Can I get in??

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Washington
1

<p>What are my chances to the UW?
Please be honest. It's all I ask.
There are a few more questions at the end.. thanks in advance!</p>

<p>Entering 12th Grade in Sept
Lake Washington School District (10th ranked in State)
Asian, In-State, US Citizen</p>

<p>GPA: 3.35ish (hopefully on the rise)
SAT (1st time): 1760 [550 Read/570 Math/640 Writ/10 Essay]
HSPE 447/525 (Read), 434/575 (Math), 24/24 (Write) - all are Level 4 (Advanced, highest)</p>

<p>Running Start student in 11th (only 1 quarter, plus HS making 7 classes at same time)
In 12th (1 class per quarter, for total of three, plus HS, making 9 classes at the same time). </p>

<p>In 11th: Honors US History, Honors Jr. English, and Honors Adv. Algebra, plus Geog 101 via Running Start.</p>

<p>In 12th: AP Lit/Comp, AP Gov, AP Enviro Sci, AP Japanese (Indpt. Study) [5th Year], Afterschool Symphony (8th period). Intro to PolySci, Sociology, and possibly Econ via Running Start. (Again, I'll be taking 9 classes at any given time).</p>

<p>Been in String Orchestra in 7th and 9th-12th grades
Been in After-School symphony 11/12th grades (created last year)
Took Japanese for four years, 5th year will be a 7th period Independent Study.</p>

<p>Planning on taking 5 AP tests [AP Lit/Comp, AP Gov, AP Enviro Sci, AP Japanese, AP Human Geography (through self-study)] in May, most of the SAT IIs, and the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test).</p>

<p>Current President of Model UN (created last year) and Environmental Club (member since 10th grade)
Attended WASMUN (WA State Model UN) Conference with the smallest delegation of 4 students; my school's debut.
Adopted a 40 acre park across the street from my High School, led public events there with as many as 95 people.
Attended Evergreen Boys State by the American Legion, ended up as Senate Majority Leader. Will get 3 college credits for attending.
Hundreds of hours of community service since Jr. High- never claimed them, since I did it purely out of generosity. Can draw up signed letters as proof.</p>

<p>No sports whatsoever. </p>

<p>Intended Major: International Relations (really devoted, I already looked at job opportunities, but my dad hates it)
One parent was a refugee, and only one graduated college with an Associates Degree
Father was a UW student, never finished a degree</p>

<p>What I'm worried about:
- I failed my math in 11th (which is Honors Adv Alg only) and have to retake in 12th. Everything else is fine though, but math looks like a black hole.
- My GPA is not super impressive.. but my HS is harder than most, and I am mega overloading my schedule
- I have no Computer, Physics, or Econ classes. Since UW has a lot of graduates going to Microsoft.. is that bad?
- How much of my Senior year does UW get to see? All my APs, Running Starts, Electives, and improved grades are in 12th grade, while my 10th and 11th have nearly identical grades and courses.</p>

<p>QUESTIONS
- Is Honors worth applying for? Wth is it really?
- I really really want to get into the Jackson School of Intl Studies. IS there anything I can do?
- I love UW. And I have no backups. I don't want to go out of state, and hell no I'm going to WSU. Going to CC for an AA is my alternate. Is anything better?
- I usually do way better on writing parts in tests; but I speak English with occasional accents and grammar ticks. How do I make an essay that will explode in their faces?
- How far off am I from UCSD, George Washington, and NYU?</p>

<p>THANK YOU, ARIGATOU, MERCI, GRAZIE, XIE XIE, GRACIAS, KAHMSAHAMNIDA, SPASIBO
(^ I'm devoted to my major.)</p>

2

<p>It’s a bit naive to think that your grades are going to improve in the first year you’ve ever taken any AP classes.</p>

3

<p>True, that’s why I left my GPA as is.
I’ve taken Running Start (101 level only) and I heard that Senioritis also affects the teachers, but idk. I’m definitely trying to survive just one year unlike my prior ones.</p>

4

<p>If you want an honest answer, your GPA is low for UW admissions, especially since it’s getting tougher to get in with budget cuts and whatnot (I think their middle 50% is around 3.6-3.9, and a UW admissions officer who came to my school last year said most GPA’s around 3.3 need to be because of a “special circumstance.”) That being said, definitely give it your all and apply! You never know what they might be looking for and you just might have something in your app they really want. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket though, and you definitely need a backup…have you thought about Western, Central, or Eastern? </p>

<p>re Honors college: admissions are pretty tough, but apply if you want to! It’s really pretty cool, Honors students get special resources and access to pretty cool classes, as well as chances for scholarships that aren’t available for other students.</p>

5

<p>It’ll be fine, mostly because you are in-state. Most of the kids at my engineering orientation who were in-state had around a 3.3-3.5. Just write a kick ass essay and you’ll get in.</p>

6

<p>GPA is THE MOST important thing considered for UW. When I look back on all the people that got in and all the people that got waitlisted or denied, if they had lower than a 3.5 they basically didn’t have a chance. You have to improve your GPA at mid semester or hope that you have enough extracurricular activities to make up for it.</p>

<p>Even for the people that had under a 3.5 they either took at least 10 AP classes so they had some sort of excuse or were ethnic (african american, latino). Honestly I would say that you have a poor chance of getting in unless you were to increase your SAT score by a ton.</p>

7

<p>I got accepted this year with similar GPA and SAT scores than you lol, so don’t take what the previous posters said to heart because there are miracles. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t work hard on my application. I worked on it nearly everyday since it went live to a few days before the deadline and worked on the essays for months. I probably went through about 5-6 essays before I narrowed them all down to two. Just work hard on your essays. </p>

<p>Btw… I think I might know who this is lol…</p>

8

<p>Who’s who? UW is getting harder to get into every year as well.</p>

9

<p>To specify, I meant I think I might know who OP is. I’m like 99% sure… lol</p>