Chances for Student With C+ and B-?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Okay, hi everyone. I would like some opinions on my chances at the schools I’ve listed at the bottom.</p>

<p>There’s a huge gap in my portfolio, and I won’t deny it: my ECs. They aren’t like those of other people. Rather, I hardly did anything until junior year. The main reason for this is 1) I had no idea it was necessary for college; 2) I didn’t even know what I liked until junior year! Linguistics and language never emerged as my passion until I went on a trip to Japan before 11th grade.</p>

<p>With that in mind, I know I have a pitiful amount and depth of ECs. Some people would have me think that this leaves me, to put it frankly, screwed. I’m not going to get into any Ivy’s because my ECs suck. Other people say that what I HAVE done is good and will suffice.</p>

<p>What do YOU think? Am I screwed due to lack of ECs? Or is what I have done good enough and even, dare I say, unique?</p>

<p>Please tell me the truth. Your idea of the truth, I mean.</p>

<p>White Female
California</p>

<p>GPA: 3.86UW/4.17W
Rank: School doesn't rank, but at least top 10%</p>

<p>SAT I: 2200 (760CR, 640M, 800W - best sitting)
2260 (760CR, 700M, 800W - best composite)
PSAT: 207 (commended)
SATII: US History 780, Lit 760, Chem 710, Japanese 620 (retaking)
APs: 5 US History, 4 Chemistry</p>

<p>By the end of high school, I'll have taken AP US, AP Chem, AP Lit, AP Physics, and AP Calc AB. This is about as tough as my schedule can get, since my school doesn’t have APs until junior year and there are relatively few history/language APs offered here. It’s a cruel, cruel emphasis on math and science at my school.</p>

<p>Community College classes:
Intro to Linguistics (A)
Cultural Anthropology (A) </p>

<p>Latin 1 Honors (online)
Will start Latin 2 H in the fall
Will start Ancient Greek 1 H in the fall</p>

<p>Extracurriculars/Awards:
-Badminton JV, 9-10
-CSF, 10-12
-Went to Japan for 2 weeks before 11th grade, homestay; this was really big for me… it’s what sparked my obsession with languages
-Student Ambassador to Japanese "Sister City" before 12th grade (4 ppl were selected and given a $1000 scholarship each) – this is taking up most of my summer; I’m going to meet the mayor in this Japanese city and do a homestay. My homestay student is coming back to California with me and will meet the mayor of my town, as well.
-Took an Egyptian hieroglyphics mini-course at Brown Uni this summer before 12th grade
-Walton Peace Essay Finalist ($100 awarded)
-Self-study Russian, 2 years
-Writes (written a novel, but it's not published or anything)
-Piano, 10 years, but I don’t compete or anything; I’ve started composing songs (just one or two). Actually, what I love doing is taking music that has no available sheet music to it and transcribing it so I can play it. I’m doing this with a piano version of Once Upon a December right now.
-I collect musicals, specifically Disney ones, in foreign languages. Kinda silly, but that’s what I do.</p>

<p>Job: sorted music for founder of Netscape (9)</p>

<p>Second semester of junior year, I came down with a condition called Bell’s Palsy – paralysis of one side of the face. This is an uncommon disease that strikes 1 in 5000. It’s usually temporary, and although recovery takes 3 weeks for most people, I’ve had it for 5 months – so my whole second semester of junior year was basically very messed up. My grades have dropped a little as a result of this. By “a little” I mean getting a B- in PreCalc H and a C+ in Chem AP second semester. Hopefully my 4 on the AP test will prove that I’m not a complete idiot in the subject.  I am showing signs of recovery now though, so I should be back in tune for senior year… The saddest part is that all my other grades stayed the same or went up! </p>

<p>I’m basically a really lopsided individual. I excel in everything except (and this is a hugee except) MATH and SCIENCE. Every grade I’ve gotten in the humanities has been an A and more rarely an A-. On the other hand, however, my science and math grades have only plummeted. My first B’s were junior year (in AP chem. and honors trig first semester). It only got worse after I was blessed with Bell’s Palsy and practically gave up on things I hate (namely, chem. and precalc. Which resulted in that C+ and B-). I would have an upward trend if it were not for those two subjects. :P Instead, it’s gone down a little.</p>

<p>Despite this, my GPA at the moment is not that bad.</p>

<p>I want to double major in linguistics and ancient studies (preferably something related to ancient Egypt).</p>

<p>So, what are my chances at:</p>

<p>Reach:
Brown
Cornell
UPenn CAS
Yale
Swarthmore</p>

<p>High Match:
Georgetown FLL (EA?)
U Chicago (EA)
Berkeley
UCLA</p>

<p>Match:
Brandeis
UC San Diego
NYU</p>

<p>Safety:
Rochester
UC Santa Cruz
Boston U</p>

<p>I had wanted to ED to UPenn but I visited and really didn’t like it enough to. So now I’m stuck. I really like Brown but its departments in what I’m looking for aren’t particularly outstanding. </p>

<p>I also know I have little to not shot at Yale… but I’m applying anyway since it has wonderful departments in what I am interested in. </p>

<p>Thank you very much for any and all advice/pointers you can give me!</p>

2

<p>It's not just weak ECs. Your SAT (math plus CR) are below average or just average for your reach schools and being just top 10% is too. No way at Yale or Swathmore, really hard to see Brown and maybe 10% at other reaches. Your matches are reaches really.</p>

3

<p>if you've already classified your schools into reaches, high matches, and matches, why are you asking us to rate the chances?</p>

4

<p>Niomi:</p>

<p>UCB/UCLA: Match
UCSD: Safe Match
UCSC: Safety</p>

5

<p>Bobert_McCloud: Those are my opinions. I would appreciate yours.</p>

6

<p>don't listen to everyone else ur fine they're not certified admissions officers</p>

7

<p>Why does the title say C+, B- ?!?!</p>

8

<p>TestudotheTurtle: 'cause I got those grades second semester of junior year in AP chem and precalc H</p>

9

<p>I don't really understand what you expect people to say. You've already grouped your colleges into reaches/matches/safeties...how can anyone be more specific?</p>

10

<p>Your assessment seems correct...but you shouldn't rule yourself completely out from Cornell, Swarthmore, or Yale if you apply EA. It's still possible. However, if you really like U Chicago and Georgetown, I'd say go for EA there.</p>

<p>I would expect you'd get into at least one of your High Matches, but nothing is garuanteed.</p>

<p>On another note...DO NOT RETAKE YOUR JAPANESE SUBJECT TEST!!! I REPEAT!! DO NOT RETAKE IT!!! You only need 2 SAT II's to be really good for most of the schools you listed, and you have 3 that qualify. In addition, you probably would want to retake your SAT Reasoning test, as even though your 1 sitting score is good enough for the UC's, the composite score could greatly improve...unless you've already taken your SAT Reasoning 3 times, I would take it in October instead of any subject tests.</p>