Am I aiming too high?

College Search & Selection
1

Hey guys, I come from a really competitive area in California, so as a result, many people apply to the best universities in the country. Problem is, I slacked freshman year because I was immature about grades and thinking that college was far away for me to not worry about. As a result, my GPA has been really low ever since. So my question is, is it still worth applying to these colleges?

Stats:

Major: Applied Physics or some sort of engineering :frowning:

9th - 2.92 UW/W (No APs allowed 9th grade)

10th - 3.42 UW/ 3.6 W

11th - 3.5 UW/ 4.0 W

CCGPA - 4.0 UW/ 5.0W

12th - 4.0 UW (so far)/ 4.8W

1550 SAT, 800 Math II, 800 Physics II

APs: Physics 1, Physics C, Chemistry, Calculus AB, Stats, Java, Python, French, Economics

= 3.36 UW/ 3.7W including freshman year or 3.6 UW/ 4.0W without freshman year

= 3.9 UC GPA

Let’s just say my ECs are good for now (Gold medals in french contests, speech and debate, part time job, blah blah blah…)

So yeah… I’ve certainly challenged myself but that GPA still leaves a mark. Now, here is my list. Feel free to roast or give feedback on it. Also if you guys can, tell me what my matches would be out of this list.

  • All the UCs
  • Cal Poly SLO and Cal Poly Pomona, SJSU
  • Arizona State University
  • Carnegie Mellon (rip)
  • Georgia Tech (rip)
  • Urbana - Champaign
  • Purdue
  • USC (rip)
  • UW Madison
  • UMich (rip)
  • UMD college park
  • Worcester Polytechnic University
  • UT Austin

A pretty long list, but I’m willing to write essays for all of these if I have a chance of getting in. Thanks!

2

The good thing is that your grades have been on a noticeable incline. Excellent test scores. Your list is long, and it looks like you favor larger schools.With this long list you have a range of reach, match and safety. Be sure to keep that mix as you shorten your list. I’ve seen kids with long lists who shorten, but then keep only reaches and a few matches. Keep a full range of schools, however short your list. Cal Poly is excellent for engineering and in state to boot. Some schools have a different culture and student body than others. Check out the differences. Some have big rah rah feels and others are smaller and more intimate (WPI, for example). I’d cut the list in half, with 2-3 reaches, 4-5 matches and a few safeties. Your ECs can make a difference between you and another applicant, so go deep (quality v. quantity). Share your passion in your essays – find an authentic story to share about yourself. Good luck!

3

If you are using “rip” to mean “Rest in Peace”, then I agree with those assessments regarding CMU, Georgia Tech, and Michigan; don’t know about USC (you’re probably correct); also UT- Austin is probably not going to happen for you, or UIUC. Your GPA may be a problem with Purdue, also.

If you’re looking at WPI, why not look into RPI or RIT?

4

MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Closing thread. The OP seems to have a lot of aliases, which violate ToS. S/he needs to ask under the original, since I’ve banned the others.