Chance me please (UCs, JHU, CMU, NWU, Michigan, Tufts...etc)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I go to an American school in Asia (that should tell you how competitive it is lol)
I've got an okay GPA, but my SAT and ECs are probably only average.</p>

<p>Courseload (most demanding):</p>

<p>Freshmen:
English 9 B/B+
Social Studies 9 B+/B+
Geo w/ Proof B/B+
Introductory Chem/Physics A-/A+
Mandarin 4 A/A
Orchestra B+/A-
PE/Health B+/A-</p>

<p>Sophomore:
English 10 B+/A-
Social Studies 10 A-/A
Honors Alg 2/Trig A-/B
Honors Biology A-/A-
Honors Mandarin 5 A/A+
Orchestra A/A
PE/Health A/A</p>

<p>Junior:
IBSL English Yr 1 A-/A-
IBSL History B+/A-
IBHL Math Yr 1/Honors Precalculus C+/B- (AHHH!!)
IBHL Chinese Yr 1 A+/A
AP Biology A-/A
Honors Chemistry B-/B+ (Sighh.)
Orchestra A/A</p>

<p>Senior:
IBSL English Yr 2
IBSL/AP Economics
IBHL Math Yr 2/AP Caluclus BC
IBHL Chinese Yr 2
AP Chemistry
AP Environmental Science
US History
Orchestra</p>

<p>GPA:
UC GPA: 3.98
Unweighted 3.6
Weighted: 3.8
-Hope to get it up to a 3.87 after this semester (our school only adds 0.5 to our GPA for honors, AP, and IB classes)</p>

<p>SAT I:
01/2008 630R, 710M, 640W 1980 Total
-Retaking this October, think I can get a high 2100 maybe even low 2200</p>

<p>SAT II:
Biology M: 790
Math II: 800
Japanese: 760
Chinese: 800</p>

<p>AP/IB:
2007 - AP Japanese 5 (self-studied)
2007 - AP Chinese 5
2008 - AP Biology 5
2008 - IB History SL 6</p>

<p>ECs:
-VP(10), P(11), Treasurer(12) of green club
-VP(11), P(12) of cooking club
-Activities Head (11) of National Honor Society
-Tri-M Music Honor Society (11-12)
-Chinese Honor Society (10-12)
-Orphanage Club (9-10)
-Student Government (9-11)
-Principal Cellist (9) and Principle Bassist (10-12) at the orchestra
-Worked at a coffee shop for two years as a waiter (10-11)
-Summer internship at an advertising firm (11)
-Volunteered at the Salvation Army and helped homeless people in the community (11-12)
-Volunteered at a local blind school to teach English (9-10) </p>

<p>Can you guys please chance me on these schools?
And maybe suggest some safety schools for me...don't think i have enough.</p>

<p>Carnegie Mellon U
Johns Hopkins U
Northwestern U [legacy]
Babson College [legacy]
Boston U
U of Rochester
UCSD, UCLA, UCD, UCB
Tufts U
U of Washington
UIUC
U Michigan</p>

2

<p>If you can get that sat score 2000+, then I'd say your very close to a match for the UC's.</p>

<p>don't know about the others..</p>

3

<p>Sorry, I don't mean to be rude/mean, but I want to be honest. Tufts would be a dream school for you. Simply put, your GPA and your SAT scores are not even remotely close to their standards. My sister, a valedictorian from a prestigious Catholic school, with 2240 SAT scores, and unbelievable recs/ECs, got flat out rejected from ED to Tufts. Granted she is at Holy Cross now, and happy, she loved Tufts. Same goes for UCB, JHU and Northwestern, although legacy will help, your weighted GPA and your SATs are a serious burden on your application.</p>

<p>As for safties, I think BU is possibly a safety for you, or even a match, as is U Washington. Try looking into some more semi-prestigious state schools, which are always easier than the private schools. Good luck though!</p>

4

<p>GPA and SAT I's are sort of low, but those SAT IIs and APs are pretty awesome!</p>

<p>Reach:
Johns Hopkins
Carnegie Mellon
UCLA
Berkeley</p>

<p>Maybe?:
Northwestern
UMichigan
Tufts (colleges can be weird, but I think you might have a shot)</p>

<p>Good Chance:
URochester
UCSD</p>

<p>Match/LowMatch:
UWashington
UCD
UIUC
Boston U</p>

<p>Don't really know about Babson...</p>

5

<p>^You totally underrated admission difficulty for Northwestern. Here are stats from the latest US News:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>SAT mid-50% range:
Northwestern 1350-1520
Tufts 1340-1490
Johns Hopkins 1290-1500
Carnegie Mellon 1290-1490</p></li>
<li><p>Freshmen in top 10% of HS class
Northwestern 85%
Johns Hopkins 82%
Tufts 80%
Carnegie Mellon 73%</p></li>
</ol>

6

<p>junshik:
Thanks, will work really hard to bring those SAT up...</p>

<p>mooseman976:
Thanks for the suggestion, I know my GPA is really low...
But my school only adds 0.5 to weighted courses, so if I add 1.0 then my weighted GPA for 9-11 is 3.983/5, and for 10-11 is 4.218/5.
Does this change anything?
I'd assume colleges recalculate our GPA or am I mistaken?</p>

<p>raysurace:
Thanks!</p>

<p>Sam Lee:
Wow, that's pretty tough...</p>

7

<p>I put maybe because of the legacy. ;)</p>

8

<p>An AP class should raise that courses GPA by one full point. For instance, a B in an AP course, rather than a 3.0 goes in as a 4.0. So yes, this does change it substantially. Most colleges will recalculate your GPA using this system, or whichever system they personally prefer. Honors courses generally bump it up by .5 points.</p>

<p>Hope that helps in explaining it. Go with the 1.0 for APs.</p>

9

<p>Will the C+/B- in honors precalculus hurt me significantly?
I'm struggling again in Calc BC now, have a C+.
If I go down to AB however,
it's probably an A/A+ because 2/3 of the AB materials were covered in honors precalc.</p>

<p>Should I go to AB and prove that I'm not bad at math?
Or should I stick with BC and get a B-/B at best?</p>