CHANCE ME - Chicago, UVA, NYU, Oberlin, Vassar

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>CHANCE ME - Chicago, UVA, Haverford, William and Mary, Wesleyan, NYU, Oberlin, Vassar, Bard</p>

<p>Rising Senior!</p>

<p>Applying EA at Chicago, maybe Bard. ED might be hard cause of my financial situation.</p>

<p>SAT: 720 Reading, 660 English, 610 Math (retaking in October)</p>

<p>Weighted GPA: 3.76 --- However, I got a 4.48 my Junior year. And should get above a 4 my senior year. </p>

<p>** Senior Year Course Load:** Taking 5 IB's and 2 AP's next year (not an IB Diploma candidate). Took 1 AP and 4 IB's last year.</p>

<p>** Extracurriculars:** Model United Nations, Ultimate Frisbee, Music Club, Mountain Club, JV Soccer, JV Basketball, County Soccer, County Basketball, Guitar, Vice President of Junior Class </p>

<p>** Job/Work Experience:** Old Navy Customer Serice</p>

<p>** Volunteer/Community service:** Volunteered at the Smithsonian FolkLife Festival, Volunteered at Catholic University Camp for the Blind, River Clean Up</p>

<p>** Essays:** Probably about an immigration rights protest (regional walk-out) my freshman year I helped organize or about my family's acculturation process and identity.</p>

<p>** Teacher Recommendation**: My English teacher went to Chicago. My Anthro teacher went to Cornell. My Physics teacher went to William and Mary. Probably will use all of them..I'm sure my recs will be no problem.</p>

<p>** Uniqueness? **: I'm very well read in World History (especially 20th century --- World War I, Russian Revolution, Cold War Latin America) and philosophy (especially Marxism...). </p>

<p>** AP/IB Scores:</p>

<p>AP English Lang - 5/5
AP European History - 4/5
IB Anthro SL - 6/7
IB Math - 5/7 **</p>

<p>** State:** Virginia
** School Type:** public about (1500)
** Ethnicity:** Asian
** Gender:** Male
** Income:** Less than $80,000</p>

<p>Chance away! [And any tips/info on Financial Aid/Scholarships would be lovely]</p>

<p>Thanks!!</p>

2

<p>Schedule:</p>

<p>11th:</p>

<p>IB Spanish HL
AP English
Int. Physics
IB History HL
IB Anthropology SL
Computer Science I
IB Math Studies SL</p>

<p>12th:
IB Biology HL
IB History Pt. 2 HL
AP AB Calc
AP English
IB Spanish Pt. 2 HL
AP Government</p>

3

<p>Assuming you want me to chance you from personal experience, I can only chance you for Oberlin and Vassar BUT... I have several good friends going to/accepted at NYU and Chicago, so I'll cheat a little and chance you for those as well. Your senior year schedule and AP/IB scores are great, but your SAT is low and your extracurriculars/volunteer work aren't anything out of the ordinary. The GPA I don't know about--the 4.48/4.0 is great, especially if you can haul over a 4this year, but that 3.76 weighted isn't too good. Make sure your essay is fantastic--if you choose to write about your family's identity and acculturation, do so poignantly and insightfully, and take an interesting angle on it, because that's a pretty common essay topic, at least at the high school from which I graduated. That said, if you think you can write a dynamite essay on the topic, by all means, do it. The fact that you're very well-read in certain areas probably won't help you too much with the paper application, but should come in very handy during the interviews; play it up as much as you can. And I'm sure your recs will be great! </p>

<p>So, chances, given these statistics and keeping in mind that I am no expert on these things (pull the SAT up and they'll only improve): I think you have a fair shot at O, V, C, and NYU, but definitely no guarantee. Consider them mini-reaches: there's a good chance you'll get in, but a good chance you won't. And keep in mind that admissions sometimes comes down to seemingly-minor things like geographical region, etc. Good luck!</p>

4

<p>how is weighting done at your school? that information could make a significant difference.</p>

5

<p>Thanks IzzyD.</p>

<p>5 for an A in AP/IB courses.
4 for a B in AP/IB courses.</p>

<p>4 for an A in regular courses
3 for a B in regular courses.</p>

<p>A-, A+, B-, B+, C+ doesn't make a difference.</p>

6

<p>Considering the weighting system, a GPA of 3.76 seems a bit low for UVA. Remember, UVA probably puts the most emphasis on how well you've done in your classes (meaning As in AP, IB classes).</p>

7

<p>Well my GPA is misleading because I got mostly B's my 9th and 10th grade year in non-AP and non-IB classes. I took my first AP course in 10th grade and got an A. </p>

<p>And, my junior year my grades were:</p>

<p>IB Spanish: A
AP English: A
Intensified Physics: A
IB History: A
IB Anthropology: B
IB Computer Science: A
IB Math Studies: B</p>

<p>My GPA for 11th grade was a 4.57.</p>

<p>Do you think colleges will see this while looking at my transcript and see that I've significantly improved since 9th/10th grade into 11th/12th? Or is it an uphill battle and not as important as the overall GPA? I didn't really try very hard my freshmen/sophomore year but I think I did fairly well my junior year...</p>

<p>Thanks for your help.</p>

8

<p>Well, what they generally say is that your Junior year grades have a greater impact than, say, your freshman year grades. However, I think that mostly Bs in both freshman and sophomore year may hurt your chances, especially in context of your SAT scores. From what I gather, UVA focuses a lot more on high school performance than test scores, but the combination of both of these things could set you back. However, the best thing that you can do right now is to improve your SAT scores to make you a better applicant as a whole. If you can do that you may still have a good shot.</p>