Chances on getting into Tufts University

<p>Hi College Confidential members,</p>

<p>I'm Chris and I'm a high school sophomore this year. You might think why am I asking this question now? Thing is, freshman year I did not try as hard as I could have. Second semester, I tanked all the way down to a 2.6 GPA. Fortunately, I was able to climb back to a 3.5 GPA out of a max 4.0 by the end of the year (I go to a private, Catholic high school). Also, I did not do many EC's except playing violin in a Youth Orchestra. I seriously regret my effort level freshman year and I am doing all I can to remedy these next 3 years. </p>

<p>Well, for my schedule sophomore year, it looks like this:</p>

<p>Honors Biology (we take chem freshman year)
Honors Geometry/Algebra II
Honors English II
Honors Latin II
AP Music Theory I
Physical Education (takes the place of a history class sophomore year at my school)
Church History</p>

<p>I am self-studying for the AP Chinese exam, since I am of Chinese heritage and can speak, read, and write fluently, and I think I will be able to do exceptionally well on this exam.</p>

<p>I am also looking to add another AP class I can self-study for, probably AP Human Geography/ AP Comparative Government. I will also do a lot of community service and will join the Boy Scouts this year.</p>

<p>My question is, if I put in all the effort and stop being a lazy ass, assuming I do get at least a 3.85 next 3 years, and I attain my goal scores of 2150 on the SAT and 33 on the ACT and have a lot of community service hours/EC's, what are my chances of getting into Tufts University/Notre Dame/UNC Chapel Hill? My first choice is Tufts because my cousin went there, it's my dream school, I like their medical program, and the people I've met there are genuinely very nice and are the kind of people I'd like to connect with in a college environment. Thanks!</p>

<p>Sincerely,
Chris</p>

<p>bump…</p>

<p>Everything’s just in the air right now if you haven’t done any actual testing/got any scores back. But take this: Junior year gets a lot harder, pulling up your GPA to a 3.8 may be hard. And standardized testings aren’t exactly walks in the park either, not for me at least (I too, am of chinese heritage and came here 5 years ago).
Tufts if you want in on their medical program it might still be hard even with a 3.8 GPA and a 2150 SAT score… What was your PSAT score?</p>

<p>I just finished freshman year. Haven’t taken the PSAT yet. But I am trying my hardest right now knowing junior year will be hard. I’m taking 3 AP exams sophomore year at least. I am planning to get a 4.0 sophomore year, all the standardized tests are up in the air at this point.</p>

<p>o.O your school allows APs sophomore year? Nice… I thought u were an upcoming junior. But if you just finished freshman year then you still have a long way to go.
Have you tried any practice tests? I mean even if you have they won’t amount to much because you are going to improve a lot from here to the fall of your senior year.</p>

<p>Well, I’m going to be self-studying for AP Chinese/ AP Comparative Government. AP Chinese won’t be too tough for me as I can understand/speak/read/write like a native Chinese citizen. AP Comparative Government will be tough. But I don’t know if I can attain a respectable GPA by college application time, as our max is 4.0, and I have a 3.5 after freshman year… I really want to apply ED to Tufts if I can, as that is my dream school. I wouldn’t regret Notre Dame or UNC Chapel Hill either.</p>

<p>bump ,please give opinions, they are appreciated.</p>

<p>bump ,please give opinions, they are appreciated.</p>

<p>Hey man what’s up, I too am wanting to apply ED1 to Tufts but I’m a rising senior. It’s hard to “chance you” right now (In fact it’s hard to chance in general because no one actually knows) because you’re only a rising sophomore. A 33 ACT would put you in a solid range of getting accepted (I believe Tufts’ 25-75 percentile is 30-33). Definitely try to bring up your GPA in the next few years as well. You don’t have many EC’s as you are only a freshman, but definitely try to stick with some you really love and show that to admissions. Focus your energy on the things you love to do in high school (and of course focus on doing well academically). Also when it comes time for you to apply in a few years REALLY focus on your essays and try to make them the best they can be. I’ve heard Tufts really looks at your essays as a big part of your essay and as a big interpretation of the kind of person you are. I hope all goes well for you the next few years my friend!</p>

<p>TuftsHopeful69, Do you think my low GPA freshman year will come back to haunt me even if I ace the remaining 3 years and get a 33+ ACT?</p>

<p>As man have said in chances threads, colleges do like to see an upward trend (and many really don’t look at freshman year all that much anyway). I wouldn’t worry about it, it’s more important to focus on these next few years and do the best you can.</p>

<p>sorry i meant “as many have said”</p>

<p>a 30 act would be good enough. :)</p>

<p>Fire lion, I sure do hope I get higher than a 30. TuftsHopeful- do they look at combined GPA or year by year</p>

<p>AP Environmental Science is an easy self study.</p>

<p>Chris- Not completely sure but I would venture to say they look at it as a whole rather than year by year.</p>

<p>TuftsHopeful- which would mean freshman year would impact me.</p>

<p>colleges tend to put more weight on your sophomore year and junior year. freshman year does impact you but not as much as the next two years will. what i meant by they don’t do it year by year meant they won’t break your GPA into all years of high school and look at it that way. freshman year counts, as does most everything in the college process, but don’t let it stress you out. it’s over with, and if you can do better- get above 3.85 you next two years you’ll be a competitive applicant GPA-wise.</p>

<p>TuftsHopeful- Did you take any AP’s Sophomore year/ Junior year? I’m planning on taking 3 (self- studying for 2). Which ones do you recommend? I want something that makes me a prime candidate, because I’ve heard about Tufts being famous for rejecting overqualified students (tufts syndrome, I don’t know if this is true)</p>

<p>my school does not offer any sophomore year but I took 2 my junior year, which is what most people trying to get into high caliber colleges take. very few people at my school take three ap’s in a year. The classes are extremely difficult and the course-work would be killer. I too have heard of that, but I doubt it is really true. If you are a high-achiever but are applying to Tufts as a safety and have no real interest and that is evident to Tufts, sure you won’t get in. But if you’re extremely qualified and love the school they’ll see that. They certainly wouldn’t reject someone for simply doing extremely well academically. On the topic of AP’s, I wouldn’t recommend psych as I’ve heard many colleges see it as somewhat of an easy AP and don’t think very highly of it. I would really just recommend taking AP’s in subjects you really love or excel at or topics you’re interested in if you’re not sure on which to take. let your interests guide you</p>