<p>Class Rank: 120/754
UW GPA: 3.5866
W GPA: 3.98 with very strong upward trend (went from an F freshman year to all A's in 4 AP's by Junior year)
Without Freshman year counting: 4.3066 W
SAT: 700M 800W 750 CR 2250 total
SAT II: 710 Lit 760 USH
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: White
Income: ~50,000
State: TX
Single parent
Desired Major: English with Secondary Ed. Certification</p>
<p>ECs and Volunteering:
10 hour a week job tutoring at Kumon
I'm president of the recycling / humanitarian club at my school, 2 years (adopted a house for habitat for humanity also)
I'm founder and president of my school's Gay Straight Alliance, 2 years, raised money for local LGBT homeless youth shelter
I've been a member of Young Democrats for 3 years, president for 1 and historian for another year.
I'm the Vice President of my school district's pilot team for a new district initiative that is in charge of making all energy conservation policies for my school and for the district overall. Changes we've made have saved the district about 1.25 million so far (2 years)
Volunteer hours are about 150, many at the downtown shelter for homeless Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender youth
Member of Science National Honor Society 1 year
Member of National Honor Society 1 year
Member of our school's Peer to Peer tutoring program 2 years
French Club Vice President for 1 year, member for 2 years
Member of Spelling and Vocabulary UIL team (placed at regionals for individual)</p>
<p>Hooks (? possibly): LGBT with LGBT single parent</p>
<p>AP Scores and Courses:
WHAP - 4
APUSH - 5
English Lang - 5
Chemistry - 4
Human Geography - 5
Currently Taking:
French IV AP
Gov / Eco AP
Environ. Sci AP
English Lit AP
Stat. AP
Euro History AP</p>
<p>I know my GPA isn't that hot. But I'm hoping it doesn't ruin all my chances. I'm going to apply ED to Rice next fall and RD to Columbia, Stanford, Yale, Cornell, and Berkeley. Thank you so much! I will chance back.</p>
<p>OP- you have great EC’s and SAT/AP scores but Ivies are always risky. And Rice can be tricky too. I’m from Texas and haven’t figured out exactly who can get in from year to year. I guess it depends on what they need that year for their student body. Please get some safeties in the mix too. Good luck!</p>
<p>Rice- strong match. I think you will get in ED
Columbia Stanford Yale- mid reach
Cornell- low reach/match
Berkeley low match
The only thing that I would suggest to explain why you got such low grades freshman year if there is a valid excuse, because that could hurt you
Chance back!</p>
<p>Your GPA is low for these schools, but luckily some don’t take into account Freshman year (although they might still see you had an F in one of your classes). Your ECs really don’t stand out though, they’re pretty generic (although you have quite a few more leadership roles than the average applicant) and none of them are directed toward your major. You really need some safety schools. Also, I’m not sure why you want to go to such prestigious schools for English/education. I’m sure you can find a job as a teacher (I’m assuming that’s what you want to be) without going to Ivy League. Here are my chances, though: (I strongly disagree with ncurcio6 saying Cornell and Berkeley were matches).</p>
<p>I also forgot to put that I founded my school’s National English Honor Society and that I’m doing a summer program run by U of H and Rice where I’ll spend 6 weeks M-F 10-6 analyzing literature. These are what I consider my two ‘major related’ EC’s.</p>
<p>Here’s my transcript.
Format (Semester 1, Semester 2)</p>
<p>Freshman Year
English Honors(B,A)
World Geography Honors (B,A)
French 1 (C,D)
PACE (required credit by state) (B)
Health (B)
Biology Honors (B,B)
Comp Sci Honors (C,F)
Algebra 1 (B,B)</p>
<p>Sophomore Year
English 2 Honors (B,A)
Geometry (B,B)
Chemistry 1 Honors (A,A)
Child Development (A)
Principles of Education and Training (A)
French 2 (A,A)
Photography (A,B)
World History AP (A,A)</p>
<p>Junior Year
English Lang (A,A)
APUSH (A,A)
Algebra 2 (A,A)
Chemistry AP (A,A)
French 3 Honors (A,A)
Human Geography AP (A,A)
Physics 1 Honors (B,A)</p>
<p>I think you have a chance at Rice ED but I disagree with the others and consider the Ivies very high reaches with your GPA. Your ECs/scores are strong, but won’t fully compensate for it. </p>
<p>Your SAT/ AP scores are high and well for the Ivy leagues but your GPA does seem low especially with Freshman year. ECs are a lot but can be seen as weak especially with only 150 hours of volunteering. I think Rice and Cornell would be your best chances for ED.
Chance me back </p>
<p>OP- are you in the top % to make UT- Austin a safety? What about financial aid? Have you looked into perhaps other liberal arts colleges that would find your stats attractive enough to offer you financial/merit aid? So far I see a bunch of reaches and perhaps a public safety with UT (but maybe not if not in top %). How about researching more?</p>
<p>I don’t have a lot of money in my family and I feel confident about getting financial aid. I also feel confident about the scholarships I am applying to, many of which accept 98% of applicants. I’m not in the percentage. </p>