<p>These are my target schools: Notre Dame (EA), University of Michigan (EA), UCLA, Emory</p>
<p>I go to a competitive public school.
State: NJ
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Asian
Major: Finance (or Business Economics for UCLA)
Unweighted GPA: 3.5
Weighted GPA: 4.11
Ranking: No official ranking but approx. top 10%
SAT: 2310 (Reading: 760, Math: 770, Writing: 780)
Math 2 SAT II: 800
US History SAT II: 790
APs: 5 on Micro, Macro, Env. Science, US History, Language and Comp.
Senior Year: AP Calc AB, AP Physics 2, AP Euro, AP Lit, AP Psych
EC: Jazz Band, Volunteering at special-needs school, Quiz Bowl (Co-Captain), Boy Scouts (will get Eagle Scout this school year), Science/Spanish/Music/Social Studies/National Honor Society, Tutoring
Recs/Essays should be good</p>
<p>I know my GPA is low, but I've taken most of the hardest courses available and had a bad freshman year; and my grades improve each year. Hopefully, my rigorous courseload and high test scores can somewhat make up for my GPA.</p>
<p>FYI, my safeties are UW-Madison and Indiana University-Bloomington</p>
<p>you stand a pretty decent chance for all of your schools… but i think a 3.55 is low for even a bad freshman year. if anything family related was happening during that time, i would mention it in the additional info. section… other than that, pretty strong applicant-make sure you really make your essays shine</p>
<p>@1939er what i meant to say was that a bad gpa freshman year does not really drop you all the way down to a 3.55… so essentially i was WONDERING how your grades are now, regardless of the upward trend</p>
<p>A typical example of overloaded course rigor leading to a low GPA. That is something one should avoid if applying to top schools. The GPA is too low for UMich which does put emphasis on GPA in admission. What I have heard is UMich now include freshmen grades in GPA calculation. Your SAT score is very good though. Pre-admission at Ross (UMich) would be a definite reach. LSA may be low reach.</p>