Chance Me?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm currently a junior at a prestigious mid-Atlantic private high school, and I'm (obviously) stressing out about college at the moment. I'm hoping to major in Pathology (I'm sort of undecided), and minor in a language. Below are the school's I'd like to apply to:</p>

<p>My SUPER-UNLIKELY reach schools: Stanford, UPenn
My reach school: Duke
Plan to apply: Penn State (Schreyer's College), Notre Dame, U.N.C. Chapel Hill, Georgetown University
Safety: University of Southern California, Penn State (regular admission)</p>

<p>My Resume so far:</p>

<p>GPA on a 4.3 scale
Freshman Year - 2.9 (I absolutely BOMBED freshman year..)
Sophomore Year - 3.1
Junior Year - 3.8
<em>My advisor let me know I'm in the top 10% of the class this year, but I'm being horribly pessimistic until my term grades come in.</em></p>

<p>I currently take AP AB Calculus and AP Latin (my school only offers math and language AP courses)</p>

<p>I Scored a 2210 on my sophomore PSAT
<em>My junior year PSAT scores haven't come in yet</em>
I plan on taking SAT II's in Math II, Latin, and Biology</p>

<p>I've placed magna cum laude in the National Latin Exam since 7th grade
I've played alto-sax for 9 years; Symphonic Band since freshman year
I've just started an independent study in Anatomy & Physiology</p>

<p>Varsity Cheerleader - freshman, sophomore year
Varsity Cross Country - sophomore, junior year (I will be a captain next year)
Varsity Ice Hockey - 3 years (I will be a captain next year)
Varsity Track & Field - freshman year; injured sophomore year</p>

<p>Volunteer Work:
8 weeks a summer at an all day kids camp (3 years)
Library (50+ hrs)
Hospital (100+ hrs)</p>

<p>Clubs:
Speech & Debate - Original Oratory; P. Debate
Math Club
Pennsylvania Academy of Science</p>

<p>In deciding which colleges to apply to I'm looking at (in this order) school spirit, academic programs, athletic programs (I plan on running cross country in college), the financial resources of a school, semester-abroad opportunities, the sociability of the student body, and the alumni network.</p>

<p>I'm not worried about writing a quality essay, and I'm confident about taking standardized the SAT/ACT. I have good connections to two board members at PSU, a legacy family at UPenn, and an alumnus from Duke, but I have no idea if/how much that would help me. I just hope my total GPA hasn't sunk me. For what it's worth an all-around 4.3 is unheard of at my school...</p>

<p>Please be BRUTALLY honest about my chances of getting into the colleges I've listed. Also, if anything I listed looks suspiciously like resume fluff don't hesitate to call me out on it; I love constructive criticism.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance for answering, its really appreciated!!</p>

2

<p>OK, your request for brutal honesty makes this much easier. I will be brutally honest:</p>

<p>Absolutely forget Stanford, Penn, Duke. They are not worth the time you’d spend on the apps. Legacy or no legacy. Penn and Duke would have needed to see you as an ED applicant for a legacy bump. No big issue though, you would not have gotten in early either. And for USC to be a safety you’d need a really great hook there…</p>

<p>Yes, you’re GPA sinks you. Top colleges will not overlook two really bad years. Especially from someone attending a prestigious private school capable of getting strong SAT scores. They say slacker and move on.</p>

3

<p>USC is not a saftey for anyone</p>

4

<p>Duke penn stanford and gtown are really unlikely too. I would say UNC is a reach</p>

5

<p>Duke, Penn, Stanford, USC, UNC, and Georgetown are long shots.</p>

6

<p>You should not be considering Georgetown a match, honestly. Your best bet is to get into a lower grade college and try to transfer into one of the ones you listed because I don’t suspect your cumulative GPA is going to be very good…</p>

7

<p>Haha I really can believe you had USC as a saftey. Was that a mistake?</p>

8

<p>Taking a second look I realized that what I had been reading as “USC” is actually “UCSC”… with a 65% acceptance rate.</p>

<p>Is there anything I can further do to offset my GPA? Any suggestions welcome!</p>

9

<p>If you want to maximize your chances stop analyzing colleges and focus on doing well in your studies as well as preparing for the SAT. Be more productive with your time.</p>

<p>Chance me?
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1246909-chances-cal-poly-ed-engineering-major.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1246909-chances-cal-poly-ed-engineering-major.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;