Chance Me

Transfer Students
1

<p>African American male currently studying at a no-name, four-year state institution in Illinois as an Economics major, Japanese minor.</p>

<p>Current GPA is a 3.4
Courses taken last semester were Japanese 131A, Advanced Freshman Composition, Intro to Macroeconomics 240, Biology 202, and Anthropology 100 something or another.</p>

<p>This semester, I am taking Japanese 131B, a 400 level course in European literature, Economic Philosophies 306, and Introduction to Logic 100 something, and I am going to add a course, most likely something high level, so I can show admission counselors that I am taking challenging courses.</p>

<p>I am the web communications chairman for Blacks Interested in Business at my college, and I'm also a fundraising committee member. </p>

<p>Other organizations I am apart of are AltNews, a student run newscast, for which I would like to produce a segment on blacks who are learning Japanese (which, surprisingly, are a lot and are usually very enthusiastic about the language,like me), Japanese table, and Generation Change.</p>

<p>I am applying to these schools as an English major, while expressing interest in continuing my Japanese minor:</p>

<p>NYU Gallatin
Brandeis
UChicago (my absolute dream school)
Bard
Vassar
UIUC
Depaul
Loyola Chicago</p>

<p>I interviewed with UChi last week, and I don't think it went too badly, however, as I've learned from visiting this site, interviews really don't mean anything.</p>

<p>I also have two good recommendation letters from my English professor and my Japanese instructor.</p>

<p>Now onto the bad news. My GPA from high school was abysmal. In fact, I barely graduated high school, but during the middle of my senior year, I decided that I needed to go onto college and make good grades in order to make something of myself, because otherwise I'd be headed off to a path of poverty. I'd rather not say what my GPA was, but to give you folks an idea, it was definitely below a 2.0. My ACT also wasn't that great. It was a 24, however I did receive a 32 in English, but an embarrassingly low 18 in math. </p>

<p>With these factors, how well do I stand in gaining admission to these schools? I realize that for most (if not all) of them is very slim, but I would appreciate your honesty. </p>

<p>I really cannot stand the school I'm at right now, and I'd like to get out of here ASAP, so I'm applying for Fall '08 admission. </p>

<p>Also, are there other schools that I could apply to with a good Japanese and English program that I might have a chance at getting into, and would it be worth retaking the ACT even though I've already completed a semester of college?</p>

<p>Thanks,
Chad</p>

2

<p>congrats on the improvement!</p>

3

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>I thought about this message after I posted it, and realized that my HS GPA was actually around in the low 2's on a 4.0...still pretty terrible. We used a 5.0 grading scale, and I graduated with a 2.8. </p>

<p>Anyway, any comments would be helpful!</p>

4

<p>With your math score, I would suggest getting your college math requirement in. If you can do well, it will look good for you. I can't speak to whether or not you'll get into those schools, unfortunately. I know some students at Loyola, and they were very strong in high school, with excellent preparation for college. The more you have to show in terms of college work, the less your high school record will be considered. You should establish a relationship with adcoms at the schools. They can be very helpful ... that's their job!</p>

5

<p>BUMP. </p>

<p>Come on guys. I need all the help I can get.</p>

6

<p>You have very good improvement but I don't know if that is enough to compensate for a low college GPA (very low relative to UChicago's applicant pool) and poor HS record.</p>

<p>I think you have a good shot at UIUC, Depaul, and Loyola. I can't comment on Vassar, Bard, or NYU.</p>

<p>Try to take some math courses.</p>