<p>I posted here already but I'm about to be a Senior (male, if that matters) in CA and I want to see what everyone thinks in regards to my chances for colleges in general. My #1 is UCLA. Do NOT pay attention in the chancing as much to the following statement: I will "longshot" to Yale and Columbia and "fallback" to USC and UCD (which are both great schools of course).
I'd also be shooting for UCSD and will apply to Berkeley.</p>
<p>4.05 GPA weighted
3.81 GPA unweighted (something like that)
Class Rank 16/397
SAT I - 1930 // 620 CR 640 M 670 W -- I will be taking the SAT again in October to aim for 2030 and I'm studying already for it.
SAT II - Bio E 600, Math 2 540 (I do plan to retake Math 2... the test had WAY more Trigonometric problems than I had expected and I had forgotten most of Trig...)</p>
<p>Extracurric:
ASB Vice President (1600 student body)
Junior Class President
Sophomore Class Treasurer
Organized and MC'd Westmont's Got Talent 2009
MC for Night Rallies, Prom Fashion Show
ASB Videographer (commercials for events for morning announcements)
School newspaper editor (3 total editors for 2010-11)
Interact Club Vice President & Founding Member
4 years tennis team, 2 years on Varsity -- possibly co-captain this year
4 years writing for the school paper, 3 years on staff
1 AP, 1 honors in Sophomore year
2 AP, 1 honors in Junior year
2 AP in Senior year
3 years on School Site Council
2 albums released to iTunes
Selected by principal to represent my school on a panel to help select next year's principal
Played in multiple bands with over 40 performances, play multiple instruments (mainly drums, which I've played for about 4-5 years now)
HOBY NorCal Delegate (leadership camp)
California Golden Boys' State Delegate (state-wide mock government camp, all states have one annually)
ELC Delegate (Rotary Enterprise Leadership Conference)</p>
<p>And all of my required courses are complete -- I'm in Traditional Photography now, I'm taking my 2nd year of P.E. next year (had to skip it as a Sophomore to have space for Journalism, which is the newspaper staff).</p>
<p>*Note: All 3 of the above camps (HOBY, Boys', ELC) accept only 1-3 students from each school for the program, and Boys' state only selects the top 1 or 2 Junior-becoming-Senior boys from each high school in California.</p>
<p>So, no, I'm no genius, but I'm sort of hoping my extracurriculars are strong enough to have readers consider me as a top-notch kid when I apply. What do you all think? Thanks!</p>
<p>Fallback to US and UCD might be too ambitious. You are a match for Davis and USC is a reach. UCLA is a reach without a 2100 SAT, Yale and Columbia are unrealistic.</p>
<p>You’re a match for Davis. That’s about it. You need to upgrade your SAT scores, and then you’ll be competitive for the other colleges you’re applying to. Esp. to make up for the lacking GPA.</p>
<p>Thanks! I’ll be trying to bring up the SATs for sure. As for the GPA I know it isnt as great as it could or should be but it amazes me how much people on CollegeConfidential value the numbers. I know a guy who got into UCLA 2 years ago with similar numbers and far weaker extracurriculars. I assumed colleges would appreciate extracurrics due to their ability to create such distinction. I mean who really wants to see another Asian (I am half Asian, half white) 4.8 GPA machine with no extracurrics except Rocketry Club and 14 years of Piano</p>
Your GPA is right at the average for accepted students in 2009, but your SATs are below the middle 50% for 2009 (and 2010 was even a bit higher)… </p>
<p>If you are using the term “fallback” to mean you feel USC is a safety school for you, you do not fully understand what a safety is: For a school to be a safety, you should fall in the top 25% in both GPA and test scores. You are in the middle 50% in GPA and the lowest 25% in test scores for USC. While there certainly is a chance you will be admitted, it is not - by any stretch - a safety for you. Please be sure to include some more realistic safeties on your college list.</p>
<p>Please understand that colleges are businesses. The mail you get from them is no different than the credit card offers and supermarket flyers that come in the mail. They are sent to everyone in a demographic and have little to do with whether or not you can get in. The more kids they get to apply the more they can reject which helps them climb in the rankings.</p>
<p>alamemom, refer to original post:
“I will be taking the SAT again in October to aim for 2030 and I’m studying already for it.”</p>
<p>Also, a friend of mine got into UCLA and USC 2 years ago with a 1900 SAT, very similar extracurriculars and a slightly higher GPA (she was probably around 4.14).</p>
<p>Redroses, this is true but the demographic from which they HAD to find me was the CollegeBoard SAT scores, and I have friends who did NOT receive such mail. I’m not COUNTING on getting in, necessarily</p>
<p>Also, 18 kids dropped out of my grade, apparently 2 of which must have been above me in rank because my class rank is now 14/375 with only a measly highschool GPA of 3.9 weighted. This 3.7% ranking grants me ELC so the worst schools i can get into are UCSB or UCD.</p>
<p>Oh, new info – Class rank is 14/397 now and I am on Homecoming Court so I technically have a 1/5 shot at Homecoming King – I know it can’t count for a heck of a lot but still neat i think :)</p>
<p>I wouldn’t read into USC stuff too much. I get mail from Oxford… but I know i’m nowhere near smart enough to go there.</p>
<p>It’s going be a reach to most of those, even with a 2030 SAT. Your EC’s are pretty good, nothing outstanding though. Remember, USC doesn’t care if you’re instate or not. I think it’s quite arrogant to say USC is a safety. Many people rank it at the same level as UCLA. 23% acceptance rate is NEVER easy.</p>
<p>My dad has read scholarship applications for UCLA before as an alumni… reviewing the best of the best there. He has showed me applications of students who get admitted and awarded large scholarships to attend UCLA, and he said that my extracurriculars are probably better than anyone he’s seen and definitely better than most. I don’t have a clue what “good” ECs are if mine are “pretty good, nothing outstanding.” But I understand why considering USC a safety is arrogant, so I am sorry for being at fault there.</p>
<p>The middle 50% of admitted students had SAT scores of 2020-2230. The UNweighted average GPA was 3.8. Again, your GPA is in the average range, and your SAT score of 2020 is just barely in the middle 50%. (Congratulations on your improvement.)</p>
<p>A safety is a school where you are in the top 25% in BOTH GPA and test scores. USC is not a safety for you because you are not in the top 25% of applicants in either category. You need safeties on your list.</p>
<p>Outstanding extra curricular is doing something EXTRAORDINARY, not just a bunch of really great stuff. You have a solid amount of EC’s, but nothing that WOWed me. Plus regarding what Alamemom said.</p>
<p>Alamemom & jasonvdm thank you guys very much for the input :)</p>
<p>Alamemom, I suppose my main problem here was misusing the term “safety” or “fallback.” Perhaps this is a matter of my local context – I speak from a standpoint of what I observe with my friends and schools, not the national or statewide average. At my school, the three people I know that have been admitted to USC were:
White, African-American, and Indian
3.9, 3.85, and 3.9 Weighted GPAs respectively
1930, 1900, and 1970 SAT scores respectively
with very normal extracurriculars, only the African-American girl had any kind of leadership in any level. And I’m not making the numbers up, I knew them all pretty well.</p>
<p>When you see that, you become very confident to assume that a 4.05 weighted GPA, 2020 SAT and better extracurriculars would land a guaranteed spot. A girl 2 years ago with similar (slightly better) ECs and a slightly better GPA but a 1900 SAT and very average college essays was admitted to UCLA.</p>
<p>I’ve also never seen anyone from my school with above a 3.8 GPA go to UC Davis, and they tend to be Asian with exception of one white male. This is not ALL of them, but speaking pretty generally. Not talking out my hat, though; I work the school newspaper and every 9th issue we dedicate the whole back page to who is going to what college so I do know pretty well what kind of student gets into what school.</p>
<p>So perhaps I have made the mistake of arrogance – or SOUNDING arrogant – in the schools I have listed as “fallbacks” or “safeties.” I only say so based on what I observe, and I have never seen anyone who went to USC with what you cited as “above average” statistics – SATs and GPA both fell below or on average at best. Though I don’t know about other parts of their application i.e. essays.</p>
You are correct, making the assupmtion that you have a guaranteed spot at a university with a 24% acceptance rate and where you are barely in the middle 50% in test scores and right at average in GPA is arrogant.</p>