Chance an In-State...Junior so far, how am I doing?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Washington
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<p>So hey, I'm living in WA state (currently a Junior in HS), and was wondering what are my chances in getting into UW (so far)?:</p>

<p>GPA: 3.796
School doesn't rank
Full-IB diploma
As a Freshman: All honors classes (except for the electives)
As a Sophomore: All Honors (with Advanced Comp. Programming)
As a Junior: IB English, IB History, IB Chemistry, Honors Physics, IB Spanish III, IB Pre-Calc, and Theory of Knowledge
As a Senior: Going to continue full IB</p>

<p>EC: Freshman-year Football, National Honors Society (Sophomore thru. Senior year with volunteering from there), Bike Club, CAS Hours for IB (currently have roughly 60 hours, definitely going to reach over 200 hrs.), volunteering at Holly House (charity group), Stevens Hospital volunteer, Advisory Senate member.</p>

<p>Got a 185 on the PSAT (but with studying, hope the SAT itself will improve)</p>

<p>Sorry, this is my first time asking something like this. Did I forget anything?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

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<p>I’m pretty sure you will get in if you keep that GPA up and don’t drop it. If you score ~1700+ then you’ll have a very good chance. Good luck!</p>

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<p>Peezy1, I second xzstarszx. Your IB coursework will make it easy to get in. I keep hearing that UW really likes IB students. If you do well in IB exams then you can potentially skip a number of introductory courses and graduate early.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the feedback. Certainly takes a load off my chest (but shouldn’t mean I should lay back). One more Q: How many volunteer hours would be a safe bet? I’m guessing as many as possible, but what do you think?</p>

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<p>@Preezy - Keep up the stats and you’re a sure in, as long as you also write an essay ;)</p>

<p>For volunteer hours, as many as possible is good, but make sure you do your volunteer hours at perhaps, one specific place. Volunteering at your church or local boys and girls club for say, >300 hours looks better than volunteering at random functions around the city (that aren’t tied in together at all) for >1000 hours. Besides, unless you highlight service work in your essays, you really only have ‘5 slots’ for extra curriculars. That’s for UW, at least. Also, staying at one specific place to volunteer shows commitment and dedication in the one place you chose (reflects on commitment to college choice, major choice, etc). Make sure you do service all four years, too.</p>

<p>If your school requires ‘300 hours by graduation’ or something (which you would be in good shape for), make sure you 1) fulfill it, 2) try to go above and beyond, 3) do some senior year, whether that be finishing the required hours or going over. It’s nice to write things like “Volunteering at Overlake Hospital, 2007-PRESENT” rather than “2007-2008”</p>

<p>For the actual, ‘how many service hours a year?’ question, I would just try to go for as many as possible (given your schedule, perhaps shifts). Don’t make it something you feel like you have to do every single moment of your spare time, but if you can, find a time slot (2 hours every saturday) that you can accumulate hours in. I did a 3 hour shift every Saturday for my service (hospital), and so after a year, it’s roughly around 150 hours. Add that to church and sports coaching, and its quite a bit every year.</p>

<p>Don’t try to force yourself to work somewhere you don’t want to, just because it might ‘look good’ on your resume. I chose a hospital because I want to go premed. Maybe, if sports is your passion, you’ll choose the boys and girls club, coaching basketball. Perhaps you have a ‘long term’ service placement already. Regardless, make sure you enjoy it! That’s totally key.</p>

<p>Good luck next year!</p>

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<p>Thank you so much BubbleTeacChibi, I’ll definitely keep all of this in mind.</p>

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<p>In. Ive been looking at the chances thread in the UW forum for a long time, and im 99% sure you’ll get in.</p>

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<p>Thanks ilikeUW. I just have one more final question: what’s the difference between weighted and unweighted GPA? I provided my high-school’s GPA, so is that unweighted…or the other?</p>

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<p>i think… weighted is when points are added to your GPA because of ap classes. unweighted is just a regular GPA without being messed with. UW takes unweighted GPAs. and i think all high schools just give unweighted. but you should ask just in case.</p>

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<p>Our school gives out unweighted GPA, unweighted class rank AND weighted class rank.</p>

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<p>UW looks at only unweighted grades, but they take into consideration the classes you take.</p>