<p>White male from Florida, junior
GPA 3.9 weighted, unweighted 3.6 (by a hair)
SAT 800 Reading/700 Math/760 Writing
(retook SAT to increase Math, think I did)
SATII - tbd - Am. History and Literature</p>
<p>Jazz Band - 9.10,11
Water Polo - 9,10,11
National Merit Standing…I think…got a 217 on PSAT
Chess Club - Treasurer, 11th
Placed 21 at USCF Tourny 2006, team placed 4th
English Honor Society
Best Buddies Community Service - volunteer at summer camp 2 years
Won Photo contest several years at my high school</p>
<p>My strength is writing, so I believe I will have an excellent essay and great recs.</p>
<p>What do you think my % chances might be ED? The Ed thing is like a chess game. Not sure if I should be using it for Brown or Wesleyan? </p>
<p>Great SAT score, though the GPA is kind of low, we're on the same boat in that department; definitely does not put you out of the running for Brown since it's not all about GPA but I feel like you need to make up for a not very impressive GPA by doing other things and looking at your credentials I don't see anything that particularly makes you stand out. Every applicant that is not 4.0+, 2300+ needs SOME type of a hook, and you probably have one but just haven't applied to your app to set yourself apart from the 19,000+ other applicants that apply year after year. What about your summer opportunities (any research, summer programs, community service you've done?) or specific awards both in school and out you've won?</p>
<p>My advice: DO NOT use ED like chess. Don't. Because if you get into the school you apply to you're stuck there, so MAKE SURE it's the one you like best. Visit them both. Stay over night at both. Decide which one you like better. Apply there early.</p>
<p>Seriously. You have a shot at both. Your GPA is a little low, so maybe not a fantastic shot, but a shot. So you should apply to the one you like better. Think of it this way: if you like Wes better, well, great! It is marginally easier to get into anyway. If you like Brown better, give it a shot. You can always apply to Wes EDII if you don't get in.</p>
<p>I say this as someone who almost applied to Brown early until she actually visited Wes and realized it was just the better fit. I'm so glad I applied to Wes early (and got in) instead. It's the perfect size for me, and as someone who has decided I want to go into the media industry, its film program is hands down better anything that Brown could have offered me. And I can't tell you how many people I know who got rejected/deffered from their ED schools (Brown, Yale, Amherst types) who say it's the best thing that ever happened to them because they are so happy at Wes.</p>
<p>The point is: Don't just apply to Brown early because you think you have a shot, if you like Wes better. But don't totally give up on Brown just because you think you'll have a better ED shot at Wes, if you like Brown better! They are both great schools, and both simiular schools, but they are definitly NOT interchangable.</p>
<p>All these posts about gpa on all these threads are ridiculous. Every school grades and weights grades differently. I know of two students from two different schools about 20 minuites of each other. Each have the same base grades in their classes. One has an unweighted gpa of 4.0 and a weighted gpa of 5.0. The other has an unweighted gpa of 93 and a weighted gpa of 99 and so the weighted gpa is under 4.0. The colleges know the grades mean different things at different schools so it is ridiculous on these threads for posters to post that someones gpa is too low.
A student at one school could get a 93 in an honors history course for example and it is changed to an unweighted 4.0, and then becomes a weighted 4.5. Another student could go to another school and get the same 93, but it is listed as a 93 on their transcript as the unweighted grades and it is changed to a weighted 98 on the official transcript. A student at the first school could get a 92 in an AP course and it is changed to an unweighted 4.0 and then becomes a weighted 5.0. The student at the other school could get the same 92 and it is recorded as a 92 and gets changed to a weighted 102 on the transcript.
The reality is that the applicant who has a weighted 3.8 at one school can have exactly the same grades as an applicant from a neighboring school and have a weighted gpa of close to 5.0.
The colleges know all schools grade differently. They DO NOT think that an applicant who has a 4.3 has a higher grade point average than say a 3.8. They know evey school grades differently. The reality is that they look at three things regarding grades. 1) Did you take the most rigorous curriculum offered by your school? 2) Then they look at the unweighted grade in each class. They want to see how you did in the class. They can see that both appicants had a 93 for example. 3) Then they want to know rank or if your school does not rank then what percent of the class the student is in so they can get an idea of how competitive their grades are.
All these comments on cc regarding grade point averages are ridiculous.
The colleges know public and private schools all over the country grade differently. Some grade on a 100 point scale, some on a 5.0 scale, some on a 4.0 scale. The reality is that the appilcant who has a weighted 3.8 could have HIGHER grades in every class then some here on cc who are posting high weighted and unweighted gpas</p>
<p>Err, at this point I'm second guessing everything... especially my essay. I kinda wished now that I hadn't used so many big words, or "monster" words as my AP Lit teacher calls it. lol.</p>
<p>Well boxah, lovely stats... I suppose we'll all have to wait until Thursday to find out.</p>