chance me? (JUNIOR)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

GRADES:
3.7 GPA (poor freshman year 3.11), 4.0 WGPA,
AP/College classes taken/will take: APUSH, AP Calc AB, AP Calc BC, CHS Physics E/M, AP Chem, AP Bio, Anatomy and Physiology.

SCORES:
SAT: M740, CR710, W700 total 2150.
AP exams (taken this week): AP calc AB: easy 5, AP chem: most likely 4. * no one from my school has ever passed it

EC’s:
-National honor society
-golf team (Im not competitively good)
-Gifted program (academic quiz league, scrabble competition, chess competitions)
-I also tutor people in math and chemistry, but not formally
-relay for life (cancer fundraising event)

Chance me at:
-Carnegie Mellon
-pitt
-penn state honors college
-swarthmore
-Cornell
-Upenn
-case western
-other colleges if you think i should check them out for premed/biomed engineering

2

Don’t bother applying to UPenn, Swarthmore or Cornell. Save the application fee and the time it takes to fill out the application. There is nothing stellar or remarkable or unique about your stats or extracurriculars.

Carnegie Mellon is a far reach. My friend got in last year with a low gpa but he ranked in several state and national debate tournaments, so he was obviously a catch. I don’t think you should bother applying unless you raise your sat score to 2250.

case western is a reach and you’re a match for penn state and Pitt but penn state honors is a toss up.

3

my sat is like 400 above the average score at psu and pitt… are you serious???

4

Hence why both schools are matches for you. I wouldnt consider a school that rejects half its applicants a safety with your stats. Your gpa is lower than the average gpa for Pitt. A true safety for you would be Temple, and you would get a scholarship too.

5

mostly everyone has told me pitt and psu were safeties… is that not true, i know tons of people from my school that have 3.5 and 1600’s that get in all the time with no EC’s, you’ve got me worrying. are you speaking of just what you think, or do you have experience with this???

6

If that’s the case, then I guess you should be fine.
Safeties generally mean that you can absolutely afford them, there is an auto admit which you qualify for (not necessary to be a safety), and higher than 50% admit rate.
I don’t know much about Pitt/Penn State but if what you’re saying is true, then you have nothing to worry about.

It’s going to be hard for you to be admitted into the Ivies. You have a lower than average GPA and SAT scores for Ivies (Ivy league average is 3.8-3.9 GPA, and their average SAT is about a 2200).

It also seems like your school is not the most competitive (nobody in your school ever passing AP Chem which is a little shocking) so your chances are definitely not very good with a 3.7.

It’s definitely possible that you get in though. I would say pick one and apply Early Decision (if you can pay), it will boost your chances by a decent margin. Also, only pick one Ivy League level school so you can really work those essays to the best of your ability. If your stats aren’t competitive, then try to make it up with outstanding essays (which is why you should only apply to one Ivy (or similar) school so you only have one school’s essays to worry about).

7

@Irreplaceable , Posting something that is offensive to a stranger is a sign of your true character. I was in a similar position as you because I too was a cyber bully. I now make an effort to tell people when they are being rude. Please don’t intentionally try to hurt others’ feelings over the internet.

@Kylemcgrogan Just work hard to boost your SAT score to 2500+ and you should have a chance at the schools you have listed. Don’t allow other people, especially those on this forum, to alter your decisions. Fill out the applications for the schools you have listed and see what happens. If you don’t apply, you have a 0% chance of admittance.

8

@DreamToRedeem Overreacting much? What exactly is so offensive about my post? Do you seriously think that a 3.7 GPA, 2150 SAT, average extracurriculars and no hooks will get OP into Swarthmore, UPenn or Cornell? OP asked for his chances and I told OP the truth - there is nothing about his profile that stands out and he will be wasting his time and money if he sends applications to schools that reject thousands of students with more impressive profiles. Apply and “see what happens” is advice better suited for people interested in buying lottery tickets and it doesn’t help OP at all to baby him.

@Kylemcgrogan I’ve already been through the college app cycle and I chose schools that accepted more than 50% of applicants where my stats were in the top 25% as my safeties. I’m sure a lot of students at your HS get into Pitt and Penn State because of the quantity of students at your PA HS who apply, but an acceptance rate around 50% still is a 1 in 2 chance of a rejection. Also, all colleges are becoming more selective so it’s not enough just to trust anecdotes. Students at my high school used to use Cal Poly SLO and the mid-tier UCs as safeties up until last year when students with stats that would have gotten them into those schools in the past got waitlisted/rejected.

9

@Irreplaceable I can tell you that the first time I went onto this forum, I was disappointed. Disappointed by how many people were crushed by people like you. You continue to note his weak statistics and you are not listening to me. I was uncomfortable by your lack of humanity; how you blatantly told him that he would never be accepted by his top choices. That isn’t how you would communicate to him if you were speaking to him directly. Be respectful and convey your thoughts kindly. His stats are not weak. I am sure that colleges will take into consideration the upward trend that he possesses, going from a 3.11 to 3.7. That is not what I would consider easy or unremarkable. That required hard work and dedication. A 2150 is a very solid score as well. I have not read any of your other posts and I don’t know what your stats are, but your hatefulness will not help you when trying to make friends in college or trying to get a job. Be kind and you will be happy. I learned that lesson the hard way and I want to prevent that from happening to you.

10

@DreamToRedeem When did I ever say that his stats were WEAK? I said that they weren’t remarkable or stellar or unique, which is what those top schools are essentially looking for. I also never said he wouldn’t be accepted; I told him not to bother applying because his chances of acceptance are so low that he is better off pocketing the $240
(or whatever amount is is) and not spending hours perfecting supplemental essays/apps. There’s no point in giving him false hope, like you seem to be doing when you tell him that he has a chance at admittance. That is misguided advice. Trying to become a statistical anomaly is pointless for a student like him and he’s much better off focusing on schools that would someone with his stats. An improvement in grades will be appreciated by some schools, but by itself, it won’t be impressive enough for the aforementioned 3 that receive thousands of applications from students with 4.0s.

Stop projecting your emotions onto me; I’m not the one with a problem or the one asking for advice. Perhaps the self-righteous attitude you’re projecting right now is precisely why you have social issues. Here’s a hint: Most people don’t appreciate unsolicited advice.

11

@Irreplaceable If you can, when you are less irate, please read my words once more. By you proclaiming that I have social issues only solidifies my statements. You unfortunately will not listen to my true message. You be well and please make an effort to be kind. I felt inclined to speak out because I know of the destruction caused by cyber bullying.

12

guys, I asked to be chanced at cmu, cornell, penn because my SAT is 50th %tile, My gpa is a bit low i understand, hence why i was looking for your opinions. Should I not expect to get into schools where the average accepted student has the same stats as mine???

13

Pitt: average accepted applicant GPA=3.7, sat= 1730-2000 25th and 7th percentiles, seems ridiculous that that would be a “match”. Please explain to me?

14

@Irreplaceable I think that Dream is trying to say you are coming off as rude. The poster has some chance to get into some of the schools if he applies - From the small amount information he posted, it may look like a small chance, but in reality nobody knows kyle’s actual chances because we don’t know him in person.
In my opinion, “don’t bother applying” comes off as very rude because it is nearly equivalent to saying that you have no chance.
How about instead advising him to continue his upward trend + hard work and improve his SAT score If he does so then picks a school and applies ED, he will have a fair shot.

15

@DreamToRedeem You’re the one who brought up your social issues and “learning your lessons the hard way.” Why do you think that what you have to say is so important, and why do you think that I would care about what you have to say? Unsolicited advice and all, nomsayin?

@Kylemcgrogan The average accepted student at the top 4 schools on your list have the triumvirate of high GPA (rigorous course schedule is a given), high SAT and great ECs. Those who lack in one or more areas usually make up for it with some kind of hook, like being a recruited athlete, winning state/national competitions or being a poor minority student who works 2 jobs to help support the family. I don’t know about your family situation, but based off the information you’ve posted, you don’t have a hook to make yourself competitive. So since you’re not the typical overall strong applicant or an applicant with a hook, you don’t really have a realistic chance at schools that already have unrealistic acceptance rates. If you have some kind of compelling story for why your GPA was a 3.11 freshman year, then you could use Carnegie Mellon as a reach, but these are schools that reject tens of thousands of applications from well-qualified students.

Instead of fussing over applications to super competitive schools, you would be better served applying to good schools that have 20%+ acceptance rates (which are most schools in America). Throw in some more realistic reach schools (Case Western is a good reach I think). There are plenty of good schools that you have a chance at, like Boston University, NYU, Wake Forest, etc. Focus on those kinds of schools instead.

16

At first glance, your GPA is very low for top schools. However, when I do a little back of the envelope calculating, and I subtract our your freshman year grades, it appears that your sophomore and junior year are very near to perfect.

Am I doing the math right? Is that the case? Is there a particular reason for the bad first year? Or just adjusting to high school? If there are special circumstances, your guidance counselor should note that in the material he/she sends to the colleges to which you apply.

Just looking, it appears that your curriculum has been fairly rigorous. How does it compare with others who attend your school? Will your guidance counselor report that your curriculum is the most rigorous possible for a student at your school? That will be important.

Your SAT is on the low side for several of the top schools at which you’re looking. But you’re not far off. If you think you can improve that score by much (even by 75 points), it would be worth a retake.

There is nothing thrilling about your extracurricular activities, but you may be able to expand on the activities you mention in the gifted program, especially if any of the competitions in which you participated led to honors or awards beyond your school. I don’t know whether your NHS chapter is particularly active, either. At my sons high school, the NHS was the primary student service body, and active participation in it was meaningful. At many schools, it’s not meaningful at all. How much time do you spend on the cancer fundraising?

In applying to competitive schools, essays and letters of recommendation with be important for you. A particularly memorable essay, or a once-in-a-career letter of recommendation would go a long way for you.

In summary, the low GPA hurts, and makes admission to places that otherwise might be safeties somewhat problematic. But if, as it looks, you had nearly perfect grades since your freshman year, then all is far from lost.

I think, especially for the Ivies, it’s an uphill battle for admissions for you. But if you apply to all the schools you mention, there is more than a small chance that one of the better schools might accept you.

17

@blargenshmargen What I meant by “don’t bother applying” is that the chances are so low that the opportunity cost isn’t worth it. For example, my friend spent a month on her Stanford application. The opportunity cost of working on a single application to a school that accepts 5% of its applicants is extremely high relative to the chance of payoff. I hate seeing people waste their time on applications to these top schools when they could optimize their college search by applying to schools where they have a decent shot of acceptance and that will give them JUST AS MANY opportunities.

18

The golf ball must fall on some blade of grass.

19

Yes, my sophomore and junior UWGPA are 3.87. My dad moved out around then and I was always an underachiever in middle school not that that is a good excuse for poor freshman GPA. There are a few kids as many 5.0 gpa classes than me, but they take blow off ones such as accounting or java just to boost their GPAs, I take the ones with 70% averages. As a sophomore I took honors precalc and college statistics, wo if my school weighted 10th grade, My WGPA would be higher. Our NHS does probably 7 full day events each year out of school as well as many in school things. My course rigor has been significantly higher than anyone else in my 218 student class, especially in mathematics and science, I will have taken 6 math classes and 7 science classes in high school.

20

That gives a more complete account of your high school career. I think you can see some of the areas you will need to address when making applications to colleges. You need to highlight your course rigor, your high grades once moving past your domestic issues (this is something best done by your guidance counselor), and your involvement in your extracurriculars. Again, try to improve your SAT result if you can. What you have is good, but for some of the schools you’re mentioning, it’s a little low.

You seem to communicate effectively in writing. This is a major asset for you. Make sure your essays are superlative. Allow yourself to reveal something about yourself in them. You can use your essays to make yourself real to the admissions committees. Make sure your letter writers mention you in the most superlative terms.

In terms of “opportunity costs,” it is absolutely true that if you apply to all these schools, it is likely most will reject you. If that scares you off, then don’t do it. It is true that you will put a lot of time and effort into your applications (at least if you do it right), and most of it will be “wasted” effort.

Certainly, you do not want to spend so much time and resources on your college applications that you shortchange the rest of your life. Obviously, you can’t allow the process to interfere with your grades.

But if you have the time, the energy, the gumption to do it, even a little bit of success goes a very long way.

Both of my sons applied to a range of schools, including a number of “reach” schools. They both received their fair share of rejections. But they didn’t receive only rejections…