<p>Hey guys,
I am a current high school Junior. I have a 4.6 and my ec's are good. I have taken 11 AP's and only 3 Academic. All the others are Honors. I really slacked off my freshmen and sophomore year and got 4 C's and 5 A's, but i had taken 5 AP's my sophomore year. My junior year I got one B and the rest were A's. My ACT is a 34 and my SAT is a 2100. </p>
<p>EC-VP Speech and Debate( Sophomore )and President (Junior and Senior Year). I was on the tennis team all four years and Key club all four years. I was VP of DECA junior year and President Senior year. I participated in Deca my sophomore year. </p>
<p>Internship with a small company which makes Iphone Apps. (2 years) </p>
<p>Also, I have an older brother who is currently studying at UNC. Will that play a role in my application? I was wondering if my freshmen and sophomore year grades would reflect badly even though i fixed my grades my junior year.</p>
<p>I am planning to apply to </p>
<p>Vandy (ED1)
Carnegie Mellon (ED2 if I do not get into Vandy)</p>
<p>Backup: UNC(Instate)</p>
<p>Please be honest...trust me I can take it
Thanks!!</p>
<p>Please guys help me out! I really need to know if I am going over my head or not…</p>
<p>Do you know, by chance, what your unweighted GPA is?</p>
<p>Yea. I didn’t do well at all my freshmen and sophomore year. At the end of sophomore year it was 2.9. But I got my stuff straight and now it’s a 3.5. At the end of sophomore year my weighted gpa was 4.0 but I pulled it up. How will colleges see that? Is that still counted as “upward” trend?</p>
<p>There is a definite upward trend present. Your weighted GPA isn’t super relevant, but colleges will see it. Although your should be proud that you managed to turn your GPA around so much, your 3.5 is still definitely below Vanderbilt’s average. As such, I would put Vanderbilt as a reach for RD, and a low reach to reach for ED.</p>
<p>Your ACT is excellent, and I’d advise that you only submit the ACT to them, and not the SAT. You haven’t really explained much about how you or your team have done in your extracurriculars, so I cannot tell how good you are at them. Are you like super passionate about debate (like I am) or anything? You are the President of debate, which I assume is the equivalent of a captain, so it shows that you are a leader. I can also assume volunteer hours, due to Key club. </p>
<p>Vanderbilt’s admissions process is holistic, which will definitely work in your favor. They will look at everything, and there will be emphasis on your essays and teacher recommendations. You have to make sure that your recommendations and essays are fantastic. If you have valid reason for poor freshman and sophomore grades (other than laziness), then you may be alright on that front. Your freshman and sophomore year grades are far below the caliber of the top colleges, so those will be your biggest detriment. </p>
<p>I do not know much about Carnegie Mellon, but UNC should not be your safety/ backup. Your poor freshman and sophomore year grades will still be a detriment there, and UNC is still competitive for admissions.</p>
<p>Thanks! That was extremely helpful. UNC is a backup because I am instate and my older brother also attends UNC. Are my chances completely gone for schools like Rice or Brown? I can’t decide which to apply ED to. </p>
<p>If I get reasonably well teacher recs and explain the change that I went through during high school in my essay, I will be able to set a standard that they might be able to consider?</p>
<p>I’ve done some research about this and I found that some colleges admire people who are in my situation than the people who get straight A’s(not better…they appreciate and admire). This is because it shows that I am not perfect and there was a major understanding/phase which the student went through during their high school career.</p>
<p>Is that true?</p>
<p>By situation, do you mean that you have some sort of special circumstance? </p>
<p>Also, never give up on colleges like this. Although a 3.5 isn’t good for top colleges, it by no means is awful. Maybe you have great essays and stuff, and are offered admission. It could happen, so I am not encouraging you to give up. ED will help everywhere that you apply, so consider it. You can however, only apply ED to one place at a time, so make sure you have priorities for what colleges you want to go to.</p>
<p>By situation, I mean being lazy but switching it around and showing that you have potential. </p>
<p>Thank You for the motivation! It gives me hope :D</p>
<p>Another major thing about my application which might be a little odd are the courses I took. Before high school, I was always getting A’s and very advanced in math and science. Freshmen year came along and I decided to take challenging courses, same thing happened sophomore year. I took 5 AP’s my sophomore and junior year. There is a definite upward trend in the rigor of these courses. I took 2 online supplemental courses and 2 summer classes. In other words, I was always working because of my mistakes my first half of high school. Colleges will obviously see this and I was wondering how they would comprehend it.</p>
<p>The low GPA will definitely hurt, and your test scores might be a bit low for these colleges. The ECs are pretty good, and applying early decision will definitely help your chances, but I’d still say that these schools are probably reaches.</p>
<p>evanh14 : Thanks! I really appreciate the advice. In your context, what schools would you consider as math or high match considering I do well on my subject tests and my essays convey a positive influential change?</p>
<p>Vanderbilt ED: Low Reach / High Match
Carnegie Mellon RD: High Match
UNC: Match</p>
<p>The upward trend, high ACT scores, and ED at Vanderbilt definitely help. As long as you have good essays, you should be fine. </p>
<p>Mind chancing back?
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1512185-chances-will-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1512185-chances-will-chance-back.html</a></p>
<p>Vanderbilt: Reach/Low Reach
Carnegie Mellon: Low Reach/High Match</p>
<p>34 ACT is typical for Vanderbilt, however the low GPA hurts (even if Vanderbilt does weigh test scores more). I think Vanderbilt is a reach – I would definitely recommend ED1 to maximize your chances.</p>
<p>34 ACT puts you in the 75th percentile of applying students admitted, biggest thing no B’s raise the GPA as much as possible.</p>
<p>@timetodecide12: You say that test scores more than grades? Also compared to usnews…Vanderbilt and Rice are tied for 17. Rice has been my dream school since I can ever remember. But after sophomore year I gave up hope on pretty much all IVY League schools. Do you guys know if its harder to get into Vandy or Rice? Is getting into Rice considerably harder just because it has that “IVY” status? Rice’s ED % is 38%. That is SUPER high compared to their regular decision pool. Any suggestions on which path I should go?</p>
<p>B.u.m.p.i.t.y. Bump bump</p>
<p>Come on guys I really need this… Where should i apply ED1? Rice or Vanderbilt? Which one is harder? Am I over my head? Oh, and sorry, Rice isn’t an IVY.</p>
<p>Apply ED 1 to whichever school that you want to go to more. Although Early Decisions is not legally binding, the only reasonable way out of it is for financial reasons. It is a horrible idea to apply to one college ED 1, then break the ED agreement, because you don’t end up wanting to go there. There is no objective harder for either college. Go to whichever one that is better for your major, and you want to go to more.</p>
<p>Apply ED only to your by-far number one favorite. It’s a loooooong time from November to August, plenty of time to regret your decision if you’ve chosen a school for any other reason.</p>
<p>Rice is by far my favorite. Vandy is also in my top colleges. But people have told me to forget about Rice cause its too hard to get into and other people tell me im a mile over my head and tell to just to stick to the state schools. Money isn’t going to be a problem. I have a brother in college and that be a factor for $$. My parents aren’t don’t know much about college and their decisions… I am frustrated and confused.</p>