Chance a potential member of the 2016 class!

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
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<p>I know everyone's worried about acceptances and whatnot, so thank you for taking time to read my post! I'm currently a junior in high school, and I'm starting to worry about colleges. I don't really know where I want to go, so I decided to start my search in-state with UIUC. Here goes, and let me know if I missed anything!</p>

<p>Grades:
Unweighted GPA: ~3.5
Weighted GPA: 4.1
--> A side note about my GPA; my GPA was damaged by my C- in Fr Hon Algebra, and I'm taking advantage of our school's grade replacement option to retake the class over the summer. This will bring up my class rank, unweighted GPA, and weighted GPA, as I received a 1.7 (I lost the honors point because it was below a C). If I get an A the second time around, it's a 5.0. It makes a relatively significant difference, and just the fact that colleges won't see a C on my transcript (it's my only C). And yes, I'm positive I can get an A the second time around. Just in case, I was thinking of investing in a private tutor, but I don't think I have to go to such extremes. xP</p>

<p>Rank:
Top 10% - Our school provides our percentile rankings in increments of ten, i.e., top 40%, top 30%, top 20%, top 10%, etc. They do provide specific percents upon requests, however. I think my rank would be in the top 7-8%.</p>

<p>Course Rigor:
I took the hardest classes available at my school. I've taken 2 AP classes my sophomore year, I'm taking three AP classes this year (junior year), and I'm scheduled to take 5 AP classes senior year. The classes that aren't AP are all honors classes. </p>

<p>Standardized Testing:
ACT: Haven't taken it yet, but practice tests put my score in the 29-32 range
SAT: Taking it March 12, wish me luck! Practice results have been 1850 (this result was roughly 8 months ago), 1990, 2040 (my most recent score).
--> I haven't prepared as much as I'd liked for the standardized testing, so I'm going to study roughly 5 hours a day during the summer and take each test two more times. My target scores would be 2200 and 32-34, hopefully those are plausible. </p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Debate Team - Captain Jr & Sr year
Newspaper Club - Associate Sports Editor Jr year, coming back Sr year
Tennis - Sophomore year, coming back Jr and Sr year (junior year tennis season hasn't started yet)
Volleyball - Freshman year
Football + Wrestling - Freshman and Sophomore year</p>

<p>Oh, and my GPA shows a relatively sharp upward trend. If there's anything else you'd like to know, please tell me! I'd love college suggestions for me to look into. I'm looking for a larger school, but I have no qualms about smaller schools. I'd prefer a college near a sports city (i.e., Boston, Chicago, LA, St.L). Obviously, high academic standards is a plus. I want to eventually go to Law School, and I'm considering business for college. Here are some names that people have thrown at me, please chance me there as well?</p>

<p>Northwestern University (probably won't get in, but it's such a nice school...)
Carnegie Mellon University
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
New York University
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Notre Dame</p>

<p>Thanks! (:</p>

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<p>*Weighted GPA is 4.188, UW GPA is probably 3.56-57 (my school doesn’t unweigh)</p>

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<p>Anyone? ):</p>

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<p>Well, it seems like your stats could even get you into the engineering pool at uiuc, so I’d say you’re absolutely fine. I would also say that you have a good chance at Northwestern if your ACT turns out to be 30 or above. Beware of the high blood pressure you’ll maintain over there though. :x</p>

<p>Sources: been researching colleges for the last 2 years with my college/finance counselor.</p>

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<p>Northwestern only took 18% of its applicants this year, down from 27% two years ago – it’s now as hard to get into as Cornell. A 30-31 ACT with 3.5 unweighted GPA probably has a less than 5% possibility of getting in nowadays. Most books and online databases use 1-3 year-old data that doesn’t reflect the current reality.</p>

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<p>@vannah08510: Thanks for the chance/encouragement! (:
@LoremIpsum: I know my chances are pretty grim for NU, but I think I’m going to apply regardless - I don’t want to wonder, “What If…” for a very long time. </p>

<p>For what it’s worth, I’ve had a few updates since I last posted this thread.

  1. I’m not on the tennis team, as originally planned - I didn’t have enough time to fit it into my schedule along with ACT/SAT prep, and I thought the latter was more important.
  2. I took 3rd place in Conference in Lincoln-Douglas (1v1) Debate
  3. I took 3rd at ISTA State in Lincoln-Douglas Debate
  4. I was named to the All-State Lincoln Douglas team @ N
  5. I got a 33 on my most recent practice ACT! Because my ACT score is comparably higher than my SAT score, I’m going to focus on the ACT. Since I was able to hit 33, my goal for the ACT is a 35-36. I have roughly 7 months to prepare for the final ACT test (sometime in October/November?), and I’m hoping I can improve my score 2-3 points in seven months…haha
  6. I’m attending the National Youth Leadership Forum for Law and Forensics
  7. I’m a part of the National Society for High School Scholars
    *I know 6 + 7 aren’t really worth much, but I thought the NYLF - Law and Forensics helped demonstrate my interest in the legal field in conjunction with my Debating, and as for 7, we got an invitation in the mail and my parents wanted to do it. </p>

<p>Anyhow, anyone else want to chip in? I’m applying for UIUC’s business school.</p>

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<p>Multiple people at my school with 3.8 unweighted and 32-34 ACTs were waitlisted or rejected from NU. Nobody got in with less than a 35, so it’s tougher than you might think.</p>

<p>Not saying you MUST get a 35, but by no means will a 30-32 with any GPA guarantee you a spot at NU.</p>

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<p>@UncannyCrayon - Thanks! But yes, I know that there’s no magic combination of GPA and test scores that will get you into NU - I’m probably going to get rejected because of my subpar GPA. But NU is one of my high-reach schools. As for getting the 35, no guarantees, but I think I’ll be able to do it. I just need to increase my score by two points, and I have seven months to do so. Maybe even a 36? But if I were to get a 34-36 on my ACT, would I be able to consider UIUC’s business school a match? Because a lot of the schools on my list are low/high reaches, and I want to make sure I get accepted at some schools. I’ve added Loyola University in Chicago as a safety/match as well.</p>

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<p>I’ve heard a lot of good things about Loyola. It’s a nice small community. Most of the teachers in my private high school come out of there. Plus the programs aren’t half bad. Some of them are at the same tear as those from UIUC.</p>

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<p>34-36 would be above the 75th percentile benchmark, so you would be in good shape, but statistically the business school has the lowest acceptance rate, so you never know.</p>

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<p>@UncannyCrayon - My long run goal is to go to law school 2-4 years after completing my undergraduate education. I want to go into corporate litigation, so I thought it would be nice to have a business background - but it’s not essential. Getting into college, frankly, is more important to me. Should I apply to DGS instead, and if I did, can I then assume that it’s a match for me? It might seem that I’m making this a bigger issue than it actually is, but a friend of mine recently got 10 rejection letters, and only got into one school. Statistically speaking, she is way better than the rest of the applicant pool at that one school, and it almost seemed like a waste for her to go there. I don’t want the same thing to happen to me - I want options, and I feel like U of I would be a nice one.</p>

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<p>Okay, time to update! I got a 32 on the April 9th ACT. I’m pretty stoked - I was expecting a 29-30 because I felt like I bombed science (I did, just not as badly as I thought.) 36 Reading 32 English 31 Math 28 Science. I’m hoping to end up with a 34-35…haha. There goes my summer.</p>

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<p>what is your ethnicity?</p>

<p>a hispanic friend of mine got into northwestern with a 23 ACT, GPA was similar to yours</p>

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<p>I’m asian. I know, instant kill. But, oh well. I won’t complain about AA here.</p>

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<p>SAT II update: 780 on U.S. History and 710 on Math II.</p>

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<p>ACT Update: 33 composite! Woot woot! Didn’t get that 34-35, but I’m happy with my 33!</p>