Am I Hopeless? NYU Chance Me

Colleges and Universities A-Z New York University
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:slight_smile: Hi everyone, I am currently a junior in high school. My ultimate goal is to get into NYU, but I am really worried that my GPA, SAT scores, and course rigor simply isn’t enough. I am really looking for advice on how to boost my chances. I also thought that I should mention that I have anxiety and depression which has significantly impacted my academic performance, although I have shown an upward trend throughout the years. My current GPA is a 3.4 UW and will likely be a 3.6 UW when my junior year is complete. I have also taken the SAT once without studying and received a 1200. I am also Asian and come from a competitive high school. I am not sure if this helps, but I am extremely passionate about art and have made a decent impact on my community through it.

Freshman year: 3.02 UW
Business Dyn/Personal Finance Lit. CP: A
Md Wrld Hist CP: B-
English 9 CP: B
Spanish 2 CP: C-
Env Sci CP: B
PhysEd 9/Health: A-
Algebra 1 CP: B

Sophomore year: 3.76 UW
VisComptProgram CP: A
US Hist 1 CP: A-
Geometry CP: A-
Biology CP/Lab: A-
PhysEd 10/Dr Ed: A
Spanish 3 CP: A-
English 10 CP: A-

Junior year: 3.8 UW, ~4.1 W
AP Psychology: A-
Chemistry CP: A-
Phys. Ed.: A
English 11 Honors: A
Spanish 4 Honors: A
US History 2 Honors: A-

Extracurriculars:
-Spring Track and Field: (2 years going on 3)
-National Art Honor Society: officer member, next year’s president; some accomplishments would be initiating an art project at the public children’s library where we will be painting a mural and constructing giant planets to make the children’s section spaced themed; also got chosen by the principal to paint a school mural
-Hispanic Honor Society
-STEM league (Vice President)
-Homeroom Representative (part of Student Gov’t.)
-Peer Leadership: tutor Hispanic kids after-school and participate in community service projects. using this as an opportunity to promote positivity through painting more murals within my school
-Valley Hospital jr. volunteer: transport patients
-others include Pre-Med club, Class Council, S.M.A.C. (Students Movement Against Cancer)
**Not sure if this counts but I have a YouTube channel where I post time-lapses of my art portraits

I am aware that my chances are quite slim. I am looking for advice on how to improve my chances at all, besides raising my SAT score. I feel absolutely hopeless, but I am trying to be as optimistic as possible. I am also taking three APs next year. Lastly, I don’t see my extracurriculars as particularly impressive and am looking for a way to make myself stand out more.T Thank you all for your advice :D!

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First, if you will be applying for Financial Aid, NYU might not be the best place for you to apply, as their aid is a mix of merit (which will you be unlikely to qualify for) and need based, and not particularly generous in either case, as they don’t promise to meet full demonstrated need.

According to NYU’s Common Data set https://www.nyu.edu/content/dam/nyu/institutionalResearch/documents/CDS_2017-2018.pdf your GPA puts you somewhere between the 30th percentile (3.4) to somewhere around the 40th (3.6) compared to entering NYU freshman. That isn’t great, put it doesn’t put you completely out of the running, particularly as your grades have been improving every year.

What hurts more is the 1200 SAT (about 10th percentile at NYU), but that is something you still have time to improve.

If you could get your SAT up to or above the 75th percentile (about 1490), that would to some extent counterbalance your GPA and give you a shot, maybe not a great shot, but at least a shot.

Aside from raising your SAT substantially, there isn’t much you could do to greatly increase your chances.

There are lots of schools other than NYU where you could get a fine education.

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As far as extra curriculars go, research is always a fantastic idea! See if you can volunteer at a local college (:

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If you can afford it apply ED. Improve your SAT score. Most importantly always remember there are other schools too, don’t get fixated on one. Be open about many possibilities. You will do great no matter where you go.