Brutally chance me at these universities...

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Chances at University of Washington, UCSB, UCSD, UCI, UCLA, Carnegie Mellon, Purdue, UT Austin, GTech, UMich, UIUC and other UCs.

Intended major: probably any engineering, data analysis, or finance

Cumul. Unweighted GPA (Predicted by end of 1st sem. senior year) : 3.52

Cumul. Weighted GPA (Self-calculated because our school does not weight): 3.87

UC GPA: 4.06

10-12: 3.7 UW, 4.23 W

Note: Large upward trend from rough freshman year (2.9 GPA) and some of sophomore year (3.42 GPA)

Class Rank: N/A

Indian male

Income bracket: none currently due to parental job search

California

High School: In top 50 high schools in America, bay area, students frequently admitted into T20s

SAT: 1550

SAT Essay: 24

SAT II Math: 800

SAT II Physics: 790

ACT: 35

NOTE: I believe that my writing skills are well above average, so hopefully I can bang in a good essay
APs and honors: AP Calc AB (5), AP Physics 1 (5), AP Physics C Mech. (5), AP Comp. Sci Principles (5), AP Econ (5), Chem Honors, French 4 Honors, AP Stats (5) AP French (5)

ECs (Not impressive)

  • 2 years varsity debate team
  • Been playing the cello since 6th grade (self-taught)
  • 8 years competitive soccer (wasn’t able to join school team for personal reasons)
  • passion for baking and cooking for others
  • Volunteered at a children’s orphanage in India during summer vacations
  • Self-studied courses (Java, multivariable calc, intro to astrophysics)
  • Physics and Engineering Club at school
  • 250+ Volunteer hours (mostly comprised of humanitarian volunteering)
  • Job shadowed/interned for a family friend in the computer hardware industry
  • Student tutor at school
  • Paid internship at engineering camp

I understand my GPA may be under par for some of these universities, so feel free to suggest matches or closer reaches!

2

Wow, you have GREAT standardized test scores, but a subpar GPA (as you already know), so it’s really hard to call this one. I want to believe that a rising GPA can mute the low overall GPA, but since I rejected from 5/7 of the top colleges I applied to (and I’m in almost the exact same situation), this may not matter. All in all, it depends on what specific colleges care about specific things. Some may pay more attention to GPA, others may like your great (yes, great) ECs and test scores. I see you getting into most of the UCs, and maybe two or three of the others. I’m no expert so…
Anyways, GOOD LUCK from another college prospective!

3

Thanks for your honest insight! it really helps

4

I am under the impression that some (most) of the UCalifornia’s don’t look at freshman year at all. This is going to be big for you because otherwise you would be out of luck for at least the top half of your list with a 3.5 GPA. Is this the reason for your UC GPA being so much higher?

@Gumbymom should be able to provide the acceptance percentages for various UCs with a UC GPA just over 4.0. To me this looks like your best chances particularly since you are in-state.

“Income bracket: none currently due to parental job search”

Ugh. I at first overlooked this. Are you a junior? Hopefully the job search will be successful before you need to decide which university to attend.

5

Will you be a National Merit Semifinalist? That will help. If you get to NMF, there are some not-bad schools that will give you a free ride or at least full tuition.

You should apply to a lot of schools and as many as possible EA.

6

Yep, I’m a junior

7

@DadTwoGirls yep, absolutely terrible freshman year, and subpar sophomore year really jacked up my cumulative GPA

8

Are there any low reaches or matches that you guys suggest?

9

@notcool19 I would suggest Georgia Tech, UMich, UCI, UCSB, and Purdue as targets and the rest as reaches
(sry if I am being too brutal)

Standardized Scores are superb! GPA may hurt you but with an upward trend, it should help a little. Also, your Standardized Scores should cover your GPA. Hope this helps!

10

I would like to edit @redwall3000 list to say GeorgiaTech and UMich might be low or high reaches. This is because their admissions tends to be sporadic so standardized tests are not a good gauge to see if you would make it in.

Both schools tend to weigh the regular SAT (which you are fine for) and GPA (especially UMich, they use your unweighted one) heavily. This is because both schools have SAT 2s as optional. Your essays have to be really good for all your schools but especially these schools, they want to see interest and why you would fit. Good luck. I remember being in your stressed shoes last year.

11

@redwall3000 No this isn’t brutal at all, infact I’m grateful for your advice. Thanks!

12

Can your family afford to be full pay (say $50K pa)? If so then you should consider UK schools where your 5s in APs and SAT scores are all that matter. You would be competitive for top schools there, even applying to Oxbridge would not be unreasonable. The other advantage is that you apply early and can get answers back from some non-Oxbridge universities as early as November, which makes everything else way less stressful. But you would have to commit to a subject and want to study just that for 3-4 years.

13

@redwall3000 just out of curiosity, what makes you think my target should be Gerogia Tech, and not a reach? I see hundreds of OOS Asian students getting handed refections left and right with near perfect academics. Even with an upward trend and decent test scores. It still worries me a bit espefially with my terrrible gpa. Thanks!

14

@notcool19
Your upward trend should account cover the GPA and your ECs are quite substantial. I was actually on the border of making GTech a reach though, but I thought you deserved that extra push. :slight_smile:

15

I would suggest adding a less selective safety school, such as ASU or Arizona. Another safety option would be looking into a CC that feeds into your desired UC.

16

@AroundHere thanks for the advice, just curious, would I be able to consider UCs like UCSC, UCM, and UCR as safeties due to my relatively decent UC GPA? I’m a California resident.

17

This is the info that gets passed around…
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/21182988/#Comment_21182988

18

@notcool19 ASU and U of Arizona might to be cheaper for you than in state options given your high test scores, especially if National Merit is a possibility. U of New Mexico would be similar. If those are more appealing that Cal States, it might be worth throwing in an application or two as safeties. At least some of them have rolling admissions and getting early acceptances can take the stress off.

Also engineering and CS often have lower admit rates than Arts and Sciences more generally so you will need to consider that.

Good luck!

19

@notcool19

I think you would have a great shot at UCSC, UCM, and UCR since your GPA and SAT are good. However, I have had friends with perfect scores get rejected by UCSC, so I would not put it as a safety.