Chance a unique case, low GPA for Ivies

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p><em>I believe that my story is different from most other posters on CC. Please read the section entitled “Additional Info” to better understand the rest of my resume.</em></p>

<p>Freshman:
No AP’s/Honors
UW GPA: 3.5/3.5</p>

<p>Soph:
AP’s/Honors: APUSH
UW GPA: 3.0/3.0</p>

<p>Junior:
AP’s/Honors: Psych, Econ (Macro and Micro), Marketing
UW GPA: 3.66/3.83</p>

<p>Overall
UW GPA: 3.42, W GPA: 3.57</p>

<p>Senior Year Schedule: Marketing 3, Stats AP, Physics B AP, Weight Training, 12 English AP, Govt AP, World History AP</p>

<p>Test Score:
ACT: 32 (retaking in September, on track to get a 34 but for now use the 32 number)</p>

<p>Extracurricular:
Model UN member (3 years)
Key Club member (1 year)
DECA (1 year, state finalist)
President and Founder of Medical Competition Club, National Finalist</p>

<p><em>Founded Startup Company, Digital Social Media Agency, generates >100k revenue a year</em></p>

<p>Additional Info (Please Read)</p>

<p>As you can see, my GPA is low. There are a few contributing factors to this. The summer after freshman year, my father was diagnosed with cancer. Though he beat the cancer, the depression that he had previously kept under control took over and he was out of work for six months. As you can imagine, times were hard, but we pulled through. That is part of the reason why my grades were so low the first semester of soph. year. Soon after I started my company and it took off immediately. I became a student with more than a full time job. I would get little sleep and admittedly, I put the company above everything, including school work. That was the contributing factor to the low grades second semester. I turned things around junior year as I learned to manage time better and was able to get some financial backing for the business in order to hire employees. I took classes that interested me and I worked hard.</p>

<p>Please chance me for the following schools: </p>

<p>University of Michigan (Ross)
Stanford
University of Toronto
University of Indiana (Kelley)
Michigan State University
New York University
Cornell</p>

2

<p>The extra curricular look good. As long as you express the situation, and receive really good grades during your senior year, you cold have a chance. You might even want to consider a community college, get 4.0, and really. Many people do this for major universities.</p>

3

<p>This was just a suggestion by the way… I was not implying you wont get in.</p>

4

<p>All your APs are humanities-focused: no Calculus, sciences or foreign language. Your test score is low for most of your listed schools, although I don’t know the meaning of “on track to get a 34”. You have some nice accomplishments and awards, but it doesn’t sound like your activities take much time (beyond your business of course).</p>

<p>Since your business is the critical piece of your application, and your teachers are unlikely to fully understand your involvement with it, be sure to include an additional LOR from someone who can relate specific anecdotes about your unique skill set displayed through business. If the company has an Annual Report or similar official document, I would consider sending it with your application as supplemental material.</p>

<p>Based on all this, plus your sub 3.5 UW GPA, I would say you are a long shot at every school on your list except Michigan State. If you are in-state, you might have a realistic chance at either UMichigan or Indiana. However, since MSU is a “numbers/formula” admissions school, I would not even consider it a safety.</p>

5

<p>I disagree with rmldad. Colleges like good grades, but they also like people who are genuinely unique. You are clearly intelligent because of your complete turnaround junior year, and as long as you show them good grades senior year, they will probably forgive the freshman and sophomore grades if you explain it well in an essay. Play up the business for all its worth! That is a great EC, so use it to your advantage, and write about how the business helped you grow and how important it is to you, etc. Schools that focus on numbers might not accept you, but others might. Apply- it definitely won’t hurt.</p>