Chance me???

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I am a jr at a prep school in NY and im looking to apply to the following colleges sr year:</p>

<p>Columbia (ED)
Duke
Georgetown
Notre Dame
Rice
Fordham (safety, my school is a pipeline)
NYU (safety)</p>

<p>My freshman GPA was a 3.75 uw, 3.95 w, which isnt tht great. I took all honors and got 5 As, a B+ and a B.</p>

<p>Due to a major distractrion around midterms, my soph GPA sucked: 3.57 uw, 3.86 w. I took AP world history (4 on teh test), 5 honors classes and reg chem. I got 3 As 2 B+s and 2 Bs.</p>

<p>This leaves me with a 3.65 uw and 3.9 w. Ive done the math and i can get the uw to 3.77 if i get my straight A's and the w to over 4.2 fr my jr year. Im taking three APs (max), 3 honors, and an independednt science research class.</p>

<p>My SAT IIs were 780 (world history) and 660 (literature). Taking US history at years end, maybe Bio too. I plan to take the SAT january and june thsi year (2200+ goal), ACT prob in like march.</p>

<p>ECs:</p>

<p>Football (9, 10 (Varsity), 11 (Varsity), gonna be 12)
Wrestling (10 (took 6th at states, but this was the distraction, so i dropped it))
Diversity Alliance (9, 10,11, gonna be 12)
NHS (joining this year)
Kawaida club (9, 10, 11, gonna do 12)
Indoor Track (9)
Outdoor Track (9) i placed at sectionals
Spech and debate (this year, nxt year)
Plan to be the founder of schools first photography club as soon as i find a teacher to be the head.</p>

<p>Summer:
Participated in the Columbia High School Program (International political economics course)</p>

<p>Ill have 100+ hours of community service by the time I'm applying.</p>

<p>How much will the independent research class help, if anything?</p>

<p>African Male, been living in America fr seven years. Help or hurt? Also, would it be a big help if i could get a rec letter from a nigerian diplomat?</p>

2

<p>I only know Duke and Columbia, so those are the only two I can chance you for here. Given that,</p>

<p>There’s two possibilities with your application:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>You’re an international, in which case weak extracurriculars and a low GPA will kill your chances at either school - you’re looking at a probable rejection.</p></li>
<li><p>You’re an American citizen/permanent resident, in which case your minority status and decent grades make both schools reasonable reaches.</p></li>
</ol>

3

<p>Ok thnanks for that because my friend told me that international actually helped if u were weak in other areas. Well if thats the situation ill be sure to emphasize the permanent resident thing.</p>

<p>Would the SAT score that i plan to get (2200+) improve my shot even if they took me as an international?</p>

<p>And, lastly, theres supposed to be a part of the app where u make a personal statement or sumthin. Would explaining that the wrestling destroyed my midterm/semester/year grades (my coach didnt get that “student-athlete” meant that we should prctic less during midterms, not more) help or hurt?</p>

4

<p>Getting over 2200+ would help. Getting over 2300+ is great, but not absolutely necessary (although it doesn’t hurt to try :p)</p>

<p>As for your last statement, I’m sure you probably didn’t mean it this way, but it seems like you may be using wrestling as an “excuse” for your GPA, which doesn’t look too good. Instead, maybe describe exactly what your coach made you do that was so tiring/distracting that you absolutely could not study, no matter what you tried. Merely having too much practice doesn’t seem to cut it (for me at least if I was an admissions officer). </p>

<p>And as sniper said, make sure you emphasize where you’re from.</p>

<p>As for ED, I’d say take some more tests, get some higher scores, and then move on from there.</p>

5

<p>Not going for that at all, but thnx for the tip. Midterms at my school are placed exactly when the wrestling season has its toughest tournaments, so the practices were more intense and longer, and idk if every admissions guy would get it but studying for the midterms I had (tough sched) when you’re both dead tired and thinking too much about ur next match is challenging (this actually sounds like an excuse rite now, ill make it sound better). Also, We had a wrestling meet on the weekend before the second day so that took up a whole day of studying gone. All the other coaches let kids out early; we stayed late. The veteran wrestlers dealt with it better because they had gone through it already; i was unprepared for how hard balancing the two would be.</p>

<p>Too much like an excuse? Sorry for making it so long btw</p>

6

<p>As much as you have my sympathies, it still kind of sounds like an excuse to me… Especially the “all the other coaches let their kids out early” part. If I were an officer, there is a chance that I may think that you should have quit wrestling altogether or skip a tourney (let’s hope the officer isn’t that cranky).</p>

<p>However, there IS a way to make this work to your advantage. In your common app essay, you could write about how you overcame this injustice and worked hard etc. without making it sound generic :p</p>

7

<p>If you are a permanent resident, you are not considered an international student.</p>

<p>Ok, so you had a bad semester. But your other semester grades are all A’s? The other thing - I would reconsider ED, you can show you have all A’s in your senior first semester for RD. About sports, my D’s coach always said - studies come first, if you think you are going to compromise your grades for sports (and you are not a potential recruit-able athlete), skip the sport. Or drop out that week and if means no team, no team. I think colleges like to see how you handled multi-tasking so saying anything else could be considered an excuse.</p>

<p>Another thing - about recommendation from nigerian diplomat, that is considered ‘fluff’ unless you really worked at the embassy or did some great charity and he could really vouch for you …just my opinion here.</p>

<p>Just read your post again…you are still a junior? Or is that a mistake?</p>

8

<p>if you can get recruited for one of your sports, you’re in. but you have to be OUTSTANDING for that</p>

9

<p>2016parent i actually am considering the internship but i have to wait a while fr any confirmation. Yes im a junior, im trying to get straight As this year and first sem sr year. Lol my coach said “studies are important, but wrestling is whats important during the season.” hated that guy, but i will prob take your advice, leave the excuse out, and just try to show them an upward trend. </p>

<p>mmmgirl yea im strting a highlight reel for football already</p>

10

<p>Can i get more opinions or has everything already been said?</p>