Chance me and my story...please (updated)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>ACADEMICS</p>

<p>[ul]
[<em>]GPA=3.6 unweighted; 4.2 weighted (I have a drastic upward improvement curve)
[</em>]SAT 1950 (I'm a junior and have not studied yet, so this will improve a lot)
[<em>]I qualified for CSF scholarship, but moved out of state (CA -> UT)
[</em>]Honor roll
[li]9 AP's, and most others are honors[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>EXTRACURRICULAR</p>

<p>[ul]
[<em>]Cross Country 3 years, "MVP", varsity.
[</em>]Track 4 years. 1600m, 800m, long jump, varsity.
[<em>]Fluent in French. I have Corsican + Persian + American ethnicity
[</em>]French club 2 years. (president)
[<em>]FBLA club 1 year while in Utah. (went to nationals)
[</em>]Debate Team 1 year while in Utah. (went to state etc)
[/ul]</p>

<p>[ul]
[li]I educated a 9 year old autistic child during my 10th grade on my own time twice a week. I taught him how to speak correctly, write, think and express himself. Over the year, his family saw improvement, and I am very proud of this. In my essay I want to compare his obsessions with an elaborate train-set he built, to my obsessions of constantly thinking of how I could better teach him during my daily life, and then connect this to my new-found desire to major in cognitive science.</p>[/li]
<p>[li]I single-handedly made a website for someone else's product. you can see it [url=<a href="http://earthcrossroads.com/%5Dhere%5B/url"&gt;http://earthcrossroads.com/]here[/url&lt;/a&gt;] if you like. It's an e-commerce site.</p>[/li]
<p>[li]This summer I plan on going to Ghana and helping for a few weeks over there. I will take pictures with my dSLR and create a portfolio/story and maybe get a scholarship.[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>MISC</p>

<p>[ul]
[li]My GPA is low because my family (single mom, father committed suicide many years ago) went through a financial crisis and we were, well, basically undeclared homeless for a while. Sometimes I did my homework in our car full of newspapers, where I would then sleep. Other times we would have to sleep in a friend's house for months. I still went to high school in California, but eventually we had to go to Utah where we would get an apartment "hooked up" through family connections. I had to spend my junior year in Utah, and arrived after the school year started, where I knew no one and had to adjust, but this is where my grades transformed.</p>[/li]
<p>[li]I have a clear upward curve: straight A's junior and senior year, from B's and C's the other 2 years.</p>[/li]
<p>[li]I will go back to California for my senior year, so Berkeley would be applied to as in-state. (I think...)[/li][/ul]</p>

<p>CONCLUSION</p>

<p>I'm a junior and plan on keeping the A's and the upward curve. I will definitely bring my SAT up to 2100 or 2200.</p>

<p>What are my chances at Brown, Berkeley, UMich, USC, Stanford, NYU, Johns Hopkins, and any suggestions you might have. I have safeties as well...</p>

2

<p>anyone? please im really worried all me new efforts are going in vain and i should just go back to having fun.</p>

<p>am i wrong to hope for ivies? should i just forget about all of this?</p>

3

<p>sorry, your story is interesting, but you are not Ivy League material. take it easy in High School and try again for graduate school.</p>

<p>all schools on your list are far reaches. i would suggest some easier UC's.</p>

4

<p>i think umich, usc and nyu COULD be attainable...jus work hard bring up your scores and gpa</p>

5

<p>Write good essays. Be unique and exciting.</p>

6

<p>wow.. ok thanks.</p>

<p>but come one though, 120 views, 3 answers? anyone else think I have a chance?</p>

7

<p>bumpppbump!</p>

8

<p>What sort of schools are you willing to look at that aren't Ivies/top 20?</p>

9

<p>I would put down some "safey school" just in case because all of those are ultracompetitive schools.</p>

10

<p>so my chances aren't so good then? =/</p>

<p>haha well as far as safeties... U of Arizona, ASU, and other UC's like UCSD, UCI, UCD maybe GWU?</p>

11

<p>With the SATs as they currently are, I wouldn't bet on any of the originally listed schools. Raise the SAT to a 2000 and you're in at GWU. No change and GWU is 50/50, but if you include your crazy story in your app, chances should be a lot better. That kinda goes for all the schools. Finding a good way to tell your story is probably something that changes your app drastically. An admissions officer at Berkeley or USC might read your story in your essay or something and decide to put you in even though your SATs might be a little low. Your stats aren't anywhere near bad even for a person who didn't have to live in their car, but they're a better match for the "safeties" you gave and don't help you much at the originally listed schools. Relax, you're still a junior. If you continue the current GPA trend, raise the SAT scores, and write good essays incorporating your story, your chances get a lot higher at all of the schools listed.</p>

12

<p>llama, are they financial safeties for you because the state schools often don't give much aid to OOS students. Are you also applying to a Utah state school?</p>

13

<p>well i will be almost certainly applying from california next year, but if not i'll have to switch my safeties from UC to utah</p>

14

<p>There's a test prep center near me that guarantees a 300 point increase. if that actually happens and I get a 2250, how much better will my chances be?</p>

15

<p>If your SAT scores improve, I think you have a good chance at NYU and U. Michigan, the other schools will still be reaches but they are reaches for everyone so don't worry too much about that. I also think the upward curve is great especially considering your family situation and I want to applaud you for succeeding in school while going through that. Improve your scores and keep up the straight As and I think you have a fair chance, but definitely look for more safeties..?</p>