Be honest please! :)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I am applying to Northwestern ED to the Medill school of Journalism. I am applying ED no matter what. If I have to, I will apply RD to Wellesley, Barnard, University of Chicago, and maybe Boston University and Tufts. I am just wondering what you think my chances of acceptance are:</p>

<p>Year: Applying to become part of the freshman class of 2015</p>

<p>State: MA</p>

<p>Race: African-American</p>

<p>School Type: Public (basically all-white suburban. I am one of the only African-Americans at my school)</p>

<p>GPA weighted: 3.66 (117 students out of 360 in my grade have GPA's over a 4.0. There is major grade inflation at my school, and I feel like teachers just hand out A's to undeserving students. Sometimes, I have felt academically descriminated by my peers and teachers because of my race)</p>

<p>GPA unweighted: 3.08 (I had all A's and B's my freshman and sophmore years, however due to extenuating circumstances last year, my GPA dropped significantly)</p>

<p>SAT: 1720 altogether. However, I am retaking the SAT in October to acheive an near-perfect score</p>

<p>Courses:</p>

<p>Freshman Year: Honors Freshman English, Honors Orchestra, Honors US History 2, Honors Conceptual Physics, CP (stands for college preparatory) Algebra 1, CP Spanish 2, Physical Education CP, Computers CP</p>

<p>Sophmore Year: CP Literary Studies, CP Spanish 3, CP Geometry, Honors Biology, Honors Orchestra, Health CP, CP US History 2, Physical Education CP</p>

<p>Junior Year: Honors American Literature, Honors British Literature, Honors Chemistry, AP World History, Honors Orchestra, CP Spanish 4, Honors Economics, Honors Journalism</p>

<p>Senior Year: Honors Physics, Honors Orchestra, Honors Russian Literature, Senior Study, Honors Sociology, Honors Spanish 5 for the 21st Century, CP Pre-Calculus (trying to switch into Honors Calculus)</p>

<p>Extra-Curriculars:</p>

<p>Violinist in the orchestra since 3rd grade and counting. In high school I have been part of the string orchestra, full orchestra, and the pit orchestra which is for the spring musicals</p>

<p>Copy editor for school newspaper: 10th grade</p>

<p>Contributing writer for the school newspaper (ever article I have submitted has been published last year): 11th grade and 12th grade</p>

<p>President/Creator of my high school STAND (A student anti-genocide coalition) chapter: 11th and 12th grade (I am EXTREMELY involved with this. I have had my chapter contact the White-House to campaign for Darfur, and I am in collaboration with many other STAND chapters throughout the state. I may apply for a National position soon with STAND)</p>

<p>Member of Tri-M music honor society: 11th grade</p>

<p>Volunteer work:</p>

<p>Volunteer at after-school program at an elementary school in my town: 11th grade (16 hours approximately)</p>

<p>Registration Coordinator for First Book: 11th grade, and 12th grade</p>

<p>First Book is a non-profit based in Washington D.C. that gives programs that serve low-income children such as Title 1 schools, Boys and Girls Clubs, ect, access to free or reduced-priced books. So far, I have single-handedly helped 25 schools, Boys and Girls Clubs, and YMCA programs throughout the country gain access to free or reduced priced books. I especially enjoyed helping schools and programs in inner-city Boston, because I knew I was helping to increase literacy throughout my community. Last year, I had won the First Book Nationwide Registration Coordinator challange, which was for Registration coordinators to help the most programs in need gain access to free books. During November 2009, I had helped 16 programs nationwide recieve free or reduced-priced books. As a result, I had won a $250 Border's Gift Card to give to a program or school of my choice that I had helped. I had chosen a Boys and Girls Club in inner-city Boston to recieve the gift card aroung the holidays. As a result of my efforts, the director of that particular Boys and Girls Club was able to achieve her dream of starting a book club with the kids. I am not entirely sure how many hours I have volunteered for First Book. It has definitely been over 200 hours, however, I love volunteering for First Book so much, that I have stopped counting the hours long ago. I really do not care about how many hours I have volunteered, just as long as I have made a difference in people's lives. Volunteering for First Book has definitely inspired me to become a journalist, (Hence, my interest in applying to Medill) because the literacy rate and graduation rates for some areas of this country are simply shocking and I have not seen any major change so far. I believe that there still is segregation the still exists today (which is a major cause of the broken Public School Systems of America), however not literally enforced, it is figurative. i.e. Wealthy white suburbs, lower-income ethnic inner-cities. I have seen both sides of the spectrum, since my father and the rest of his entire family have grown up in inner city Boston, and have been through the awful public schools there. My father had attended an all black segregated school until he was 12 years old, and my family has exerienced an intense amount of racism throughout their lives. Many people think that racism does not exist today, however I want to tell stories as a journalist that will question society, and open people's eyes to the certain topics most do not want to hear about. I want my stories to convey a sense of "This is what is happening now. If we as a society do not pressure our lawmakers to make significant changes, then what will society be like 20, maybe 30 years from now?"</p>

<p>First Generation College Student: I am not entirely sure about this, because my mother graduated college, however my father did not graduate. So, does this mean that I am a first generation college student or half?</p>

<p>Please let me know what you think my chances of admission are. Thank you!</p>

2

<p>You have very nice EC’s, and you seem passionate about them, so thats good.
However, your grades and SAT score are extremely low for these colleges. I think Tufts, U of Chicago, northwestern, Wellesley are HIGH reaches. BU may be a low reach/match. DO you have any safeties in mind?</p>

<p>I’m on the West Coast, so these are just my two cents. good luck.</p>

3

<p>When they look at your approx. class ranking, and SAT, they will worry that if accepted you won’t be able to make the grade… not good.</p>

<p>Are there journalism schools where you GPA (inflated though it be) and SAT are at the midpoint of accepted freshmen? Try to find a couple of schools where your stats are at midpoint, a couple where your stats are at 25%, and a couple where your stats are at 75%. Oh, and still apply to Northwestern, you never know what will happen if an adcom resonates with your story.</p>

<p>Your admirable ECs are only meaningful when your stats are at least within the 25/75 range of the school to which you are applying, and they are probably in the bottom 5% at Northwestern… so they don’t make up for your low stats.</p>

<p>BU is a reach (20%-25% chance). All the other are high reaches (5-10% chance). Good luck, you seem like a good person.</p>

4

<p>All of the schools are reaches due to such low grades and SATs. Not sure how you can go from a 1720 to near perfect score. So assuming a 1720, and a 3.08 GPA, you don’t really have a shot at Northwestern at all. And since one parent graduated college, you are not a first generation college student.</p>

5

<p>Thank you for all the input. Believe me, I KNOW how low my GPA and SAT are compared to most applicants. I am sure however, that I will get an extremely better score in October for the SAT, because the last time, I did not even finnish the test, and I got barely any sleep on the test day. I really think I stressed out WAY to much the night before and on test day. I did prepare for the SAT, but being stressed too much definitely thew me off, so I’ve learned from my mistakes. Regarding my GPA, my guidance counselor and my teachers who recommend me are going to explain my circumstances further that effected my GPA. If I get a close to perfect score on the SAT, what do you think my chances are for ED?</p>

<p>-Also, my parents think that I should improve my grades dramatically this year obviously. I cannot get anything less than a 4.0 this year. They think that I should wait until after I graduate high school to apply to college, and that I should apply over the summer or next fall for college, to show colleges the improvement I’ve made. Do you think this is a good idea?</p>

6

<p>If you can up your SAT to 2200+ you will have a better shot applying Early Decision. If you decide to take a gap year and spend it productively (along with getting a 4.0 this last year), it could help your chances but there is no reason why you shouldn’t apply this year, and see what happens.</p>

7

<p>you have great ec that truly show your passions!</p>

8

<p>Yeah, no ****ing way you improved 600+ points.</p>

9

<p>you’re not getting in.</p>

10

<p>I don’t know … SAT scores are looked at as being less important than GPA in most schools. I mean, I wish you luck and I certainly think that getting the near perfect SAT score you are reaching for is a good plan. But I am saying that focusing on grades and what not this year would also be a very good plan.
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