<p>I am a sophomore. I go to a prestigious private school in North Carolina. I do well on standardized test. I took the PSAT and received a 180. I have taken the practice ACT but have not yet received my scores. I currently have a 2.76 unweighted GPA. My strongest asset is my extracurricular activities. I am very involved in several organizations including my church. I also have taught several science camps over the summer with my mother for years. I have started a science book club at my local library which meets once a month and does various hands on activities relating to the theme of the book they read over the past month. I know that my GPA is very low. I have slacked over over the past year and a half or so, but now realized what I need to do. </p>
<p>Overview:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Saturday Science Book Club</p></li>
<li><p>HUGS Camp 2012:
HUGS is a camp for mentally disabled peoples.Campers ages range from 12-35 or so. I was a helper camper, meaning that I was partnered with a camper and my job was to make it the best week of his life. I was nominated for the Helper Camper of the Year Award, but did not get it. </p></li>
<li><p>HUGS Camp 2013 Helper Camper of the Year
I received the award this year. It is presented to the helper camper who goes above and beyond with his camper. </p></li>
<li><p>Dog sitting business:
I currently have over 10 regular households that employ me to care for their animals and pets while they are on vacation. </p></li>
<li><p>Summer science/crime scene activities:
There are the camps that I had referred to before. I have already received a letter of recommendation about me from the woman in charge of the business there camps are done through. </p></li>
<li><p>NHD:
National History Day is a nation wide contest in which middle and high school aged students must write a paper, create a website, or make a documentary about a topic relating to that years theme. I have made it to state twice, and to nationals once about a documentary that discussed child labor in North Carolina mills. </p></li>
<li><p>Published article:
I published an article in the North Carolina Numismatic Associations journal- one of two published yearly. I was the first minor to ever publish in their journal.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Do I have a chance at Tulane? How can I better my chances? Your answers are very appreciated.</p>
<p>EC’s are interesting and are definitely your strong part. For Tulane, your best bet is to try to score above 2000 on your SATs to increase your chance of acceptance. A good SAT score might even be able to somewhat counter your GPA. Just make sure you keep working on that GPA and pushing it up for a upwards trend. If you can manage to achieve a >3.0 GPA. I see no reason why you won’t get in. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Thanks! I definitely expect to get over 2000 on my SAT. I hope to get a 3.0 GPA.</p>
<p>Has anyone here attended/visited Tulane? If so, what did you think of it? Also, is there anything I can do to better my chances other than the obvious of raising my GPA?</p>
<p>You definitely need to have a very strong GPA this last semester of your sophomore year and all of your junior year. This is really critical. I would say you need at least a 3.5 all 3 of those semesters to counterbalance the hole you are in. You also need to get those grades in the most challenging courses your school offers, meaning that you take 2-3 AP courses in your junior year and 3-4 your senior year. But a 3.0 probably won’t get you where you want with Tulane.</p>
<p>As you say, you definitely need at least a 2000 on your SAT. Obviously the higher the better, not just because it is higher but also because if you can get those grades up to 3.5+ with some high level courses, together this would show any school that you have the ability to compete academically and that you matured to the point where you can make good on that potential.</p>
<p>Assuming the next 3 semesters go as planned and you set yourself up for a decent chance at Tulane, then you need to show strong interest in the school by applying SCEA, attending the local information sessions they hold and/or visiting the school, and writing thoughtful essays about why you want to attend Tulane. That’s assuming their application is about the same in 2 years as it is now. And of course keep doing what you are doing with your outside activities. A leadership position or two within your school would be helpful.</p>
<p>You are smart to have starting considering how to prepare yourself now instead of waiting until a year from now when it would be too late, probably. Work hard, stay very focused, and you will give yourself the best chance possible. You have a bit of an uphill battle, but the good news is that you can definitely still do it. And with a successful effort you not only give yourself a shot at Tulane, but open up the number of other schools where you will be competitive.</p>
<p>class rank may help if your school has a deflated gpa</p>
<p>shoot for a 2060 sat and a 30 act</p>
<p>@ fallenchemist Thank you very much for your in depth answer! I really do appreciate it! I will be sure to follow your advice.</p>
<p>You are welcome. Come over to the Tulane forum in about a year and let us know how you are doing. There are good contributors there that can also give some advice on other options as well, just to have backups in case Tulane doesn’t work out. But I bet you can make it, now that you are focused.</p>
<p>Thank you very much fallenchemist! You have been a great help!!</p>
<p>Any other thoughts?</p>
<p>Update: I received a 25 on my PLAN (pre-ACT) test.</p>