So I’ve got sort of a weird admissions profile.
The good news is that I scored a 2370 on my first sitting at the SAT (CR 800 / M 780 / W 790), I’m the student body president of my high school (large school in Central New Jersey), I took 4 AP courses as a junior and am taking 5 as a senior (3 on Physics I, 4 on US History & US Gov, 5 on English Comp Exams), and I like to think my essay was pretty good.
The major tough spot is my GPA/class rank - I am 109th in a class of 465 with an unweighted GPA of around 3.7 (4.18 weighted). My grades have taken an upward trajectory - no C’s on the transcript but my freshman year I had 5 B’s and 2 A’s and by junior year that ratio was reversed, and I have always taken the hardest possible courses (except for opting to take AP Calculus AB rather than BC - math is not my forte.) I was a National Merit Commended Student (211 on PSAT) and an AP Scholar with Honor. I plan to take all 5 exams for the courses I am taking this year (although I may opt for Physics C rather than Physics II come test day.) I also took 3 SATIIs - Physics, Math 2 and US History - and am awaiting results. It should also be noted that I took three years of Italian and I mentioned on my applications that I keep up with my studies alone and am a fairly competent speaker (though not fluent by any stretch of the imagination.)
Senior Year Courses:
AP Calculus AB
AP Psychology
AP Statistics
AP English Literature
AP Physics II
Phys Ed/Health
Peer Leadership (leadership/community service/communication course)
Extra Curricular Activities
School President
I run the entire social media presence of my high school and have received acclaim from local media for same.
I manage 3 varsity sports and am the only manager in school history to receive a varsity letter (this is noted in my application and one of my letters of recommendation)
National Honor Society
Students Helping Honduras
Various political campaigns and organizations
Boy Scouts (Life scout, served as Senior Patrol Leader)
Work experience as a clerk in a legal office and as an SAT Tutor
Oh, extenuating circumstances: September transfer as a freshman, numerous deaths in the family, and having spent the past two years spending a good amount of time caring for my father who is a cancer patient.
I am applying to the following schools, all to the liberal arts school or equivalent as either undecided or as a political science or communications major:
UNC - Chapel Hill
Georgetown (legacy - my brother is a current student)
Cornell (legacy - both of my parents and both of my mother’s parents are alumni)
Syracuse
Minnesota
UNH - Durham
TCNJ
Rutgers - New Brunswick
and potentially to:
Hamilton College
UMD - College Park
Penn State - State College
Dartmouth (legacy - my mother’s father is an alumnus)
Brandeis
So, lay it on me. Does my low GPA break me as an applicant? What’re my odds for those schools?
Thanks for your time and responses!!
I also don’t really have a super-compelling hook like a refugee story or something, my essay is about how getting cut from the basketball team became a blessing in disguise and that’s the closest thing I have to a good story. I have two siblings in college (a sister at Tufts and a brother at Georgetown) and my mother’s father came from significant money which makes me something like a 9th-generation college student, no luck there. My family isn’t particularly wealthy - right around average for our area - and I go to public school as did both of my siblings.
Despite your rank, certain academic aspects of your application, such as the way you have balanced your SAT II subject tests, will be very impressive to anyone reading your file, at least if they are paying attention. I think you will do well, though as you have indicated yourself, you might be one of the more difficult cases in terms of estimating your actual chances. For two selective schools which fit your profile better than most, consider Wesleyan and Bates, at which more students originated outside of the the top 10% of their HS classes than some of their peers (recently 36% and 31%, respectively).
Vassar as well may be good to research (30% outside the top 10% and their acceptance rate is higher for male applicants). Add any school you like, but don’t think of yourself as a student who will have to compromise excessively by including colleges that are not generally suitable for you.
I think you’ll get into all your schools except for Dartmouth and Georgetown and possibly Brandeis (unless you apply ED). Given your legacy status, you’ll most likely get into Cornell but you’ll have to apply ED for it to matter.
Brandeis is another good example of a school that leaves room for students outside the top 10% of their HS class (29%), with 8% coming from outside the top quarter.
You rank in the top 25% which certainly is respectable. A lot will depend on how your high school is perceived by colleges. If it is well regarded and viewed as rigorous then don’t worry too much as you have a tough class schedule and good upward trajectory. But if your high school is more mediocre or known for a lot of grade inflation, then your rank will hurt you more. But either way, you are a strong candidate and likely will have choices come April. Good luck
Soze: My mother’s father was an undergraduate at Dartmouth and then got his J.D. at Cornell Law. I figured it wouldn’t mean as much, but I figured it would at least count for a little bit.
Wisteria: Thank you for the advice, my school wouldn’t be regarded as rigorous, but I don’t think there’s any sort of mediocrity or grade inflation. Last year we had kids go to Penn (our valedictorian even got in to Wharton), Johns Hopkins, Princeton, etc.
Cappex: No, I did not unfortunately. Perhaps I should’ve, as I hear it sort of erases my legacy status.
If you are currently taking Physics II, you should not take the Physics C AP test. It is a different class with different content and requires calculus which it sounds like is not your strength.
My Physics teacher has advised that I might end up wanting to go with Physics C as I have been struggling with some of the more advanced conceptual bits of Physics II while mechanics was a breeze for me. But you’re right, I’m barely above water in Calc AB and that might be an issue.