful thinking…</p>
You have some excellent qualifications.</p>
and hahaha no my school is not fancy by any means. Much the opposite, really. I’ve been spending lots of time with my British cousins and their vernacular has been rubbing off on me. Thank you for your input! </p>