Chance an Unusual Student (I'll chance back!)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi guys, this is my first time posting on here. I am a Junior in high school who is not so much worried about my chances, but rather perplexed. Please read on and you will understand.</p>

<p>My mom is Hispanic and my dad is white, so I'll probably put myself down as Hispanic for college admissions, haha. I come from a pretty rigorous medium-sized public high school. Here's my objective stats first:</p>

<p>GPA: My school does GPA weird, so I'll list all my classes/grades below, but let's just say it's ~4.0.
SAT: 1940 (800 CR, 340 M, 800 W [12 E])...yeah. I'm thinking about retaking it, but I honestly don't know how much I can improve it. I'm really just THAT bad at math. You'll see more as I go on.
ACT: 29 (36 English, 7 Math (yes, 7), 36 Reading, 35 Science, 12 Essay)
SATII: 800 Literature, 800 U.S. History, 800 Spanish with Listening</p>

<p>AP Exams: Human Geography (5, self study), Psychology (5, self study), Music Theory (5, but with a 4 for the Aural part...do colleges care about that at all?, self study), U.S. History (5), World History (5, self study), Spanish Language (5). This year I'm taking U.S. Gov, Comparative Gov, English Lang and Comp, Spanish Literature, and Environmental Science. I should get 5s on all of them except maybe Environmental. Yeah, I really like self studying AP exams.
Intended Major: Not really sure, but probably something along the lines of Linguistics/Geography/Sociology</p>

<p>Ok, I'll just give you my transcript basically here since my school is so weird:</p>

<p>Summer before Freshman year: AP World History online- A</p>

<p>Freshman year:
English I HNS- 97%
Algebra I, Part 1- 94%
Biology- 91%
U.S. History 1 HNS- 101%
Chinese 2- 94%
Spanish 4 HNS- 98%
Gym- 100%</p>

<p>Summer before Sophomore year: Earth Science online- A. I took this because I did not have advanced enough math to take Chemistry in school but I didn't want to waste my time in Earth Science at school when I had already taken Biology. Therefore, I didn't take a science class in school sophomore year.</p>

<p>Sophomore Year:
English II HNS- 99%
Algebra I, Part 2- 92%
AP United States History- 98%
Chinese 3- 96%
AP Spanish Language- 97%
Journalism (Graduation requirement)- 100%
Gym- 100%</p>

<p>Junior Year (Current grades):
AP Language and Composition- 93%
Basic Geometry- 98%
AP Environmental Science- 90%
AP American Government/AP Comparative Politics- 99%
Chinese 4 HNS- 96%
AP Spanish Literature- 92%
Gym- 100%</p>

<p>Senior Year Schedule:
AP Literature and Composition
Algebra II
Chemistry
AP European History
AP Chinese Language
AP Art History
Gym</p>

<p>So yeah, as you can see, I'm in remedial math, which also killed my chances at taking real science classes, but other than that I took the highest level classes possible. Are my high grades in difficult classes enough to overcome my completely pathetic math classes/test scores?</p>

<p>ECs:</p>

<p>-Competitive figure skating: I compete at the Junior level, which is pretty advanced. If I go to a college that has figure skating I can probably skate there, but I'm no olympian.
-Solo Handbell Ringing: I don't know if anyone has heard of this, but it's pretty intense. If you haven't heard of it, you should look it up on youtube. I give small concerts around town and stuff but I'm not professional.
-Piano: I've been playing for 12 years.
-Harpsichord: I just started this Freshman year, but it's so much fun. Even though it's really similar to piano, I just think it's way more fun.
-I have published books (under a pseudonym). Can I still write that I wrote them even though they're under a pen name? I also have some various published short stories and poems and stuff under my own name.
-I volunteer at my local nature preserve and with the Special Olympics quite regularly.
-I did Linguistics research with a professor at Georgetown last summer, and it went extremely well. I plan to continue it this summer too. Will this help me at Georgetown?</p>

<p>Awards:
AP Scholar stuff, I might get NMSQT commended, but certainly not semifinalist due to my horrendous math score (though I got a 37 on the PSAT math...at least that's a little better than my SAT math score).
I have a bunch of awards for writing, including a Gold Key for poetry
Also, a few years ago I won the national Geography Bee, though I don't think that counts, since it was middle school.</p>

<p>Thanks for reading this thread! If you want any additional information, post below! I chance back!</p>

<p>Please chance me for:
-Georgetown University
-Harvard University (I can dream, right?)
-University of Chicago
-Oberlin College
-College of Wooster
-Carleton College
-Bates
-Bowdoin
-Sarah Lawrence
-Any other colleges you might suggest? I don't really know which colleges would value my strengths over my poor math scores.</p>

<p>Thanks! :)</p>

2

<p>340 SAT math and 7 in ACT, you need to retake. I’m sorry, but I cannot see many colleges going for that.</p>

<p>Moreover, the rest of your application is really really good, why not buy a few practice books and get a tutor/teacher to help you? The ACT says that you need to be at about a 20 to be ready for college level math, and, well, a 7…</p>

3

<p>Yeah, I don’t know if I can improve the SAT math, but I think I can improve the ACT to at least a 15 or so (which would bring my composite up by 2). I paced myself badly when I took it because there’s so much advanced math that I don’t know. I’m only in Geometry right now, so there’s a good amount of math that I haven’t learned on the standardized tests, especially the ACT. I think if I can just accept that I’ll get those wrong I can get a few more right.</p>

4

<p>Besides your math deficiency, you’re a very strong applicant. Is your school very poor in mathematics education, or are you in a slow-paced program (my brother is, but not nearly as bright in his other subjects!)? Even if you don’t know the higher level math, I think you can learn how to approach a number of the SAT math problems — while it’s obviously learning for the test, I think just learning how to solve the types of problems commonly presented should help you move up to hopefully a ~500. While that’s nothing phenomenal, it’s at least average, and with your well-above-average everything else, it would seriously help your cause. Best of luck!</p>

<p>Care to [chance</a> me for a few LACs?](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1320007-chances-lacs.html]chance”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1320007-chances-lacs.html)</p>

5

<p>My school is actually extremely good at math preparation- we had the best math SAT scores for the state (our average is ~630). I just have a huge fear of math, and I am in the slowest possible math track. For reference, my math classes usually have kids just getting out of rehab or jail, while my other classes are full of future-ivy leaguers. So yeah. I definitely freeze up on math standardized tests too, just because I know that my math knowledge is so pathetic compared to everyone else’s. I guess I’ll just practice a lot and retake the SAT in June!</p>

<p>On a somewhat separate note, do colleges see section scores for the ACT? If they just see a 29, that’s not too bad is it? Also, if I could get my math score up to 15-20, they just see my 31-33, right?</p>

6

<p>Wait, how could you get a 340 on math on SAT? No offense, but at that score, you should have never even passed Alg1. You need to really really work on math. I would say that you take a gap year after high school and focus that entire year on math/ECs, then retake SAT and then apply. There is no way you will get into any school other than a community college with that math score, but if you can take a year and improve it to 600+, then you have a chance at some really good schools because your ECs and other stats are great!</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>Chance me back please!
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1320549-chance-junior-dream-schools-will-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1320549-chance-junior-dream-schools-will-chance-back.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

7

<p>You won the National Geography Bee? What year?</p>

8

<p>I don’t know if this is helpful at all, but this might be a good review for you for taking the SAT math: <a href=“http://www.erikthered.com/tutor/facts-and-formulas-0.pdf[/url]”>http://www.erikthered.com/tutor/facts-and-formulas-0.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
Best of luck!</p>

9

<p>With a math score like that, it just means that you need to learn and do A LOT of math.</p>

<p>You need to start from the basics in your freshman year and do EVERY single problem set you were given.</p>

<p>Get a solid foundation in math and bring that ACT math score to 28 and above. Then you’ll have a fighting chance. 15-20 is too low for the kinds of schools you’re aiming for.</p>

<p>Look for SAT optional schools too.</p>

10

<p>Help me out in CR and I’ll help you out in math. We have a deal. LOL</p>