So I’m a junior in high school and with everything going on I’m wondering if my chances have changed? I don’t really know if colleges will be more lenient or what’s going on. If anyone could take a look at my stats and let me know my chances I would really appreciate it!
-SAT: not yet taken due to cancellations (should’ve taken it yesterday actually)
-ACT: taken twice, both 29
-AP US History (testing online)
-AP Biology (testing online)
-AP Lang (testing online)
-What I plan to take senior year:
-AP Literature
-AP European History
-AP Calculs AB
-AP Statistics
-AP Chemistry
-AP Spanish
-Extracurriculars (what I’m most worried about)
-NHS
-Volunteer at local library
-Student Council (have helped run multiple blood drives and will take over next year as co-coordinator)
-Young Democrats
-UW GPA: 4.0
-W GPA: 4.1
My school is still taking grades so I’ll have a full transcript for this year. Right now I’m looking to apply to GWU, American, UC Berkeley, UT Austin, NYU, and USC. I wasn’t going to apply to any of the ivies and/or Stanford, but with modified requirements do I have a shot or is it still a waste of time?
I think schools that make modifications for students due to Covid (ie tests not required) will rely more on holistic review of ECs, work experience, Essays etc
For, my high stat kids (GPA and test) with so-so ECs this would have worked against them.
That being said. Work hard on those essays. I think essays will count more in this next application cycle.
You are clearly doing very well. You have a good list of schools to apply to.
There are two things that I do not see.
I do not see any safeties. However, if you are in-state for UT Austin you might be strong enough to be an auto-admit, which would eliminate this concern.
The other thing that I do not see is a discussion of budget. Do you know what your budget is? Are you parents fine with being full pay (perhaps $300,000 for some of your schools over four years)?
I definitely do have safeties! I just didn’t put them on here cause I already knew I was in good standing. As far as cost, it’s not something I’m too worried about. My mom transferred her GI Bill to me, so any public college is paid for in full and I made sure there wasn’t too much to pay on any of the private schools. The highest would be NYU at about $6,000 a year.
The schools are still going to be looking for the same students. The supply side isn’t going to change. For the top end schools, the demand side likely will not change much unless something happens to international students.
Just glancing at your profile, you don’t have much separation between your GPA a wGPA. That could be a function of your school’s weighting system or it could be lack of rigor in your schedule.
You’re doing well and it seems you have an appropriate list of colleges going.
As far as applying to tippy tops, you might pick one or two and take your shot. You don’t want to look back and regret trying. A lot of colleges are going test optional, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to lower their standards, so don’t overreach on all your applications. Keep in mind that without test scores, everything else on your application will need to be that much stronger because the college has one or more fewer data points to consider. Also, removing the test score requirement tends to attract a lot more applicants, thus increasing the competition.
I agree that the UW GPA and weighted GPA being so close does bring up a question of rigor. It doesn’t jive with the number of AP classes you took. Perhaps a typo? If that is truly the way your high school calculates it, though, that would be explained on the school report that goes with your transcript.
I unfortunately couldn’t take any AP classes until junior year at my last school and didn’t transfer in time to my new school to take the ones they offered to sophomores (so this is my first year taking any AP classes). The UW GPA should go up by the end of the year to about a 4.3, the 4.1 was just what it was at when our first semester ended!