<p>Getting your novel published would be awesome and very noteworthy for you. Seems like English or Marketing would be a closer fit to you though, if I were the person scanning your app.</p>
<p>Have a look at some of the Colleges That Change Lives.
These schools are practically made for the late bloomer.</p>
<p>[Why</a> These Colleges & Universities | Colleges That Change Lives](<a href=“http://www.ctcl.org/about/why-ctcl]Why”>http://www.ctcl.org/about/why-ctcl)
[Common</a> Misperceptions | Colleges That Change Lives](<a href=“http://www.ctcl.org/news/common-misperceptions]Common”>http://www.ctcl.org/news/common-misperceptions)</p>
<p>The OP’s combination of grades and scores would be competitive for admission to most of them.</p>
<p>Doomed - no. But highly selective schools admit students with high SATs and high GPAs. I would suggest you really think about what kind of college you’d like to go to and what kind of college experience you want. If you really think a selective college like CMU or NYU would provide the kind of environment that would allow you to thrive - think about applying to them as a transfer student. If you attend a less selective college or university but can show that you have the maturity and work ethic required to succeed - as in getting a 4.0 GPA while taking tough courses with excellent recommendations, you have a strong shot at gaining entrance as a sophomore.</p>
<p>I posted this link a few weeks back in another thread. It is a link to an article in U.S. News entitled “A+ schools for B students.” There are some good schools listed, but when you compare their average SAT scores to the Op’s, the schools seem to fall a little short. Hence my optimism, along with my recommendation that she apply to one or two “reach” schools in the tier above her list.
On paper OP does look like an “underachiever”, but her high SAT and AP test scores give her credibility. When you couple that with her current semesters grades, (which I think she said were mostly A’s), then an Adcom could very well conclude that the Op has seen the light, so to speak.
While the other posters predicting less favorable results certainly have statistics on their side, I always remind my own children of that quote from an NHL player: “you miss 100% of the shots you never take.”</p>
<p>[A+</a> Schools for B Students | Top National Universities | US News Best Colleges](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/a-plus]A+”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/a-plus)</p>
<p>I suggested going the transfer route because that’s what my son did - and his profile was similar to this poster’s profile. My son did not get into his “dream” schools because those schools had their pick of applicants and didn’t have to take a risk on him. He was not a disciplined student in high school; for the most part he wasn’t inspired to work particularly hard. But when he was rejected by schools that admitted students he thought were less intellectual than he, he wasn’t happy with himself. And that made him focus on doing really well at his safety school. While he appreciated his freshman year, he realized early on that he wanted to go to a different type of school. He then applied to and was accepted at several extremely selective schools as a transfer student. In the end NOT being accepted the first time around was an incredibly valuable experience. It made him mature and finally meet his potential as a student.</p>
<p>Thatsall, yes I think you have made a very good suggestion, it is a prudent way to proceed. But the “transfer route” comes into play after her applications are submitted, and she has been admitted somewhere that she is not 100% happy with. So, I am just suggesting that she also put in a few applications to schools where she would be content for 4 years, and let the chips fall where they may.</p>
<p>I know the average student accepted to UMD had a Weighted GPA of over 4.0 for this year. If you really want CMU, I suggest applying early decision, going for a visit if possible, going to admission events in your home state, and things like that. The other thing to consider is if you really will have all As for the first half of the year, then applying regular decision may help. Yours is a case where rec. Letters and essays may tilt the decision one way or the other.</p>
<p>One more comment. I have heard that SAT scores are considered the great equalizer, because schools have such different grading policies, etc., and that grades are considered much more important than SAT scores, because they demonstrate 4 years of work, not 4 hours. My son was in a similar situation to you, but his weighted GPA was higher bc of APs, and his test scores were somewhat lower. He got in everywhere he applied, and at some point indicated he wished he’d applied to even more selective schools.</p>
<p>Note that UCs do weight course rigor and grades more than standardized test scores.</p>
<p>Are cost and financial aid a concern? If so, have you run the net price calculators at your possible schools? Much of your list, including many out of state publics and NYU, are known for poor financial aid.</p>
<p>If you need a full ride safety, Alabama - Huntsville will give a full ride with your stats.</p>
<p>Note that if you major in economics intending to go to graduate school in economics, you are expected to take significant amounts of advanced math and statistcs, such as real analysis, proof-oriented linear algebra, upper division probability and statistics, etc… These are significantly more rigorous math and statistics courses than usually required for a bachelor’s degree in economics.</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”</p>
<p>As far as CMU goes, I believe I have useful advice. Kid #1 got in 3 years ago, kid #2 got waitlisted, and if he hadn’t pulled himself off the waitlist, I feel confident that he would have gotten accepted. I could go into detail on that, but it’s not relevant at this point. Both kids with lower GPA’s and lower test scores than you. Do not give up. Let them know this is your top school. Visit, interview, go to every meeting they have in your town. Be passionate about CMU. And apply for the maximum number of CMU schools (max was 4 last year). DO NOT do something dumb like just apply for Tepper or SCS. You can transfer. Apply to H&SS as one of those for sure. Don’t even waste one of your shots on SCS, apply to the schools that are easiest to get in. You may not believe me, but this paragraph is the best advice you can get. And if you get waitlisted, PM me!</p>
<p>Good shot at the University of Washington. Great test scores, and they just LOVE your out of state money. Funny, many of our WA kids can’t get into the UW, but they can get into the CA schools, and vice versa. We’re just trading our kids around so the schools can get more $$.</p>
<p>Cal Poly…scores will help you a lot, and one big part of their application is working in the field of your interest, which you have. No essays so you can’t indicate your interest, but that section where it asks about work experience in your field is a big deal.</p>
<p>1214mom–I noticed your comment that “the average student accepted to UMD had a Weighted GPA of over 4.0 for this year” and decided to check our school’s Naviance. The school retains five years of data and during that time, the 36 admits to UMD-CP had avg GPA of 3.48 regular and 3.46 early. (The GPAs are not usually that close for RD and ED.) The avg SAT scores were 1300 & 1250. We do not send athletes to UMD but do seem to send athletes everywhere else!</p>
<p>So, I do think your second comment about the variation in GPAs and rigor of curriculum is correct. Our school grades on a standard 4.0 scale with a .5 bump awarded for honors & AP classes beginning in sophomore year. 5% of the students end up with a GPA greater than 4.0 but no one seems to exceed 4.25. The problem with GPAs is that grade inflation and rigor are difficult to measure. The school profile helps to define class rank (at least within a range) but can’t fully address grade inflation and rigor.</p>
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<p>Depending on the academic reputation of OP’s HS, the mismatch of GPA and SAT would be regarded as a manifestation of exceedingly high academic rigor and make allowances accordingly. I know for a fact this was a reason why many respectable/elite colleges were willing to dip deeper into graduating classes at private boarding schools like the ones a few cousins attended and public magnets like the one I attended. </p>
<p>Don’t know if your HS is one of them so you may want to check your HS GC’s admission stats for prior graduating years.</p>
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<p>Sometimes…sometimes that means the HS hands out As like candy. Lower GPA may mean more rigor in classes taken, tough grading in general…or a student who is not challenged by HS work but may be ready for college work. Certainly sometimes it means “smart slacker” but not always.</p>
<p>OP - do you have Naviance? It’s very useful to see what colleges do with GPAs/test scores from YOUR high school.</p>
<p>“that means the HS hands out As like candy”
-This type of school would not have good reputation at all. Actually, I do not know any HS that does that. Once they are in college, this would be very evident. Words spread relatively quickly, it is NOT in HS interest giving As for nothing at all. AP examps are standardized anyway. I agree that “smart slacker” has little chance of doing well in college. But D. indicated that some majors are not that “busy”, business and English were certainly less busy than some others.
But anyway, choosing college thru soliciting opinions of others will backfire big time. Got to visit and see for yourself and better visit several times. Checking ranking / selectivity / asking others for your chances is not going to place anybody to college that matches his personality and wide range of current and potential interests.</p>
<p>To op
If you are from Mission SJ, Lynbrook or MV, don’t worry, you are not doomed. My nephew, he had similar scores and he got into UCLA (he did not apply for any OOS schools)</p>
<p>Miami, one HS in our area bases a lot of a grade on completing homework, for example, even if exam scores are low and few papers assigned. As a result kids from there can have higher GPAs than kids from here but lower ACT/SAT scores.</p>
<p>Colleges often do know it, looking at Naviance I see “college A” has an average accepted GPA of, say, 3.8 but for kids from our HS it’s 3.3. And standardized scores are comparable. That tells me they know grades are harder to get at our HS than the “average” they pull from.</p>
<p>There is a good argument that kids with higher grades and lower scores know how to work hard or don’t test well, but there’s also an argument to be made that kids with lower grades and higher test scores are capable of more challenging college work. I don’t think there’s a one size fits all answer to that… of course it’s best to have high scores AND high grades :)</p>
<p>Following CT1417, I also looked up University of Maryland College Park on our schools’s Naviance, and the average unweighted GPA for accepted students was 3.45. Average SAT 1600 was 1300. (These would be out of state admits.). There were slightly fewer students than in his/her sample at our school, but the similarity in the numbers is interesting!</p>
<p>UMd -CP has an obligation to admit students from every county in the state. If they did not do that they could fill each freshman class with students from just a few counties, and/ or just a few of the most competitive high schools in the state. So the admit stats for some schools in, say, specific high schools in Montgomery County, will be much, much higher than those in other areas of the state. You can’t really compare stats between high schools within the state. Our own high school has had kids with stats similar to the OP’s turned down in recent years. Out of state applicants are competing for a smaller number of spaces, but I don’t know the average stats for out of state admits.</p>
<p>I didn’t read each & every post, but my question is: why CMU or NYU as your two top picks?</p>
<p>I know nothing about NYU, but I do know that CMU is a very tough academic environment. You need to ask yourself if you want to be in a school setting that is quite rigorous or a school setting where the academics are tough, but not pressure-cooker tough and then have the time for more ec’s.</p>
<p>CMU is known to be quite a pressure cooker. We do know people that are happy there, but they did exceptionally well in high school…and seem to be overall pretty prepared for the academic challenges.</p>