Chance? Will Chance Back!!

Hello Guys! I am new to this forum! Here are my stats:

Objective:

SAT I (breakdown): 2030 (CR-610 W-700 M-720)
SAT II: Math II:750 Physics:710
Unweighted GPA for 10-11: 3.69
Weighted GPA 10-11: 4.24
UC GPA: 4.0
Rank/percentile (if available): Top 10%
AP Scores: AP Euro (3), AP Chem (3), APUSH (4), AP Physics 1 (4), AP Calc AB (5), AP Spanish (3)
Senior Year Course Load: AP Gov, AP Comp Sci, AP Lit, AP Stats, AP Psych, AP Physics C

I took the most rigorous schedule available (12 APs)… How important is that?

Extracurriculars:
Various Clubs
3rd Degree Black Belt
Won Taekwondo Tournament
Leadership Team for Taekwondo
Taekwondo Instructor
Volunteer as Taekwondo Instructor (50 Hours)
Intern at SSA Office
Intern at major Aerospace company
OCMC-5th Place
AP Scholar With Distinction
USC Summer Camp
300+ Community service hours

  1. USC- Electrical Engineering
  2. UCSD- Electrical and Computer Engineering
  3. UC Irvine- Computer Science and Engineering
  4. UCSB- Electrical Engineering
  5. Georgia Tech (EA)- Electrical Engineering
  6. Cornell (ED)- Electrical Engineering
  7. WUSTL- Mechanical Engineering
  8. Duke- Electrical Engineering (ED???)
  9. UCD- Electrical Engineering

Did I do anything wrong?

Your UW is actually quite low. (Even if you have 12 AP’s on your belt whew)

SAT is not very good. Thats probably the scores the athletes get at those schools.

Your EC’s are okay (Passion in Taekwondo)
But if you didn’t win a state-level recognition, idk about that.

I’m assuming you live in California so you have a boost at the UCs:
USC - High Match
UCSD- HIgh Match/Match
UC Irvine- Match
UCSB- Match
Georgia Tech (EA)- High Match/Low Reach
Cornell (ED)- Low Reach/Reach
Duke- Reach

GPA, test scores, and AP scores are all a little low for Cornell and Duke, and they get an absurd number of applicants, so I’d call those reaches. They aren’t out of reach, so definitely apply. I’d ask your guidance counselor what he/she thinks of applying ED to those schools.

As for the others, I don’t know enough to comment on specific schools, but none of them seem to be above a high match; some are matches, a few might be low matches, and I’m 99% sure you’ll get into at least one.

UCI/UCSB/UCD: Match
UCSD/USC: High Match
Not familar with the rest of the schools. Good Luck.

Thanks guys for all the responses! @gumbymom how could I make USC/UCSD into a match?

Um, I don’t know what everyone else is talking about. Your test scores are completely fine. While it couldn’t hurt to retake Math II if you can (you got a great score, but since like 19% of the people who take it get an 800–and a lot of those people would be applying to the same major as you–that could hurt you a bit), it most likely won’t hurt you in the long run.

Your unweighted GPA is definitely your weak spot, but if UCs are your goal, then it’s not a problem because you have a pretty good UC GPA (It’s a bit lower than all the schools you listed, but your SAT cancels that out, I’d say). Your extra-curriculars are actually really impressive–they aren’t super diverse but they certainly demonstrate passion. I don’t know much about Georgia Tech, Duke, or WUSTL, but this is what I’d say:

USC and Cornell: Reaches
UCSD: High Match
UCSB, UCI, UCD: Matches

Good luck!

Thanks @bosnian any way I could make USC a High match?

Your SAT is low for Duke, Cornell and USC. You do need to improve your SAT score particularly the CR section score for these schools. Otherwise, it is mostly fine for other schools on the list. Nevertheless, your GPA is also too low for Duke, Cornell, and USC. You may want to hold on the ED and try to improve your GPA in through the first semester in senior before applying RD to these reach schools (with a better score too).

Your GPA is a tad low for UCSD/USC but nothing can be done about that. You could try to bump up your SAT to 2100+ which should help. You are a competitive applicant, applying to competitive programs, so it is hard to tell where you will be accepted. You should no problem with the Mid-tier UC’s, so all you can do is apply and hope for the best.

@billcsho I thought colleges only look at 10-11 grades, so how would my semester grades count?

Some colleges look at 10-11th grades such as the UC’s. USC uses 9-11th grades. It all depends upon the college.

Yes it just depends on the different colleges, but as far as UCs go, they only use 10-11.

@TimforCS No. That is not true. Some schools do look at only 10-11th grade scores but most do look at freshmen and/or senior grades. Particularly, there are schools that do not recalculate GPA. So whatever shows on your transcript will be considered.

@billcsho But even if I apply RD, would they take my senior grades at the time of applying, since the first semester wouldn’t be over?

@TimforCS Obviously, that depends on the deadline for RD of each school. Nevertheless, you may submit mid-year report to them after application deadline. Indeed, many schools (like Ivies) will ask your GC to send in the mid-year report before RD decision.

I think engineering is impacted at UCSD and perhaps other UCs, so be careful there.

Chance me back? http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1806791-chances-at-cmc-northwestern-uva-gatech-and-uofr.html?new=1

  1. USC- Electrical Engineering: High match
  2. UCSD- Electrical and Computer Engineering: Match
  3. UC Irvine- Computer Science and Engineering: Safety
  4. UCSB- Electrical Engineering: match
  5. Georgia Tech (EA)- Electrical Engineering: High match
  6. Cornell (ED)- Electrical Engineering: Low reach
  7. WUSTL- Mechanical Engineering: Match/high match
  8. Duke- Electrical Engineering (ED???): Reach
  9. UCD- Electrical Engineering: Match

Can you chance me?
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1806866-please-chance-me-ill-chance-back.html?new=1

Just curious, at these schools, is CS harder to get into, or engineering?