chances for abysmal GPA, good SAT white girl from competitive district?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Okay, currently a junior.
Here are some predicted stats. I think they're pretty accurate. I've already taken a few SAT II's and I just added 30 or 40 points to those.</p>

<p>SATs: ~2270 (223 on PSAT).
SAT IIs: something like 700, 750, 780. I took the Latin SAT II after a year of Latin (this is last year) and got 730, I am thinking that will be my highest score. </p>

<p>GPA: 2.9-3.3 predicted. Yeah I know. Does it help at all that Michele Hernandez's book mentions my high school as one for which GPA is looked at differently? And that my high school doesn't do rank? ._. Compared to my classmates though, I am still not very good. </p>

<p>Schedule: I have taken all Honors classes when possible, except this year, I am taking normal-level Precalculus after getting a C in Honors Geometry. Will contine on normal-level Calc track next year.</p>

<p>APs: 5 on bio, 5 on World History.
Taking chem, english, and US history this year. Expecting 4-5s as I am good at multiple choice :P
Will take one or two in senior year. </p>

<p>Essay: Will be below average-to-average. I'm not a brilliant writer and I don't have any amazing circumstances to write about, but I think I can pull something together.</p>

<p>Recs: I know one will be great, other will probably be "okay".</p>

<p>ECs: Karate (Brown belt - may test for black by admissions xD), Amnesty International (3 hr time commitment/week), Humor Magazine Club, Best Practices (student run club about improving education at my high school), volunteering at the library. In sophomore year I took a Harvard Extension School class and got a B+. Not sure if I should mention that.</p>

<p>Awards: Various 1st-3rd place multiple choice language exam awards in Latin and Spanish. I'm thinking I'll get PSAT commended too. Not much else though.</p>

<p>Summers: I didn't do crap freshman and sophomore year, except for freshman year I independently studied the Latin II curriculum and skipped into Latin III. I hoped it would count towards me that I decided not to be a burden on my parents and skip the pre-college programs. They felt I was too young to have a job or travel. I'm getting a job this summer though. </p>

<p>Possible concentrations: Spanish Language, Classics, Chemistry/Biology, Education.</p>

<p>And here are some colleges I'm interested in:
Brown
Tufts
Oberlin
University of Cincinnatti
Johns Hopkins
Bowdoin
Swarthmore
Carnegie Mellon
Wesleyan
Emerson College
Vassar
Umass Amherst</p>

<p>If you have any other suggestions that'd be terrific! I'm looking for a diverse school preferably in a city-like area with actual, you know, people who aren't white. I want to be a teacher or work for the Peace Corps. :P</p>

<p>I'd love you all forever if you could rate each as "high reach", "reach", "match", or "safety." ^^ Thank you!</p>

<p>...By the way, it's a long shot, but I used to post here a lot last year as "glowingamy", do any of you remember me? ^^;;; I've changed a lot. I'm not as snobby or elitist anymore, I don't think. Also, I don't value dead languages more than my life.</p>

2

<p>This is a tough one. I think a lot will depend on what your school says about your low GPA. Also, it would help if there's an area you really excel in and you and they focus on that.</p>

<p>I'm surprised to see Hopkins and CMU on your list with your math grades.</p>

<p>You need more matches. Conn College and Trinity maybe instead of Swat and Wes.</p>

<p>But heck, if yours is one of "those" schools, your college counselor knows much more than anyone here does what will fly.</p>

3

<p>I agree with suze that your chances are difficult to predict, and that you should definitely add more match schools. GPA is supposed to be significantly more important than test scores, so that will work against you. </p>

<p>Brown: high reach
JHU: high reach
Wesleyan: high reach
Swarthmore: high reach
Carnegie Mellon: reach
Tufts: reach
Bowdoin: reach
Vassar: reach
Oberlin: match?
Emerson/UMass/Cincinnati: safety</p>

4

<p>223 will get you NMSF.</p>

5

<p>Thanks for the fast reply Suze! :) </p>

<p>About the math colleges, I was considering them for science; I think I could do okay as a biochem major with minor in Spanish. I really love chemistry. (And I don't really want to read all that Spanish lit, just become fluent.) Pure math is hard for me cause it doesn't really connect to anything and I can't remember it, geometry especially, it feels like you've got to have an epiphany every ten seconds to solve the proofs. I can see how I'd have a hard time at a science college, but I think if I avoided pure math (xD Is that even possible??) it would be okay. I feel calmest & happiest when I am doing chemistry, I look forward to homework assignments. (hahaha.)</p>

<p>Although probably foretold by my bad geometry grade, I am not good at original lab experiments. This year I'm studying rust. Don't get me started.</p>

<p>agreed on the needing more matches, Trinity sounds good. I wanted to add more LAC-type things that would be around my level but they tend to be marked by low diversity/semirural location, so thinking "HEYYY, I'll try a LAC" threw in Swarthmore cause it's supposed to be diverse.</p>

<p>Ummm...Brandeis? xD</p>

<p>I used to have a beloved area of attention and choice (Latin). It was kind of a phase though, although last winter when I used CC all the time, I would post in all the threads about how it was my "true passion", etc etc. It wasn't, I think I just wanted to have one. I'm glad I threw myself into the moment and learned things though.</p>

<p>And, my school isn't THAT hard. I know one of my friends has a GPA of like 3.8 and she's taking almost the same classes. (She is amazing though.)</p>

6

<p>duke:
Thanks for the ratings, and glad to hear Oberlin might be a match. I love Ohio. Also it's good to hear UMass is still a safety xD With 2.9 GPA (hopefully I will NOT have one) you actually are automatically denied unless you have a certain SAT score. It was like 1100 by the old scale though.</p>

<p>and thanks Sonata for the data, I was looking around the day after I got my PSATs & couldn't find it. I was worried since I'm in MA.</p>

7

<p>223 is NMSF in any state, highest cutoff is 222</p>