Chances for UC's, NYU, Northwestern, and other colleges YOU recommend?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Asian Male
California Resident
I attend a very high ranked public school
(blue-ribbon school, was ranked in USNews top 100 High Schools)</p>

<p>Freshmen Year
Band - A A
Spanish 1 - B A
English - A A
Biology - B A
Honors Geometry - B B
Honors Social Science - B A</p>

<p>Sophomore Year
Band - A A
Spanish 2 - B A
Honors English - A A
Honors Chemistry - C+ B
Honors Algebra 2 - B B
AP Euro - B B</p>

<p>Junior Year
Band - A A
Spanish 3 - A A
Pre-Cal - A A
AP English - A A
AP American History - A A
AP Biology - A A</p>

<p>Senior Year Schedule
Band
AP Spanish
AP Statistics
AP English
AP Gov/Econ
AP Environmental Science</p>

<p>UW GPA: 3.61
W GPA: 4.11
UC GPA: 4.25</p>

<p>SAT I
Math: 700
Writing: 750
Crit. Read: 750</p>

<p>SAT II's
Biology: 720
American History: 750
Eng. Lit. : 750</p>

<p>AP Scores
AP Euro : 4
AP American: 5
AP Eng. : 5
AP Bio : 5</p>

<p>Extra Curriculars
Green Club Officer - 4 years
Band Council - 4 years
Literary Arts Officer - 2 years
Internship at local newspaper - 4 years
Pasadena Youth Symphonic Orchestra - 2 years
Glendale Youth Orchestra - 2 years
First Class Boy Scout - (quit after reaching first class)
Architect Institute - 1 year
Business Institute - 2 years</p>

<p>Awards:
Most Valuable Band Player (Band)
Outstanding Freshmen Player (Band)
Also competed in several writing competitions </p>

<p>As you can see, my grades are what slightly worry me. I messed up my freshmen and sophomore year, but my parents were going through a nasty divorce and it was pretty tough. Should I, or can I even, include that somewhere on my application to explain my bad grades. I do have a C+ in Honors Chem (ouch), but my junior year grades were pretty good, so I really don't know right now.</p>

<p>Colleges:
(matches?)
UCLA
UC Berkeley
NYU
Northwestern </p>

<p>(safeties?)
UCSD
UCSB
UC Davis (mom is an alum)
USC
Boston College</p>

<p>(reaches)
Cornell
Dartmouth
Brown</p>

<p>please feel free to add any colleges you recommend to me b/c this is not a set list</p>

<p>ANY FEEDBACK/SUGGESTIONS/COMMENTS WOULD BE MOST APPRECIATED.
THANK YOU</p>

2

<p>bump bump bump please!</p>

3

<p>you have really good test scores,
so you should be in at all your safeties, except I would not call boston college a safety, Boston University would be a safety, I dont know if thats what you meant, though. The C+ is not going to kill you, but it will probably prevent you from getting into cornell and brown. You have a slim chance of getting into Dartmouth. You have a fair chance of getting into UCLA, U Berk. is a stretch, but again, your test scores save you. NYU you have a fair shot at. I wouldnt call USC a safety either, I would say its a high match. You can write about the divorce in the personal statements, I think its the second one, when you talk about a trait you have, and you can say its like, persistence, since you like, rose from the ashes, etc. etc., or you can write about it in your first essay, when they ask you to write about your environment. Also, if the UC’s are on the fence about you, they ask you to explain the circumstances of your grades, and write about the divorce there. I know other colleges have essays that vary, and you should be able to write about it there. The MIT essay last yuear was about writing about a time you thought the world was going to end, but it didnt, and in turn made you a stronger person. My friend wrote about his dads death, and was accepted. Although you might not fall in love with the location, you should consider University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. You have a chance of getting in. Also, I would think it would be a reach, but you should try Carnegie Mellon University.</p>

4

<p>NYU seems like a total odd-ball in this group. All the other schools have a real social life and a campus. NYU is extremely different than any other school in the country. Some love it, some hate it. Make sure you love it.</p>

5

<p>anorexic_abe</p>

<p>Thanks a lot for the info; it was very informative.
And yes, I did mean Boston University for a safety (a typo)
As for Carnegie Mellon and University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, I’m afraid I’m not very familiar with them, but I will certainly look into it. Again, thank you.</p>

6

<p>slipper1234</p>

<p>The only reason I chose NYU was the fact that it was in New York City, and I’ve always wanted to live in New York. I was aware that NYU didn’t have a campus, but I had no idea about it’s lack of “a real social life”.</p>

7

<p>bump bump bump</p>

8

<p>fyi, anorexic was way off the mark. </p>

<p>You will get into all the UCs. All of your schools look properly placed, though NU maybe a bit reachy due to UW gpa. The UCs are good to go though because of your UC gpa.</p>

<p>Great list, youre good to go.</p>

<p>edit: BC and USC are matches, not quite that “safe”</p>

9

<p>College, there is a significant chance you’ll live in NYC after college. Its a HUGE draw. My experience has been NYC is far more fun after college than during college. You just don’t get the real “college” experience. I have friends who thought NYU was actually pretty lonely.</p>

10

<p>hmmm… thanks a lot. I didn’t know that about NYU. I think I’ll stick with my UC’s or other colleges.
Again, thanks a lot. You might have just saved me from a miserable four years of college.</p>

11

<p>I hate dissing schools but I would run away from that place as fast as possible. The people who seem to love it are really into one “community” - whether its an ethnic group, theater people, hardcore music scene people, etc. But there’s very little of the innocent fun that happens at most college - aka there’s lots of angst on campus.</p>

12

<p>wow. I had no idea NYU was about that. Are there any other colleges on my list you know has a rep like NYU? Or perhaps a good rep.?</p>

<p>(this message isn’t directed solely at slipper1234, I’d be glad to hear other people’s opinions)</p>

13

<p>Yeah, my dad graduated from NYU and he says it’s actually an interesting experience. You either love it or hate it. There’s no real campus and one of your classes might some random building with the purple flag next to the bank. </p>

<p>There are always art exhibits and performances on campus, and if they don’t satisfy you, Manhattan will. Restaurants? Forget about it. New York has it all - the high end and cheap eats. Movie theaters? If a new film isn’t playing in NYC (and LA), you won’t find it anywhere else in the country.</p>

<p>So I guess it’s a good cultural experience overall.</p>

14

<p>Well, when I was deciding what colleges I wanted to go to, a major factor was it’s location. I LOVE major cities, and you can probably see that from my top college picks (UCLA NYU UC Berkeley Northwestern).
I think UCLA is a pretty good pick if I don’t go to NYU. Major city and whatnot, plus SoCal. I think I might go to New York for graduate school or live there later.</p>

15

<p>Ah right. Looking at your awards and stuff I think I live pretty close by you lol. </p>

<p>But yeah anyway, UCLA looks great. You’re in state too so it’s affordable and everything.</p>

16

<p>UCLA is in my opinion the perfect urban-like campus. Its contained and beautiful, with an active social life yet all the benefits of LA are right there as well. I wouldn’t even think of NYU over UCLA, particularly in-state.</p>

17

<p>chase:</p>

<p>way off the mark?
what in the hell are you talking about?
I said cal was a reach, although I missed his UC gpa when I initially replied, it is a slight reach/ high match. In any case, I was not way off the mark, although I might have slightly misjudged, just because of his uc gpa, I would definitely not call it way off the mark. And like he said, he meant Boston UNIVERSITY, not boston college[which is harder to get into]. So before you go criticizing everyone elses posts, you should read yours, and the replies, more carefully.
To the OP, my apologies.</p>

18

<p>well, anyway, thanks a lot for the great information. Anything I could possibly do to give me a more competitive edge? I know it’s kinda late, but just wondering.</p>

19

<p>bump bump bump bump</p>

20

<p>Try applying to all the IVY’s especially Colubia Univeristy. It’s an ivy in New York with a great rep. If you pland on doing Med or Bio i suggest you apply Columbia’s SEAS program. It’s science and math classes are great and provid the essential needs need for becoming a doctor, scientists, or engineer. I’d also tell you to apply to Columbia’s Seas program over Columbia’s college program as it has a higher acceptance rate especially if you apply early to the SEAS.</p>

<p>NYU is a great school i’d still suggest you apply there.</p>

<p>University of Chicago is amazing and one of the top caliber schools.</p>

<p>Cornell is not a reach for you it’s a HIGH MATCH. </p>

<p>Out of the 8 IVY’s Cornell is the EASIEST to gain acceptance to with a high 21% acceptance rate and AN EXTREMELY HIGH 46% EARLY DECISION ACCEPTACNE RATE. Check collegeboard if you want proof.</p>

<p>Anyway other great schools would be Duke University and UCLA</p>