Chances in Virginia?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>So, here's the deal. I go to TJHSST in Alexandria, Virginia, a science and tech magnet school. The curriculum there is very challenging, and I have to say, I'm disappointed with how I performed freshman and sophomore year.</p>

<p>Freshman Year GPA: 3.25 UW
Sophomore Year GPA: 3.25 UW
Junior Year GPA: 3.85 W (4 APs)
AP Music Theory, AP Chemistry, AP Calculus, AP US History
Senior Year classes: AP English, AP Gov (Topics in Globalization), AP Statistics, and other non AP classes.</p>

<p>PSAT: 224 (pretty sure I'll make finalist)
Qualified for AIME, but not for USAMO, lol</p>

<p>ECs:
4 years of Curricular Choir
Started a guy's acapella group (I have to say, we're pretty damn good)
Treasurer of Choir (11-12?)
Member of Chamber Choir (10-12) (auditioned extracurricular mixed choir)
Member of District Choir (9-11) (auditioned)
Treasurer of Junior Civitan International (11-12)
Organized fundraisers in both clubs over $3000 in profits so far (more to go!)
Maintain drop-off center for Planet Habitat (donations in clothes, shoes, etc)
3 Years of Model UN (10-12, over 20 conferences national and local, have won awards including gavel (1st place))
Big Sib (program at TJ where we become a big sib to the incoming freshman at our school)
Member of Asian Awareness (9-12)</p>

<p>Not much more to be mentioned...
The colleges I'm looking at are:
UVA
VTech
William and Mary (ED here probably)
Georgia Tech
U Chicago
Columbia (but, just for the heck of it)
Northwestern (music program)</p>

<p>I'm also auditioning for the NFAA ARTS program, under Popular Voice. If you make finalist in this program, colleges offer you scholarships (like Julliard, or Northwestern!). Hopefully, I'll make that.</p>

<p>Also, should I send a CD of myself singing and the guys acapella group I started to admissions offices, or what?</p>

<p>Thanks for the help guys.</p>

<p><em>edit</em>
Also, does it help that my sister goes to UVA too? She'll be a junior when I'm a senior applying. Just a note.</p>

2

<p>WOW...I think that you're totally in ! :-)</p>

3

<p>Botching up freshman and sophomore year really killed my cumulative GPA (which will come out to about 3.45ish). </p>

<p>I don't know; I'm just really paranoid right now. Lol</p>

4

<p>Definately send the tape, your sister won't be much help, but I'd guess you're a good shot at UVA, W&M as long as your grades stay up from now on (your early chances might not be great unfortunately though, I'd guess they might want to defer you just to see your midyears).</p>

<p>(I don't know though how hard or easy those are in-state, but obv you probly have some idea)</p>

5

<p>Being in state, you should definetly be a lock with stats like that. Even if you were from out of state, you'd have a very compelling case. However, you are probably more qualified than the vast majority of in state students they take, and UVA typically takes 70%+ from in state. Good luck!</p>

6

<p>from our school, 374 applied and 274 were accepted. thats what our school is like (lol)</p>

<p>and there are only 400 students per grade, so yeah. im afraid ill be in the percentage of students who get rejected. and yeah, im working hard to keep the grades up and get good scores. </p>

<p>should i apply ED to UVA then? or what?</p>

7

<p>No, if W&M is your first choice apply ED there, I still think you'd get in and even if you got deferred it helps your RD chance (cuz it shows them you really want to go their and w/e), plus it sounds like UVA should take you either way
- don't underestimate how much that acapella adds both leadership potential and uniqueness (and if you're actually good thats a plus too), esp. coming from a techy school, sounds like you'll stand out against a lot of those 375 in at least one good way</p>

8

<p>Ok, wow, never thought of it in those two terms. lol
Does anyone have an idea of how to submit the materials? Do I have to personally contact the choir director at UVA/William and Mary? If so, would their input/opinion on me have any effect on the admissions process?</p>

9

<p>Most applications have information regarding supplementary materials. There should be a section on the application stating the deadline and the process by which you submit these additional materials. Usually, the admissions committee will give these materials to appropriate staff members for an evaluation. I would definitely suggest pursuing this, as admission to UVA and WM from our area has become so competitive. A hook like that can only help your chances of being admitted. </p>

<p>Being from northern Virginia myself (and having far too many friends at Jefferson), I can tell you that usually a 3.7 W GPA is usually sufficient for admission to UVA from TJ. Of course, many students are admitted every year with a GPA that is considerably lower than a 3.7, but I would venture to say that if your first semester senior grades are strong, you stand an excellent chance of being accepted. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

10

<p>Yeah, I mean, I'm just really worried about my GPA. I don't think my ECs will ave enough impact on the admissions process, to get me into either of those two colleges.</p>

11

<p>Btw, how much does legacy at UVA count?
I keep hearing how siblings do and don't count as legacy. My sister will be a junior at UVA when I apply. Will this at all add any points when I apply for admission?</p>

12

<p>As I understand it siblings don't count as legacies. It wouldn't really matter for you anyway because legacies are mostly important for out of state students. The effects for in state students are minimal.</p>

13

<p>What colleges should I consider as matches? </p>

<p>I was thinking of UC Berkeley, since they don't count freshman year grades (which really helps my GPA. a lot).</p>

<p>Would that be too much of a reach? </p>

<p>Also, do the UCs only take sophomore/junior year GPAs and call that your cumulative? Thanks</p>

14

<p>from tj, you are safe with an overall gpa of 3.7. 3.6 is possible, but 3.5 or lower is really pushing it. sure 250 or so kids are accepted but keep in mind average gpa is also something close to 3.7. go to the guidance office you should be able to see all the gpa's from the previous year and which schools they got into or didnt get into</p>