Chance me please?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Washington
1

<p>I would like to attend to attend the University of Washington - Seattle and my intended major would be Biomedical Sciences leading to Medical School</p>

<p>I would also like to minor in Economics.</p>

<p>I have attended the college visit at my high school with a UW rep and I will be visiting the campus (tour and admissions session) next month.</p>

<p>Details:</p>

<p>Rising Senior at a very competitive high school in Texas which is ranked in the top 40 public schools in the nation.</p>

<p>SAT: 2210 (2230 Superscore)
M- 740
W-770
R-700 (720 for Superscore)</p>

<p>ACT: 34 (actually a 34.25)(Should I retake?)
E-35
M-32 (Sort of mad since I could have had a 35 composite if I was 1 point higher on M)
R-34
S-36 (Pretty happy about this!)</p>

<p>Both tests can be retaken if you think it would boost my chances by a lot but I would prefer to focus on subject tests (Math II and Biology) ----> suggestions welcome.</p>

<p>GPA (Weighted, 5.0 Scale): 4.62
GPA (Un-Weighted) : 3.3333</p>

<p>AP Classes taken/currently taking:</p>

<p>AP Economics
AP Government
AP Biology - 4
AP Physics
AP Calculus AB
AP Statistics - 4
AP Psychology - 4
AP US History - 3
AP World History - 3
AP English III - 4
AP English IV
AP Environmental Science
AP Computer Science </p>

<p>Other notable classes taken:</p>

<p>3 Years of Language - Spanish
Took IB classes in World Area Studies and Science (Accel.)
Pre-AP/Pre-IB Classes in all core subjects during Freshman/Sophomore Years</p>

<p>Explanation for Low (in my opinion) GPA:</p>

<p>Sophomore year I overloaded on classes taking AP US History, AP Comp Sci., Pre-AP/Pre-IB/Honors Pre-Cal, Pre-AP/Pre-IB Honors Spanish, etc.</p>

<p>Pre-Cal was a struggle and I got a C (only C in my life). It didn't help that I had the same ineffective math teacher for two years in a row (Algebra II in 9th) and I had to learn everything out of the book. Algebra II grade was a B+ but it was also a challenge considering my teacher was very poor at teaching ( She is no longer at my school, I believe she was fired so this could help my case????) and thus my fundamentals going into Pre-Cal were not very strong. I bounced back in AP Stats Junior Year (A+ both semesters) and AP Calculus AB this year has started out great with an A!</p>

<p>Also, as I expected, AP US History was extremely difficult but at the end of the course I did have good grasp on the subject.</p>

<p>Besides the Pre-Cal debacle, I got all A's and B's in sophomore year with a great improvement in grades junior year so Upward trending.</p>

<p>ECs:</p>

<p>Engineering Club Member for 3 years - no leadership positions but I did have steady commitment </p>

<p>Chess Club - Played in state tournaments as well as regional ones; USCF Member</p>

<p>Piano - Played for over 7 years now; many recitals and performances as well as great scores on music theory exams and a progression through the levels of examination</p>

<p>Tennis - Had training lessons every weekend for about 2 years. I now play 3-6 hours every weekend so still committed.
Participated in 4-5 Regional Tournaments (ZAT) and reached the Semi-Finals twice!</p>

<p>100+ Hours of Volunteering at 2 Different Local Hospitals - had a more in depth experience my junior year as I was in the OR wing and had consistent exposure, experience and participation. Was more like a internship my junior year as I was an integral part of the Sterile Processing Branch and I learned so much about hospital protocol, surgery, etc.</p>

<p>Leader of my community's local Math Pentathlon Program - 4 years (all of high school)</p>

<p>Led about 80 kids every year; taught math based games for grades K-5; each year we did very well in the final tournament for Texas. Also developed strong relationships with many parents and overall made a positive impact.</p>

<p>Academic Awards:</p>

<p>Kumon J200 Math and J200 Reading Awards</p>

<p>High School Honor Roll/Academic Excellence Award</p>

<p>AP Scholar with Distinction Award</p>

<p>Work/Hobby:</p>

<p>I run my own online business and have been doing so for about 2 years. I have served customers in over 20 different countries around the world. Learned a lot about dealing with people from different cultures/countries and about business principles such as profit, opportunity cost, revenue, and markets, etc.Overall a good experience and something different and unique. ------> Interest in Economics</p>

<p>Special Circumstances: From 1st to 3rd grade, my mother fell terribly ill and ultimately needed to have open heart surgery to replace 2 of her heart valves. My brother was barely one year old at the time so my father took care of him almost exclusively obviously. As a young child not being able to ask your mom to do even the basic things was very hard and I had to learn to be independent and self-sufficient at a young age. Also, the confusion that I felt over what was going on was very strong. Overall, I believe this experience led to my passion in Medicine/Biomedical Science (other factors did contribute as well).</p>

<p>Sorry if the post was a bit much to read but that is pretty much everything I can think of. Thanks in advance! :)</p>

2

<p>Nice SAT and ACT scores!
Great amount of AP classes!
Decent G.P.A. though, a little below average of the typical incoming students (around 3.7).
I guess your excuses are okay… just because it’s “super difficult,” doesn’t mean you do bad at it, as long as it was outside’s fault (such as your teacher).</p>

<p>Good amount of extracurricular though and explanation.</p>

<p>You have a pretty good chance. All you need to worry is about your essay, who you are, and your additional comments that brings you out or explain what had went wrong (though it’s not best to do this unless it was like a personal family issue or such, no excuses).</p>

3

<p>@Mewtwo‌
Thanks so much! I’m debating whether or not talking about Pre-Cal because I don’t want to come off as someone who puts the blame on others, I still should have done better in the class. What do you think? </p>

4

<p>You will probably get in, but you will not get much financial aid. Certainly not merit aid. Likely only loans. UW is one of those state schools which likes to charge out of state students lots of money in order to keep from having to raise rates on in state students.</p>

<p>The UW website is fairly explicit about this. It says “Academic Scholarships are awarded to a limited number of undergraduate students who are legal residents of Washington state… Our scholarship programs are highly competitive as we have more talented students than we have scholarship funds.”
<a href=“Student Financial Aid”>Student Financial Aid;

5

<p>Ok, thanks. I am only worried about the GPA but I feel I have enough to compensate from the other parts of my app. I sort of figured I wouldn’t receive much financial aid. I just wanted an idea of whether this school was a high reach, low reach, target, or safety just in case my other options did not work out.</p>

6

<p>Worse case scenario, the UW is a match and probably a safety. You will be fine.</p>

7

<p>Ok, thanks. Gives me a little bit of confidence as I start submitting applications!</p>