Chances???

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I previously posted a thread regarding this matter, but apparently, the CC board has been purged and my thread, along with my username, is nowhere to be found. So I got a new one, and I'm going to have to spend hours posting my questions again. So, if you find the same kind of content on the board, please forgive me. (my previous username is firethedonald)</p>

<p>BTW, I'm a junior right now.
Anyways, here it goes...</p>

<p>Asian male
Nonnative speaker of English but had all my education in US from 6th grade on
CA private school</p>

<p>Grades/Scores
Freshman GPA- 3.595 (or 3.60): 3.53, 3.38, 3.88
Sophomore GPA-3.59: 3.43, 3.67, 3.67
Junior GPA- ????: 3.32(ouch!), 3.55 midterm(doesn't count) and will improve to like 3.7ish,predicting 4 spring
Cumulative: 3.6 now, probably around 3.65ish by the end of the yr
PSAT- sophomore: 167 (CR 49/M 64/W 54) ouch!
Junior:216 (CR 60/M 80/W 76) =)
SATI-predicting 2200ish
SATII-Bio/E: 630
Plan to take US history and French
ACT-don't intend to take(yet)
AP-US, French this yr, English, Calc AB, Econ, Euro Hist. and (Enviro???) next yr</p>

<p>Courses
Freshman: English I, Alg/Geo Honors, World Hist, Bio, French 2h, Public Speaking, Computer class
Sophomore: English II, Geo/Alg Honors, Euro History, Chem, French 3h, Intro-3D Art, Acting, Radio
Junior: English III, Precal Honors, AP US History, Physics, French AP, Architecture
Senior: (tentative)AP English, AP Calc AB, AP Econ, AP Euro History, AP Gov't (should my school add this-there was a rumor about it for awhile), AP Enviro (I'm ????, Journalism/Newspaper</p>

<p>Extracurriculars
-Amnesty Int'l all three yrs (may become copresident next yr)
-JSA (chapter at school just founded
-Environmental Awareness Club all three yrs
-Probably something in Student Council next yr(if I can pull all the right strings and if I have connections in Council-I do currently-I'm friends with the class president, and most likely school president next yr)
-Cross country manager for one term fall soph yr (spent too much time traveling, GPA kinda suffered)
-Track one term spring freshman yr
-100ish volunteer hours
-Something interesting this summer. We'll see.</p>

<p>Colleges I'm considering (Match/reach/safety?)
-NYU (CAS)
-University of Michigan, Ann arbor (rolling; I'll probably send my app in as soon as I can humanly send it)
-UC Davis (I'm trying to avoid CA schools because as you can see from my username, I hate CA)
-University of Wisconsin, Madison
-Lehigh
(need more schools to consider...any suggestions?)</p>

<p>College/Career Intentions
-Go to college
-Econ/Journalism major
-Law School, MBA
-Investment Banking: bulge bracket, maybe Wall St.</p>

<p>Special Considerations
-I sorta had trouble freshman yr because I moved to CA from New York that yr and had to adjust to the new surroundings.
-My fall GPA junior yr was low because I had to adjust to my precalc teacher's (sorta not too energetic) style and had a little difficulty and ended up bringing my grade down 10 points in the last week of the term. So I got a C in math.
-My recommendations will most likely be excellent (from English and AP US)-they're my two best classes</p>

<p>-Oh, BTW, will my transcript be seriously damaged by not taking a science next yr? I already will have taken the three-yr bio-chem-physics standard sequence by the end of this yr.
-And, will that C in precalc spell doom for me? In that term, I did badly in math and science (B- Physics, C math) and did really well in all my other courses (B+ French, Architecture, A- English, A AP US)
-Finally, should I go for a rec from my English and AP History teacher who think I'm really smart and always prepared and always contribute and take lots of initiative, or one from my math teacher who watched me drop my grade 10 points in the last week of fall term, get a C in the class, then watched me engage in self-degradation and torture (and hard work) up till now(I have a B- in the class at this point)? I will probably get one from my AP History teacher regardless. She considers me her best student so that's an obvious choice. </p>

<p>Any input is appreciated.</p>

2

<p>sorry it's really long. Forgive me. I write really long and I'm trying to kick the habit.</p>

3

<p>um...don't think ur transcript will be "damaged" but some colleges do require 4 years of science. But you're already taking physics junior year so that's weird....</p>

<hr>

<p>a d m i s s i o n c h a n c e s . c o m</p>

4

<p>hmm.. looks like the C is going to hurt you, I'm afraid.
but definitely get recs from your eng and apus teaher. I hated my pcalc teacher, too. I understand why you hate CA. I've never lived there, but I've moved during HS year as well and can sympathize with your situation (pray that you'll get an admissions officer who's had the similar experience!)</p>

<p>your SAT I is pretty good. I'm sure you'll be commended. I suggest that you get your SAT I up to the 2300 range and shoot for UPenn or Columbia (if you like NY/cities).</p>

5

<p>Do I even have a SHOT at Penn or Columbia, with my non-four point something GPA? My dream school is really Columbia, and I would absolutely apply if I had the grades, but I don't have the credentials. </p>

<p>I was realistically thinking about going to NYU or Mich or something then TRANSFERING to Columbia or Wharton, if I can pull that off. The primary reason for that is that I want to get an MBA/JD at a top school like Columbia and I don't really want to work, be out of school for awhile, then have to readjust to a school environment again. I would rather get all the schooling over with and then not have the whole "I'm only working temporarily" thing going on. Also, investment banks require that you at least get an MBA to not be stuck doing paperwork and staring at computer screens for 90+ hours a week.</p>

<p>The primary reason I hate CA is because I'm stuck in a rural town (Monterey) where everyone's either filthy rich or extremely poor and I don't really fit in because there is no real middle class. I don't like the weather here either. It's really boring. And Monterey itself is boring too.</p>

6

<p>Oh, I forgot. Do you think the C is going to hurt me EVEN IF I'm improving my grade in that class? I hear admissions officers like improving trends.</p>

7

<p>ihateCA:</p>

<p>UCD: Safe Match</p>

8

<p>ihateca, WHY do you hate CA?</p>

<p>"I sorta had trouble freshman yr because I moved to CA from New York that yr and had to adjust to the new surroundings."</p>

<p>...well i moved at least eight times within CA in the past few years. when i transfered school at the end of my junior year from a public school to a private school, i could handle the workload much better for some reason.</p>

<p>i undresatnd. i hated my precalc teacher. seriously. ur math psat score shows that ur good at math so that C measures nothing other than your math teacher's ignorance and poor teaching skill.</p>

9

<p>yeah, my pcalc teacher seriously tried to flunk me... I don't like swearing but she made me want to call her all those nasty names. too bad for her since I got all As in her stupid assessments.</p>

<p>anyway, to answer your inquiries, I STRONGLY SUGGEST that you do apply to Columbia anyway even if you think you don't have a chance. Don't even think about transferring to ivys, because that's even harder than entering as a frosh. </p>

<p>Yes, the admissions ppl like seeing improvements on grades, but a C is still a C. A straight 'A' student is more preferrred than one who got C->B->A. It sucks, I know, cuz I have some Cs in my frosh year, too. A good idea would be to get an 800 on your math SAT II exam to prove that your pcalc teacher sucks and you are a really smart person. As for your special circumstances, make sure you write an explanation for them.</p>

10

<p>Changes:
Colleges List
-Tufts University (most likely ED): first choice
-University of Michigan, LSA (will apply ASAP-rolling): first choice
-New York University, CAS: close second choice
-University of Wisconsin, Madison: distant third choice
-UC, Davis: even more distant fourth/last choice</p>

<p>Addition to EC list
-Symposium Committee, 2006 & 2007: Responsible for organizing a school-wide event based around a current events topic. I'll most likely be heading a subcommittee or be in charge of the logistics of the whole thing.</p>

<p>Change to career/college intentions:
-Major in Economics or Finance/Political Science
-MBA from preferably an ivy
-Investment Banking/Trading</p>

<p>Change to test score estimates:
-SAT I: Estimating mid- to high-2100s. If I'm lucky, 2200ish.</p>

<p>Again, Thanks in advance for your extremely helpful input and advice.</p>

11

<p>cant really tell you where since you havent taken the sat yet. your gpa is awful so the test is huge. if you dont get over a 2150, you wont get into nyu, imo</p>

12

<p>i'd say your chances at umich are probably slight reach...your gpa is a bit low for out of state applicants...but your courseload is tough and filled w/ ap's and honors...and if you get a high sat score (2100+) you probably will improve your chances...</p>

<p>since your intended majors don't really encompass anything sciencey related you should be fine not taking a science as long as you take a tough course to replace it (which it seems you are...6aps...yikes!!)...and i also believe your c in precalc wont hurt too much as long as you send a letter explaining what the conditions were...I wish you the best of luck on your apps!</p>

13

<p>I would be replacing a science with AP Euro.</p>

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<p>yeah...at UofM you would definetly be fine not taking a science course if your replacing it w/ AP euro...especially cause your not trying for engineering or something...</p>

15

<p>what are your weighted GPAs?</p>

16

<p>Those are my weighted GPA's. My school doesn't publish unweighted. It doesn't report rank either.</p>

17

<p>wait those are weighted gpa's??...cuz if they are then you'll have to recalculate for uofm...they work off of a unweighted scale...every A+/A/A- is a 4....B+/B/B- is a 3 etc...and they only take the core academic classes for soph and junior year to count in your gpa....no extras are added for Ap's/honors</p>

<p>when i posted my original thought on your chances i thought those were unweighted #'s...your chances could go down quite a bit at umich depending on where your unweighted gpa ends up...</p>

<p>sorry for the depressing post...</p>

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<p>on the second thought though...if you really are serious bout applying to uofm...you should probably post your a copy of your chances thread in the uofm subforum...i know at least one of the uofm adcoms hangs around there...maybe she has a different opinion...</p>

19

<p>OK. My unweighted for Michigan scale is atrocious...
Freshman:3.5 cum/ 3.33, 3.17, 4
Sophomore:3.47 cum/ 3.2, 3.6, 3.6
Junior: 3.2, 3.4 midterm-hopefully will go up, I'm estimating 4 spring. Hopefully it'll go up.
Unweighted Cumulative: 3.44 :(</p>

<p>Wow, that's extremely depressing.</p>

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<p>hmm...it definetly isnt as bad as it could have been....i knew a friend who recalculated their gpa w/out weights and it dropped their gpa almost a full point...3.8 to 2.9...</p>

<p>yeah...seriously though...3.44 isnt too bad...itll hurt your chances some...but you still definetly got a shot because of the fact your courseload is bursting w/ AP's and Honors(11 by my count)...and uofm loves to see that...you see...what uofm does instead of looking at weighted grades is they compensate by looking at the difficulty of your courseload...and i gotta say...you definetly will do well in that department...so cheer up...your chances in reality probably were only slightly hurt...if at all...hell they might even be helped...</p>

<p>once again though...if you really want to go to uofm...you should post your chances in the uofm subforum...those guys really know their stuff...</p>