<p>Nativeartgirl - I agree with Gibby and Sikorsky that your chances are pretty low. However, among all the Ivies you might have an outside shot at Dartmouth due to your Native American status combined with your high test scores. This is because Dartmouth feels a special responsibility to educate Native Americans, since it was founded back in colonial times as a school for Indians.</p>
<p>If you are interested you might wish to call and see if there is some sort of admissions adviser in the Dartmouth Native program who could better advise you on your chances.</p>
<p>I thought Native American status was one of the best hooks? And a 3.3 is a very high B at my kids’ school, which means it’s in the 86 range as 87 begins the B+ grade. No guarantees, but there’s no harm in applying. There are plenty of kids with 3.8 gpa and the same scores who have less of a chance than you.</p>
<p>FWIW, if she were a recruited athlete ( THE best hook) her Academic Index would be about 227, which is somewhat above the average of the Harvard student body. She’s not going to get killed academically. Her test scores are way above average, her grades are below average, her ECs aren’t bad at all and she has the NA hook. I don’t have any dog in this fight, but I’m surprised by all the naysayers about this kid’s chances – I thought H employed holistic admissions and all that.</p>
<p>^^ They do, but test scores represent a 1-day window into a student’s potential and academic drive. Whereas, a student’s GPA and transcript represent a 3-YEAR window – which is why part of the academic index includes rank. Given the OP’s GPA, her ranking is clearly going to lower her AI. (I bet you didn’t include rank in your calculation of the OP’s AI.) Yale is a bit clearer on this subject:</p>
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<p>And FWIW: I don’t think the OP is a recruited athlete.</p>
<p>If you can score a 3.8+ semester gpa this term, and make it spotless the next two semesters, I would put money on you getting into an ivy and think you would have a very strong shot at Harvard. Very very few applicants are going to be able to match your volunteer and work experience, not to mention the already talked about hook. Harvard has all kinds of good reasons to admit you, all they need is some security that you are going to be a safe academic bet, and 3 semesters of strong grades starting junior year is enough for that–especially at a top school.</p>
<p>If you do want to improve your application though, I’d suggest bringing up the bullying. It doesn’t have to be a pity story–it can be a story about how you overcame it and are determined to help others. If you tell them the general timeline for when it happened and it matches the gpa problems, they will connect the dots themselves.</p>
<p>You don’t really say why your grades were low as compared to your test scores, and it seems to me that addressing that would be helpful. If you’re too busy getting distracted by outside commitments to pay attention to your grades, that could concern Harvard (or other Ivies). If the issue is that you need to work the 20 hours a week to support yourself/your family, you get some latitude from the schools for that, but again, you need to show you can do the work. The good news is that you’re early in your Junior year, and you have time to buckle down and do the work. If you show improvement, it’s very unlikely that your 9th grade (or even 10th grade) grades will hold you back.</p>
<p>To be frank, you don’t have “good” chances for Harvard as you replied on the first page. You just should face this reality first. You might have a slight chance, if any, but definitely not “good” chance. 2340 is a great score, but it’s not an outstanding score for a Harvard applicant. There are so, so, so many Harvard applicants more with that score, and same thing goes for your APs and 800 USH. There are many, many applicants with that score, and it rather seems typical. If you really wanna get benefited from that score, you should apply for second-tier school, where your score would be outstanding, compared to other applicants.</p>
<p>But this of course doesn’t mean that there is no chance. People here, including me, don’t know you as a scholar and a person. If you wanna apply, apply for Regular Decision, since Early Action is already over. You are not a week late (although a week is also critical), but people are getting answers in a week. And if you have a really intriguing story that reveals your strength as a person and as a scholar, you might get in or you might not. No one here can tell you what’s gonna happen, so if you really want to apply, you should. But again, 2340 on SAT, 800 USH, and many AP classes won’t necessarily stand you out. Work on the essays hard and try to get the scores as high as possible for your junior year and keep rocking for senior year.</p>
<p>Check out other threads here on CC about Native American status. IIRC, it’s a very big hook, and while there are lots of Harvard or Ivy League applicants with those scores, I would guess that there are very few NA college applicants with those scores. If you’re a junior, then you still have this semester and next to improve your GPA which, of course, can only help your chances. Good luck.</p>
<p>I think you have better than average chances. Your AI (228.5 by my calculation) is in range for Harvard acceptances and your NA status is HUGE.</p>
<p>Before somebody jumps on me for using the AI; yes, I realize that technically the AI is only used for recruited athletes, but don’t lose sight of how and why it is used: to quantitatively measure an applicant to determine if they have the intellectual horsepower to handle an Ivy League school’s academic rigor.</p>
<p>It may also be noted that I was diagnosed the May of sophomore year with ADD which has affected my time management and focus-- I get distracted very easily during class and make careless but unconscious errors on exams, and at other times do not have enough time to finish exams-- it takes me longer to process. Bottom line-- my guidance counselor is working to get me a 504 meeting.
Now that I am on medication (second quarter) my grades have been mostly A’s and I’ve been receiving extra time when needed. My concentration has improved. My love for learning is now clear again (as it was when I was a straight A student back in the day)-- it is no longer blurred by my ADD.
Also to answer a previous poster, I help my parents pay for our health insurance with my job. Although I live in an affluent town and in an expensive home, my parents have struggled for around 5 years now (personal story but my father lost his shirt so to speak with investments) to pay the mortgage and all other expenses. I also help buy food.</p>
<p>If previously undiagnosed ADD accounts for your low GPA (relative to the rest of the applicant pool), and you do improve dramatically with proper treatment and accommodations, that changes everything. </p>
<p>Native how were you able to make it through the SAT with possible ADD? My son is 9 and has Aspergers (not the same I realize), but he has testing accomodations even now.</p>