<p>Hey, im new to posting but have been lurking on this forum for a while.
Ehhh, im wondering my chances at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton with my special circumstances, although im sure im not good enough. I go to a private school which is somewhat competitive. Average SAT score is 1300.</p>
<p>NO RANK</p>
<p>9th Grade - </p>
<p>H. Alg 2 - B/C+..
N/W World History - A/A
Computers - A/A
Spanish 2 - B/B
H. Bio - A-/B
Health - A/A
English - B/B</p>
<p>10th Grade - </p>
<p>IB Precal - B+/B
AP Euro History - B/A
Art - A/A
Spanish 3 - A/A
AP Chem - B/B
Debate - B/B
English - A/A
Decathlon - A/A</p>
<p>Reasons for low GPA? Well i dont want to go into it alot but there was alot of drug abuse/emotional problems in my family, as well as depression. My focus was taken away from school to my family. I was always intested in school and studied alot but just the day to day things such as homeowrk and quizzes were distraught by family problems. </p>
<p>Anyways after this year I was just hoping to get into Berkeley or UCLA but now im starting to think that I may have a chance at some top tier schools.. I received an 800 for SATII CHem which i took in April, and last week I randomly took a sat practice test and got a 2380. And I am also confident that i got 5's on both AP Euro and AP Chem. </p>
<p>Anyways, so my question is, assuming that I get straight A's my junior year in all AP classs, and study and improve my SAT score to around 2390/2400 and get 800 on 2 or 3 SAT II's, and explain the reason for my low GPA, relative to other applicants, will I have any chance at HYP?</p>
<p>I think you would have a chance (they would be reaches, though). Ignoring + and -s, because I don't know how to calculate GPA with them, you have a 3.43 freshman year, a 3.56 sophomore year, and a 3.5 overal. While this is low for those schools, if you get a 4.0 junior year, this will be around a 3.6-3.7ish overall and show a great upward trend. So, your chances won't be great, but I think you have a shot.</p>
<p>Other than a recruited athlete or a dev candidate, no one gets in with that many Bs. That alone is enough, but next your classes are nothing special, and going to a good private school is the clincher. You have all sorts of help available to you, you're not an inner city URM with family problems and no support. You didn't mention ECs, but I suppose if you had an off the chart one, anything could happen.</p>
<p>Hmm, well if I do get straight A's in junior year and 1st semester of senior year, my GPA would be around 3.7, and I have seen people on this board get into HYP with around this GPA. </p>
<p>Anyways, arent colleges looking for kids who will likely succeed in their university? If my junior and senior year are straight A's, and with high SATI/II and AP's, wouldnt they believe I could succeed? Would they think that because I got so many B's two years ago, that this would be an indicator of my success at their university?</p>
<p>And for the private school thing, well, I put that it because my school is tough. We have alot of phD's teaching etc. and my counselor will surely put this in her rec.</p>
<p>It's possible. Reach (but, for everyone it is). Just apply. Also, look which gifts and talents you have, see which ones you may contribute to Harvard that they are deficient of, and mold your application around them. That's key. If you show academic improvement over HS, and explain that you had problems in early HS, and can contribute something that they don't have, then you have a better chance than "perfect scoring Johny with 'typical' extracurriculars." The unique ECs and special interests, essays, and good ol' interesting pasts/stories are what get you into those schools, not necessarily perfection and uniformity to other applicants.</p>
<p>Wrong way to look at this. You're good enough; its your transcript that is a bit rough in places. </p>
<p>HYP are going to be long shots - regardless of your GC's rec - there is simply a deluge of applicants. It is fine to aim high - and I think you should apply wherever you want. However - for every school you apply to that you (statistically) probably won't be accepted at, apply to one where you have at least a 50/50 shot of acceptance.</p>
<p>The problem is they have way too many kids who have gotten all As throughout, have 2400s, excellent ECs, recs, etc. to need to consider anyone who had a weak period. Almost everyone who applies to HYP (OK, there are some delusional applicants) would do well there. Unless you have a real hook, like a building named after you, forget it. </p>
<p>As Ohio mom said, don't look at it as not being good enough. Look at it as not having played the HYP game from he start of high school. There's a story on the parent's board where a reporter sat in with the middlebury adcoms, and hey dismissed applicants with a single C. And mid ain't even close to H.</p>
<p>If there are so many applicants who have the same good grades/sat/typiccal ec's, would they not want someone who has gone through different and difficult experiences through their life, thus making them a unique applicant? Whick from what i have learned, is desirable to colleges?</p>
<p>gah, guess im jus trying to conceive any hope.</p>
<p>The problem with HYP is that they have so many nearly perfect applicants, they could literally admit seven incoming classes without any significant difference in quality between the first and the seventh. They are looking more for reasons to reject applicants than they are for reasons to accept them. Luckily, those three schools are not the end of all things - toss your hat in if you must, but don't get your hopes too high. Your best chance is if you can emphasize the family thing, because such backgrounds add to the diversity of the class. Or join a sport (tennis doesn't count). Grades and scores alone won't do it, I'm afraid.</p>
<p>^^What she said... Harvard, I know for a fact, looks for things to reject you for. I don't want to go through too many details... but lets just say that sometimes sending in supplemental materials can backfire on you.</p>
<p>Haha yes, vu<em>preuss</em>06 does have quite the story about Harvard (as do I about Stanford). Go with the Tech schools, their admissions are more straightforward. (that's not actual advice, I have no idea what you want to major in, just throwing it out there)</p>
<p>I have read all the results on CC for many of the top tops - including Harvard - for the last three admissions cycles ... and I'm having a lot of lot of trouble seeing a pattern in the Harvard admits this year. Its like they are taking one from column A, two from column B - and even if the third one in column B is outstanding - that slot is closed and he/she doesn't get in. In my own personal and unsupported opinion, I believe that the leadership issues at Harvard with Summers have leaked through to admissions. They are picking a representative microcosm of top students, but are missing some of the demonstrated scholars in the process. </p>
<p>The point is, though, that admissions have odd results, so no one can say with 100% accuracy that you won't get in. Maybe the first reader of your app will have a background like yours and be sympathetic. However, its a low-probability event, and you have to ask yourself, where do I really want to spend my valuable time and money?</p>
<p>And Gidean, Harvard and the other top schools put out the messeges you're feeding back to us. They go to schools and talk about how they look at the whole person, how important recs and essays are, and then get to reject 10 of 11 in the applicant pool keeping them #1 on US News.</p>
<p>The fact is that half the class at the very top schools are made up of recruited athletes, URMs, development candidates, kids of the famous, legacies and those with an exceptional national/international EC. These are the kids who can have several Bs and a lower SAT score. Then there are large numbers from the top preps who have been feeding into the Harvards forever, schools that send 12 from a class of 100, where classes are harder than APs and Bs would be A + anywhere else. Those kids get to have a couple of Bs. The top 25% of Harvard admits has SATIs over 1590 (old). You start to get the picture. If you are not a hooked applicant, your stats have to be near perfect.</p>