So I’m an upcoming senior. I just received mail from Duke today (I know, I know marketing blah blah blah), but I can’t help but feel like I can still strive for the stars. I only have a 3.5 gpa unweighted, but I will have a 3.7 by the time I apply for colleges, and will also have a 4.4/4.8 gpa on a weighted scale. (I also was going to have a 4.0 but I got depressed due to some life events and got a “D” and “F” but managed to pick myself back up the second semester of my junior year.) I scored mediocre on the ACT but expect to get around a 28-31 because I have been studying over the summer, and have a good 2 or 3 tries left.
I also have a personal website that I somehow include on an application, robertafoa.weebly.com showcasing some video production and web design (and also a bunch of books I’ve read so far)
I and am interested in business and am looking to major in Economics or Finance. I will have read 50 harvard business review books by the time I apply, and I plan to somehow include that on an application as well, not to brag, but to show that I am truly serious.
Also, I’m a pacific islander, so I’m in a HUGE minority (race has 500k population worldwide) and also, I live in a low income/incredibly ghetto area, so I thought it was odd to get mail from Duke, and especially this late - halfway through July before senior year.
Do you think I a decent chance at any ivy league or selective school?
In all honesty-- I believe your chances are quite slim.
Your GPA is very low for the caliber of Ivy League schools, and your current ACT score doesn’t put you in the ballpark for most highly ranked public universities.
Please take your HS transcript off your blog- that is way too much private information to be throwing out into the internet!
Also, if you are going to share it, take “most likely at UNLV” off before you apply to other colleges, or they may feel happy to let you have what you post…
You are clearly a go-getter and determined to move ahead. Your ACT and GPA don’t shout “Ivy” to me, but there are quite a lot of competitive colleges that could be a very good fit. Are you eligible for Questbridge?
@collegemom3717 you scared me for a second, I thought my address was showing haha. Otherwise I don’t really mind. I’m not sure if I am eligible but thanks for letting me know about it, i’ll look into it
@Termochi true, but I thought the depression story (its true btw - shown on transcript) mixed with the 0.00007 chance of me being a certain race, 50 harvard business books read before even stepping in a college classroom, extremely low income, and the website would have raised the already incredibly slim chances a bit more. I’m being honest here, if asian kids with 4.0’s and 13 years of playing the violin are getting rejected, I’ve got to have some good kickers, and I thankfully do
While it is true your situation, URM, and achievements are unique, it is not enough to cover up your subpar GPA + ACT score combination. I agree with the above poster that you should probably remove your transcript from your website-- that is private information and should not be shared. But observing your academic trends, it seemed that you were highly motivated and high achieving in your freshman and early sophomore years. Writing about what exactly went wrong in the additional comments section could very well go in your favor. But then again, if we are being realistic here, the Ivy League, and any highly ranked public university is simply out of reach.
I’m really sorry for being too harsh, but I don’t want you to set your expectations too high during the college admissions process. The competition is cutthroat and brutal, and will probably be the hardest thing in your life if you pit yourself against people with next to perfect ACT scores and GPAs who will be applying to same schools that you will be applying for.
If you’d like, you can message me and I can provide you with a list of realistic reach/match/safety schools?
Duke sends mail to everyone. The lowest ranked kids in my school get mail from Duke, some even from the Ivies. Definitely don’t look into getting mail. It really doesn’t mean anything.
ah I see, I just thought there might have been something better for me than UNLV. I wasn’t counting on it, but there is still a bit of hope maybe. I did remove my transcript, but against my biased judgement because it did not really bother me to have it up there. I was contemplating whether or not to go to college at all due to financial reasons and that I thought I should just self educate and start a business, I might do that instead… but then again I might be missing out on alot of fun and life experience at college. I see it as a real option because I’ve honestly learned more in the past two months than I could imagine with self education. Imagine when I get those 50 hbr books down in a few months and I also have access to college textbooks and even all the harvard case studies lol.
Thanks everyone, i’ll just not look into it anymore, and if I do in about 6 months, i’ll keep my hopes to a minimum
@Rob248, there are a world of choices between UNLV and Duke! In fact, that is a big part of what Questbridge is about. You have brought yourself so far- why are you throwing in the towel now? This is exactly the moment to push ahead. In 6 months your choices will be much more limited. At least go talk to Questbridge, and spend some time looking at these places:
Thanks everyone for the tough love and/or inspiration. I didn’t make the website to show off, but because I want to be an investor, there will come a time when someone has to decide whether or not to bet on me with their time, effort, and money. It’s a strategy that might help me. As for what comes next, who knows, but thanks again. I appreciate it all
Your race will definitely help you in the admissions process. Definitely take the ACT again and try to get 33+ plus to put yourself in the Ivy range as well. And will colleges have a chance to see your improved grades?
@pineapple86 yes, this last semester I got a 3.8 unweighted but the semester before that (first semester - Junior year) I got like a 1.5 gpa and the semester before that like a 2.6 or something like that. I am studying for the ACT, but I’m not gonna bank my hopes on ivy leagues. Thank you though I’ll try harder to study for the ACT
A lot of Ivy league schools and equivalents (a group that includes Duke) would gladly take applications from the homeless of Ulaanbatar if it helped them lower their acceptance rate. The lowest ranked kids in your school are getting mail from Duke because the college is hoping they’ll apply. When they do, Duke can reject them, collect an application fee (which likely exceeds the cost of processing an application) and add one person to the denominator of their acceptance rate.
It’s a reprehensible practice, but it’s worked for many universities.
You’re an awesome person