Chance me please?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey there, I just joined this website and I’m trying to see what other people think of my application. I will be a senior in the 2017-2018 school year.

UW GPA: 3.5
W GPA: 4.2
Class Rank: Don’t know yet

SAT: 1430/1600 (but that was my first attempt with a stomachache. It will most likely go up after the August SAT)
SAT Subject: N/A (but I am taking Math II and Chemistry this coming Saturday for the June SAT)
ACT: N/A (not going to take it)

AP Classes: 11 in total
AP Government (3 - yes I know it’s a bad score, I underestimated the difficulty)
AP Chemistry (Still waiting for score)
AP English Language (Still waiting for score)
AP Calculus AB (Still waiting for score)
AP Computer Science A (Still waiting for score)
AP Physics C: Mechanics (Still waiting for score)
AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism (Will be taking next year)
AP Calculus BC (Will be taking next year)
AP English Literature (Will be taking next year)
AP Macroeconomics (Will be taking next year)
AP Computer Science Principles (Will be taking next year)

ECs/Clubs:
-First chair violist in upper school orchestra for freshman, sophomore, and junior year (2015 - Present)
-Computer Science Club: Developing Amazon’s Alexa to have unique responses to a human user input (2014-Present)
-Personal Coding Initiatives:
-Created a personal website using HTML/CSS (2016)
-Took multiple online classes on programming, including Java & Javascript (2014 – Present)
-Physics Olympics Team: Work collaboratively on a challenge to create a real-life model - we won Fourth Place in the Entire State (2016-Present)
-Science Olympiad Club: Solve challenging problems in physics and chemistry and prepare for competition in 2017 (2016 - Present)
-Math Team: Solve math challenges in timed competitions (2014 - 2015)
-It’s Academic Club : Prepare for general knowledge and current events challenges (2014 - 2015)
-Community Service - 400+ hours of community service, performing violin and Indian Percussion in local temples and performing arts centers. Have performed all over the world including Canada, United States, and India with professional artists. (2011 - Present)
-National Honor Society: Tutoring Students in Spanish/Algebra Courses
-Orchestra - Selected to play with the Local G/T Orchestra (2014-Present)
- Selected to play annually with professional members of the Symphony Orchestra (based on local city) (2014-Present)
- Selected for the 2015 Junior All-State Orchestra (March 2015)
-UNICEF Club- Vice President (2014-2015)
- Organized Fundraising Events – Raised the most money of all other schools in the County
- Personally raised the most money in the entire club as donations
-Cross Country (2015, 2017), Track and Field (2014-2015, 2017)

Other info: I’m 17 of South Indian origin, but I was born here. Planning to major in either Physics or Computer Science.

Colleges that I’m Thinking of Applying To: (it’s probably gonna be less than this, but here is a rough list)
-University of Maryland College Park (I have three relatives who go there now, one being my sister - idk if that matters)
-University of Maryland Baltimore County
-Georgia Institute of Technology
-University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign
-Purdue University
-University of Texas at Austin
-Pennsylvania State University
-University of Washington
-UCSD
-UCLA
-UC Irvine
-UMA Amherst
-Rochester Institute of Technology
-Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
-Worcester Polytechnic Institute

My questions:
-What are your opinions on my ECs?
-Which schools are a reach, and which schools are safety? Which schools do I have a good chance of getting into?

Thanks in advance, everyone!

2

Your GPA is a bit low, but everything else makes up for it. Retake your SAT, and you should be just fine! Your ECs are above average for the schools you are applying to, so I think you’ll get into a lot of them. The only reach, in my opinion, is UCLA; and even then, you never know!

3

UCLA, UT Austin, and UIUC are very high reaches for you.

4

I am a rising senior myself so I am unsure how accurate my advice/feedback will be, but I can tell you that based on your extracurriculars, you have a good shot at the schools you listed. However, your unweighted GPA and SAT score do seem a bit low for schools like UCLA, and perhaps even for Georgia Tech and UMA Amherst. If you are instate for any of these schools, it may help. I would advise you to retake the SAT as soon as you can (which it seems you are planning to do) and try to get above 1450 or 1500. Your extracurriculars are impressive, but I would suggest that you try to achieve something on a national level, that is widely known and recognized. This will definitely boost your profile. But, seeing things as they are now, you definitely have a good chance at the schools. Good luck!

5

-University of Maryland College Park Match but you won’t get in
-University of Maryland Baltimore County Match
-Georgia Institute of Technology Reach
-University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign Reach
-Purdue University Match
-University of Texas at Austin Match not worth it
-Pennsylvania State University Safety
-University of Washington Safety
-UCSD Match
-UCLA Reach
-UC Irvine Safety
-UMA Amherst safety but you won’t get in
-Rochester Institute of Technology Best Match
-Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Best Match
-Worcester Polytechnic Institute Best Match

6

Hi there, thanks for the reply but what do you mean by a “match but you won’t get in”? I thought that was contradictory.
(All respect to you)

7

Although legacy is claimed to be ‘considered’ on their common data set, I’m skeptical of that figure. You didn’t mention what state you are a resident in so it’s about a 1/50 chance that you live in Maryland and I know that it is very difficult to be accepted as an out of state to College Park. I could be totally wrong, you asked for opinions so take it with a grain of salt. I hope you get in to your favorite choice though.

8

Alright I’m sorry about that. I do live in Maryland, and I should have stated that in the original description. Sorry again, and thanks for the reply.

9

@GoRedhead how can you say University of Washington CS is a safety when they accept very few to their CS program. If applying to CS (like OP is), then this school is a reach. This is a very competitive major (the most in the whole school). Don’t let the high acceptance rate fool you. Do some research before giving advice.

10

University of Maryland College Park - Reach
-University of Maryland Baltimore County - Match
-Georgia Institute of Technology - Reach
-University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign - Reach
-Purdue University - Match
-University of Texas at Austin - Match
-Pennsylvania State University - Safety
-University of Washington - Safety
-UCSD - Match
-UCLA - Reach
-UC Irvine - Safety
-UMA Amherst - safety
-Rochester Institute of Technology - Match
-Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute - Match
-Worcester Polytechnic Institute - Match

11

@kjake2000 I never gave advice, I gave my opinion :wink:

Also, if we are talking about the same U of Wash located in Seattle, then yeah I still believe it would be a safety for OP. I checked the inside stats from USNews and the common data set and I’m very convinced it wouldn’t be difficult. You have the right to your opinion, allow me mine :slight_smile:

12

@GoRedhead UT Austin cannot be a match for OOS as there are not many seats left after in state auto admission. Particularly for OP with low GPA and mediocre test score.

13

@billcsho true true.

@MS2000
Ahhh you say you live in Maryland, cool.
I’d say the choice for me would be College Park and RPI.
The three important factors for me would be

  • Cost of Attendance plus travel costs
  • Enrollment population size
  • Desire to travel outside home location

Since I like small to medium in student population size, RPI would win for me, but ofcourse the final price of everything including coming home on the holidays and vacation time is a required concern. Good luck on your choices.

14

Washington’s Common Data Set reports the unweighted HS GPA of enrolled freshmen in 2016 as follows:

3.75 to 4.00: 65.40%
3.50 to 3.74: 25.96%
3.25 to 3.49: 6.20%
3.00 to 3.24: 1.89%
Under 3.00: 0.55%

The Common Data Set also reports that rigor of secondary school record, academic GPA, and application essays are “very important,” and standardized test scores, ECs, talent/ability, first generation, volunteer work, and work experience are “important.” Also “considered” in making admissions decisions are character/personal qualities and state residency.