Chance Me (Low GPA/Rank) - Cornell, Rice, Wash U, UCLA, etc!!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello everyone, I am new to this website and have been replying to a lot of Chance Me threads lately, so I decided to make one of my own. The colleges I have listed are mostly reach/out of reach, but I am hoping a few of my ECs will make up for my (tragic) GPA.

Intended major: Neuroscience or biology (Pre-med track)

UW GPA: 3.75 (I know this is very low; it will probably be above 3.8 by graduation)
W GPA: ~4.2
Class rank: Top 12% (This is also very low)
***Note: I have a continuous upward trend in my GPA from freshman to junior year. I have a 4.0 UW GPA this year.

SAT (New): 1590
PSAT (New): 1510 (score index: 226, hoping for national merit semifinalist)
ACT: 35
SAT Subject Tests: Math 2 (800), English, Spanish, Chemistry, Biology - M

12 AP Classes by graduation:
AP Chemistry (5), AP Computer Science (5), AP Physics I, AP Calculus AB, AP Spanish Lang, AP English Lang, AP Government, AP Economics, AP Statistics, AP English Lit, AP Biology, AP Psychology

Clubs:
Academy Ambassadors - I am the ambassador for the health science field at my school
NHS
CSF
FPPN (Future practicing physicians network)
WiSTEM
National Science Honor Society
National Spanish Honor Society

ECs:

  • Girl Scouts Senior and Ambassador:
    • 50 hours of community service to obtain Silver Award (8th grade - 9th grade) by organizing a “nature” event in a local preserve to teach elementary school children about the environment
    • 80 hours of community service to obtain Gold Award (11th grade) by creating my own program at a local senior center to teach senior citizens how to use technology such as computers and smart devices
    • Organized a mini curriculum about nutrition and taught kids at local elementary schools about nutrition and well-being
    • Spent a week in Tijuana, Mexico with troop to build a 2-bedroom house for a 6 person family living in a shack
  • Independent Researcher at a Hackerspace/Community Lab:
    • Carried out a science fair project exploring the effect of certain compounds on the progression of ALS
    • Won 1st place from the Northern California Institute of Food Technology + award from science fair for my second project on using a bacteria-produced compound to deter the growth of harmful microbes on crops/food
    • Participated in the lab's group project that won a bronze medal at the iGEM (international genetically engineered machine) competition in Boston in 2015
    • Will have published a scientific article on the above experiment in a scientific journal (O' Reilly Biocoder) by this June
  • Social Skills Coordinator at Abilities United
    • Was the student leader/coordinator for the Social Skills program of a local organization dedicated to improving the lives of mentally disabled people
    • I designed activities for the program participants (mentally disabled children of ages 4 - 8) to improve their motor skills and social skills
  • Lab intern at the University of Texas in Austin
    • Intern at the Smyth lab - I am involved in a gene editing therapeutics project focused on drug delivery
    • Intern at the Cummings lab - I am also involved in a psychopathology project
  • Hospital volunteering
    • I volunteer in the inpatient wards at the local Baylor Scott & White hospital

Awards & Achievements (I mentioned a few earlier but here they are again):

  • Girl Scouts Gold Award
  • 1st place cash award from the Northern California Institute of Food Technology for a science fair project
  • Special award from the regional science fair for the same project ^
  • Will be published in the upcoming issue of a scientific journal
  • National Spanish Exam Level 4 - Silver Medal
  • Anticipating National Merit Semifinalist

Demographics:

  • Gender: Female
  • Race: Asian (Indian)
  • Geography: Texas public school
  • Hooks: NOT URM or 1st gen (2nd gen, 1st gen to attend college in the US, I doubt this is helpful)
  • Other info: I completed my 9th and 10th grades in a competitive high school in the Bay Area (CA) and then moved to Texas before starting 11th grade.

Colleges:
Cornell (reach/out of reach)
Johns Hopkins (reach/out of reach)
Rice (reach)
Washington University in St. Louis (reach)
Georgetown (reach)
USC (reach)
UCLA (reach)
UT Austin (match/low reach)
UT Dallas (safety/low match)
University of Washington in Seattle (safety/low match)

I know that most of the colleges I have listed above are reaches, but I would just like to know how my chances look currently and what I can do to improve them. Any advice will be much appreciated, and I will try to chance you back. Thank you very much!

2

Your GPA is gonna hurt you a bit! But your SAT is really good! Your Volunteer Services and Activities are really impressive! Try throwing in some more matches.
Chance me too.http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1971228-please-chance-me-ill-chance-you-back.html#latest

3

Although I’m also a rising senior and my opinion may not be that useful, I believe that once adcoms contextualize your GPA within the relative competitiveness of your high school and the people you’re competing against, it won’t detract (that much) from your overall application, especially if you self report your weighted GPA. The only school I can see your GPA being a hindrance at is St. Louis, where the average for the class of 2021 ranged from a 4.27-4.3. Your status as an ORM and geographic location hurt - stray away from the “coming to America” personal statement unless you’re able to convey it in a compelling, unusual way that’ll capture the attention of the readers (I’m 2nd gen too and even though the topic itself seems like an attractive opportunity to highlight your diverse background, it’s overused). Your lackluster GPA could actually help emphasize the angularity of your application, depending on what your low grades were in (if they were in the humanities and you gradually improved it won’t affect your application nearly as much as it would if they were in biology, etc.). Overall, your spike is so nicely curated that I’m actually a little surprised at how much you’re underestimating yourself. I think Cornell is definitely a low reach if you apply ED because you’re most likely going to be yield guarded RD (the lower Ivies are notorious for abusing ED). St. Louis and JH are high reaches (JH simply because your intended major is highly saturated, but it could be a possible low reach depending on caliber of the ECs possessed by the applicants in your pool) and UCLA is unpredictable simply because of the sheer volume of applications they receive, but your SAT score is comfortably above their 75th percentile - the only thing holding you back is your GPA (and the fact that the UCs don’t offer substantial financial aid to OOS applicants, but you didn’t indicate that this would be a problem for your family). Rice, Georgetown, and USC are low reaches/high matches - I don’t think you’ll have a problem getting into any of those unless you’re yield protected, especially at Georgetown. The rest are safeties. As long as you construct a compelling narrative (and do well in your 1st semester classes), I think you’ll do fine. If it’s feasible for you, try taking easy, GPA boosting classes at a local community college. I personally take online college courses with UA Early College, and when those classes are factored into my weighted GPA, it increases from a 4.2 to a 4.5. Also, don’t be afraid to apply to a few more reach schools. Good luck!

4

@zahmata wow, thank you so much for your helpful response!! I will definitely take your advice into account. As for essays, since I myself do not really want to talk about the overused topic of being a minority or the duality of my culture, what tips would you suggest I follow to construct a compelling narrative as you mentioned? Once again, thank you SO much! :slight_smile:

5

When you’re writing your essay, make sure to avoid the “seven deadly sins” - restating your accomplishments, sports (unless you’re able to frame it in an interesting way), traumatic events, illegal activity, inflammatory topics, death, and divorce. View the essay as an opportunity to portray yourself however you want - this will be one of the only things that you have complete control over during the application process, so it’s important that it captures your personality and life experiences as you want the adcom to view you. This is a little lame, but when you’re selecting a topic, imagine what would happen if you dropped your essay in a crowded hallway with no name on it. If one of your peers picked it up, would they know that it was yours? If your essay sounds like anyone but you could’ve written it, you should start over. Attempt to capture an element of your personality that isn’t reflected anywhere else in your application - do you enjoy nature? Know the names of the janitorial staff at your school? Say hi to strangers on the subway? etc. The best essays are often inspired by experiences that are often overshadowed by the subjective elements (ECs, etc.) of an application, but if you’re struggling to write about something in that vein, I’d recommend looking at the prompts for the common app and working backwards or using this as an opportunity to further define your spike. Although I’m sure you’ve already seen these, here are the prompts for our application cycle:

  1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. [No change]
  2. The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? [Revised]
  3. Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome? [Revised]
  4. Describe a problem you've solved or a problem you'd like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma - anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution. [No change]
  5. Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. [Revised]
  6. Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more? [New]
  7. Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design. [New]

Because your spike is so defined, I’m sure you’d still be able to craft a strong narrative by just applying it to one of the 6 predefined prompts as long as your personality shines through, but it is extremely important that you consistently portray your personality in all aspects of your application, including the short takes and additional writing supplements. Creating a compelling narrative is all about cohesiveness and repeated themes (which will be strengthened by the spikiness of your extracurriculars). This is also why fit is so crucial - try to figure out if your personality and the attitude/mission statement of the school you’re applying align so that you don’t waste your time on additional applications. All schools have differently personalities and admit certain types of people, so it’s always a good idea to contact current students to get a feel for what the school is looking for. Also, make sure you give yourself enough time to craft winning essays and start soon so that you have one less thing to worry about during the school year. Good luck, I’m rooting for you!

6

@zahmata thank you so so so much for all this wonderful advice! You definitely seem to be ahead of the game yourself since you know so much about the application process. I really appreciate your feedback, and wish nothing but the best for you during application season! :slight_smile:

7

I’d say most of these schools are either match or low-medium range based on your statistics despite the low UW GPA for these schools. In your essays, make sure to really emphasize that spike in your passion or interest, as it will be this quality of your application that makes the greatest impact.

8

I’d say for some of the schools you think are a reach for yourself they really aren’t. You have a really decent chance into getting into the schools you want. I would focus on getting leadership positions in most of the clubs that you’re in your EC’s are great but you need to really push yourself a little more. Your standardized test scores are amazing nearly perfect and your GPA is great actually. I think that everything is great. It just seems that you are lacking when it comes to leadership which is what I would work on when next school year. Your research projects are amazing and they show that you have dedication and intelligence but they don’t necessarily show leadership.

9

With your test scores and EC, you have a good shot of getting into most of your schools, probably depending on how much demonstrated interest you have for a certain school and essays. Your GPA is the worst part of your application and it is honestly not bad since you take challenging classes. The upward trend of your GPA will help show schools you are ready for college. Cornell and Hopkins are the only schools that are reaches for you and that is only because they are so selective.

10

Don’t sell yourself short-3.75 UW is not a low GPA. If you have a favorite school, I would suggest applying EA/ED. I think for ED your best bets are Cornell and WashU.

Vanderbilt might be another reach to add to your list. You might want to consider Emory as a low match as well.

11

Note that for schools that have high ED/EA rejection rate instead of deferral and you need to improve your GPA, you may want to wait for the RD round. GPA 3.75 is not too bad though.

12

@MITdream2018 Thank you so much for your feedback, and I will definitely follow your advice regarding emphasizing my passion for medicine and creating a high-quality application! Good luck to you for applications.

13

@softiestudies thank you so much for your feedback and I agree with you that I do need more leadership positions in the activities I partake in. I am not sure how much creating the technology program for seniors and being the social skills coordinator for Abilities United contributes to leadership, but just in case if it does not qualify, I will definitely take your advice and find some leadership positions in my ECs. Once again, thank you so much!

14

@Spatel0010 Thanks so much for the wonderful feedback! I appreciate your analysis of my current profile and that you were able to give me a general idea of what schools would be my reaches vs matches. :slight_smile:

15

@Hamurtle @billcsho Thank you so much for the advice regarding when to submit my application! I have reviewed the information provided by the colleges themselves on the statistics of ED vs RD admission rates, and I do believe a lot of the highly selective schools (especially the ivies) do tend to take in almost half the incoming class from the ED application pool. Then again, many schools I am applying to also do not have this trend in admission rates so both of your feedback will really help. Once again, thanks so much!

16

Another note for higher admission rate for ED/EA at some schools are primarily due to self selective stronger applicant pools and legacy. They have plenty of high stat students to choose from even in the ED/EA round. Don’t expect a boost in chance with suboptimal stat.

17

@billcsho thank you for the clarification! I understand what you mean since I have heard that EA/ED pools tend to contain more legacy/athlete/very talented applicants.

18

I’d say you have a decent chance. People around me who got accepted into prestigious colleges such as Cornell and Johns Hopkins had lower scores. Sorry I can’t do much to help, I’m relatively new to this college admission thing lol.

19

@confidentcorgi That’s okay, I appreciate any feedback people can give me just to get a better sense of what to aim for. Thanks so much! :slight_smile:

20

I’d say you have a better good shot. You have an outstanding gpa and great SAT scores. I would recommend taking more extra curricular activities in the field of your college major but otherthen that you have a great shot.