<p>Could you chance my brother please? We're trying to decide which colleges he should apply to. He's dead set on going to NYU for their film program but he may be hindered by his GPA, lack of extracurriculars, and the fact that he's never made a film. Any suggestions are appreciated :)</p>
<p>GPA: 3.6-3.7 (weighted) 3.4-3.5 unweighted
Class Rank: 100 out of 600
School: Valencia High School, public high school in California
SAT Reading: 760
SAT Math: 700
SAT Writing: 700
Total - 2160
SAT II US History:790 Math II: 770 Bio:740
4 APs total, all 5s
Took 3 years Hebrew to earn Foreign Language Credit
Not the most rigorous curriculum Freshman and Sophomore years, but all APs and one honors junior year.
Senior year: H Econ, AP Physics, AP Lit, Concert Choir, Journalism</p>
<p>Teacher Reccomendations: Very Good
Essay: Good, about his passion for videogames</p>
<p>He's interested in film, art history, economics, and business.
Chances for NYU/U of Chicago/UCSB/anywhere else that would be a good match for him?
Thanks a ton.</p>
<p>If I were an adcom I'd be leery about an essay about videogames. Unless he designs/codes them, I'm not sure it would be wise to talk about a normally considered "lazy" past time.</p>
<p>writing about video games could work depending on your approach. If he talks about certain aspects of video games (fantasy, dreaming, etc) that have impacted his character/way of thinking, then I think it could turn out to be unique. But sparkinthedark is right still, it can be very risky, so make sure your brother writes it correctly.</p>
<p>Is he applying ED to NYU?
His 1460 is above NYU's 75th SAT percentile, so despite his 'low' grades, he should be fine.
Obviously, his chances would be better for ED than RD.</p>
<p>Tisch doesn't care about GPA/SAT that much (but his are decent) they care a lot about the films...so if he hasn't made any, that's gonna be a problem</p>
<p>I think he'd get into NYU CAS ED, if he wants to do Econ or Art History (honestly, if I were you, I would tell him not to do art history as a major). For business, Stern would be a reach.</p>
<p>Thanks guys! We successfully applied ED to NYU's art history program (too late to change it to economics, we already put down art history and he wrote a short essay about it >.<) and now we're just waiting to hear back.
Hmmm...UCLA, Cal, and USC all sound really good for him, I'll have him check it out.
Thanks again :)</p>
<p>UCSB in. Your brother should also think about UCI and Davis. I also know USC and UCLA have strong film programs. Those schools are probably reaches though.</p>
<p>Essay about video games could be interesting esp if he really distinguished himself in that area (ie maybe awards or a job programming). The UCSB rep who came to my school actually talked about an essay that he read about a kid who won an award in a video game tournament and how he really thought it was interesting/unique. :).</p>
<p>"He's dead set on going to NYU for their film program but he may be hindered by his GPA, lack of extracurriculars, and the fact that he's never made a film."
lmaoooooooooo</p>
<p>Update: He was unfortunately rejected from NYU, now we're waiting to hear back from the UCs and trying to find some small schools he can apply to because my parents think he lacks discipline. Any schools that meet his SAT scores and GPA that have less than 2000 students? He's less dead set on film now, more focused on just getting in. Thanks for all of your help! :)</p>
<p>his scores are fairly strong with solid ap results. he should consider: reed college in oregon, an ideal place for a kid with his credentials. a bit shocked about nyu, i know a few students that were admitted with far less board scores/ ap classes. bucknell is amazing, along with wesleyan, is money a factor? he could definately get into a top-25.</p>
<p>other schools: pitzer college, occidental, lmu; though, he still has a shot at ucb/ucla/ucsd/uci/ucd.</p>