Awkwardly distributed grades... chances?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I am currently entering my senior year. I am in the IB program and have a few flaws in terms of my GPA. I got four B's in middle school math that count towards my GPA (they were for high school credit, and I was lazy back then.) I also got B's in spanish sophmore year and two other B's in sophmore english and fresman math. This year, I have gotten straight A's, one of only a few students to manage that in the IB program, and my grades freshman year were good except for that one B. Information as follows:</p>

<p>W GPA: 4.3438 (4.0 std, 4.5 hnrs, 5.0 ap/ib)
UW GPA: 3.8125
Class rank: 34/309 (11.0%)</p>

<p>However, my GPA is not fake as are the GPA's from other students with a similar or worse history that have inflated them with unnecessary AP courses.</p>

<p>My SAT scores are okay: 2030 without studying, but hopefully at least 2250 in the hole when scores come out in late June after intense study. I feel that a perfect score on SAT II Chemistry is achievable as I have scored perfectly in a few practice tests. </p>

<p>I have all fives and sevens in the AP and IB tests that I have taken thus far.</p>

<p>I have an excellent selection of extra curriculars and subjectives that show commitment, diversity, and leadership. One is a scientific diving position at a local museum that I am very proud of. Additionally, I am going to submit a portfolio of the engineering projects I have completed during high school for the robotics teams I have been on. They have placed highly both on the state and national level. I anticipate good recommendations with very strong essays. I perform well in the interview setting. I am also willing to put in the time on my applications that I should have put in during middle school math to maximize my chances. I wish to study engineering and here are the schools I am considering:</p>

<p>U Penn (reach)
Duke (reach)
UVA (reach)
Carnegie Mellon (middle/reach)
GA Tech (middle)
Villanova (middle)
Florida (high chance)
Clemson (high chance)</p>

<p>I would appreciate it if you could evaluate how I look on paper, having never met me. Are my reach schools highly unlikely or am I competitive. Thank you very much for your time.</p>

2

<p>“inflated them with unnecessary AP courses”</p>

<p>Selective colleges don’t see it that way; they want you to challenge yourself by taking most of the most rigorous courses offered by your HS. It’s better to get a B in AP than an A in regular (except that it’s better to get an A in AP :slight_smile: ).</p>

<p>But you look like you did fine in this regard, and colleges like a rising GPA.</p>

3

<p>The way my school does the scheduling, the end of first semester of next year is not included in my GPA and class rank figures, so the school sends a midyear report to all the colleges before the admissions committee meets. Mine should have straight A’s if next year goes the way this year did. I forgot to mention one thing, but I am taking physics honors over the summer, not because of GPA (it won’t be included in that figure) but because most engineering programs require a physics course, or evidence of being enrolled in one during high school. That’s hopefully close to what you are referring to, but I know it’s not the same thing.</p>