Chance Me, Please!!! 2300 SAT low GPA!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey Everyone,
I would like to know my chances to attend the following colleges. While I can't give you money for your advice, I will be very grateful and thankful, after all, it is almost thanksgiving :)
UC Berkeley (College of Engineering)
UC San Diego (College of Engineering)
UC Santa Barbara (College of Engineering)
Case Western (EA)
Cornell (ED) (College of Agriculture and Life Sciences)
Dartmouth
Georgia Tech (EA)
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (Priority) (College of Engineering)
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (College of Engineering)
University of Washington
BTW I am also applying to Rutgers New Brunswick and Penn State, University Park but have already been accepted. I don't really want to go to either of these, though. </p>

<p>Personal information:
Home: Plainsboro NJ
Languages: English, French, Tamil
Ethnicity: Asian Indian
Citizenship: US Citizen
Family Information: Live with both parents (both educated to Master's). Family Income >$500,000 </p>

<p>Education:
School: West Windsor Plainsboro High School South, Ranked 11th in nation by US News for STEM. Blue Ribbon school. Highest average SAT scores in NJ.
GPA: 3.24 Unweighted, 3.81 Weighted
Rigor of Curriculum: 3 honors courses Freshman year
1 AP 3 honors courses Sophomore year
3 AP courses 2 honors courses Junior Year
4 AP courses, 1 honors course Senior Year
SAT Reasoning: 2320 combined, 740 CR, 800 M, 780 W
SAT Subject Tests: 800 Math II, 770 US History, 750 Biology
AP Tests: 5 Biology, 5 European History, 4 US History, 4 Calculus AB
Honors: National Merit Scholar Semifinalist (PSAT 229), AP scholar with Honor</p>

<p>Extracurricular Activities:
2 internships in Computers/Engineering with local consulting firms
3 Season varsity runner (not recruitment level though :(
President of 2 Clubs
Section Leader in Regional Honors Band and Saxophone Ensemble
Passed Grade 8 in Piano ABRSM exam</p>

<p>Essays:
On a scale from 1-10, probably an 8. My teachers were impressed and said they sound very passionate.</p>

<p>Circumstances: Have family problems. Talked to my counselor about them. Not too significant, but they're probably in my rec. I didn't talk about them in my app though.</p>

<p>Interviews:
I interview well but have not had a formal one yet. </p>

<p>Thanks so much! I really appreciate your input as you will guide what other schools I decide to apply to! I don't mind filling out more apps. Really, I actually enjoy writing the essays and I'm not paying the app fees :)</p>

2

<p>What is a 3.24 converted to 100 scale exactly? Also, everything else looks solid</p>

3

<p>A 3.24 are grades that are mostly B’s. I’d put it at around an 85 on a 100 scale.</p>

4

<p>illinois only cares about reading and math scores and they throw out your writing and they focus on math for engineers…
if your math score is good ill say yes</p>

<p>i think ull get into g tech, washington and maybe ann arbor
the rest are reaches because they do care more about GPA… ur internships look promising though. idk the details of them tho. it also depends on the rigor of your school and the grades u got in physics and math classes. and engineering colleges are just harder to get into in general. dont worry tho… ull get into either illinois, michigan, g tech… & deff washington
good luck</p>

5

<p>woah, im in the same sitation down here in california bro, bad gpa good sat, asain indian, eng/spanish/tamil. any more feedback?</p>

6

<p>Dartmouth: Reach
Cornell: Low Reach, Maybe Berkeley as well</p>

<p>Rest are matches/safeties</p>

7

<p>haha dude I don’t have any advice. Hopefully these other ppl can help us. i really wish i had a high gpa low sat. I heard that’s a lot easier to deal with.</p>

8

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haha dude I don’t have any advice. Hopefully these other ppl can help us. i really wish i had a high gpa low sat. I heard that’s a lot easier to deal with.</p>

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I have 800’s in math ii and math on the SAT I. I’ve never gotten an A in a math class though… But I did get an A in chemistry honors.</p>

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<p>your credentials are pretty good and colleges might be willing to focus a little less on your lower gpa and i know this b/c i have seen people getting into some of those with much lower sat scores. Good Luck!</p>

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<p>thanks. I was also wondering if any one else had any advice. I know it’s rather late in the application process, but is there anything you guys advice me to do? BTW my unweighted is 3.24/4 and the weighted is 3.81/5</p>

11

<p>I’m pretty sure that a 3.24 unweighted GPA is well below the acceptance level for UIUC and probably most of the engineering programs, as well. Bioengineering is hot and has the highest standards for acceptance. There’s no question that you are bright, but your GPA screams “slacker!” Such students tend to not do well in engineering and are among the 70% or so who change intended majors because the workload is just too intense.</p>

<p>At UIUC, at least, you are automatically considered for acceptance as an undeclared major if the School of Engineering turns you down. So you will probably get a chance there or elsewhere to prove yourself. Seriously reconsider if it’s worth it to you, or just something your parents expect, because you’ll need to be working long hours 7 days a week with no social life if you hope to get halfway decent grades and stay with the program.</p>

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<p>I’m aware of this, but I’ve also performed well in science and math classes. In AP Biology, chemistry honors, and AP Calculus AB, I received A’s. Frankly, the reason my GPA is so low is that I got C’s in classes that I decided to slack off in, such as french and required classes, (health home econ etc). It seems that I do work in subjects that I’m interested in, but not always: Right now in Calc BC I have a B… I also know that at UIUC bioengineering is very hard to get into. luckily, i have learned that at many of my other schools, adcoms do not admit by majors. I really appreciate your input, nonetheless, because I didn’t know engineering was so demanding and taxing and all. I have spoken with bioengineering students at Uwashington, Gtech and others, and they’ve told me they get some time to socialize even though their course work is demanding. I had a view, for some reason, that eng at UIUC wasn’t that hard. Thanks for informing me and all!</p>

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<p>Some people can understand a new math or science concept almost immediately after being presented with it; others need lots of practice and repetition. If you got high A’s with minimal effort in high school, you may well have time to do well and socialize, too. Unfortunately, those who got low A’s in high school math and science classes (usually with bonuses for just turning in homework on time) will generally find themselves struggling, because almost no HS science/math B-students try to become engineers and the test curve will quickly kill anyone who can’t learn this material fairly quickly. Even so, labs can be quite time-consuming, relative to other types of classes.</p>

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<p>The school itself isn’t all that hard overall, if you major in liberal arts or agriculture. But engineering/CS majors are the toughest to complete.</p>

14

<p>Unfortunately, low GPA and high SAT scores are a worse combination than the other way around. </p>

<p>UC Berkeley (College of Engineering) - Reach
UC San Diego (College of Engineering) - Low Reach
UC Santa Barbara (College of Engineering) - High Match
Case Western (EA) - Low Reach
Cornell (ED) (College of Agriculture and Life Sciences) - Low Reach
Dartmouth - Highly Unlikely
Georgia Tech (EA) - Match
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (Priority) (College of Engineering) - High Match
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (College of Engineering) - High Match
University of Washington - Match</p>

15

<p>So overall, with Rutger’s and Penn state already accepted, do you think I’ve applied to a good spread of colleges? BTW I have just finished applying to all the other UC schools. Also about what percent chance is a Low Reach? 30? 40%? Cornell is of course my top choice and I am really anxious for Dec 15.</p>

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<p>I think Berkely would prolly be a match if not OOS. Only because OOS might be a slight reach.</p>

17

<p>for some reason I heard Berkeley is easier Out of State. They want more tuition or something. Guess that’s not true :(</p>

18

<p>UCSB- yes
UCSD- maybe ish. They reject a lot of people with 2350s.
UCB- they care a lot about GPA but idk maybe. If your applying under engineering I’m going to say no
UIUC- yes
Gtech-yes</p>