Chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Notre Dame
1

<p>Hi everyone. I am a 17 year old Hispanic male. I attend one of the most prestigious schools (Berkeley Prep) in Tampa. I have taken 7 honors classes so far and this year I am taking 2 honors and an AP. Please keep in mind that at my high school honors classes are a huge commitment (many are college level courses) and grades are not inflated like they are at many public high schools. Below I have listed only my academic courses. I have taken many electives that are relatively unimportant such as 3 years of Religion, Beginning Guitar etc. My overall GPA is 3.6/4.0 unweighted.</p>

<p>High School Credits Earned in Middle School:</p>

<p>Spanish I A
Honors Spanish II A
Prealgebra A</p>

<p>Freshman Year:
English 9 A
Geometry B+
Honors Bio A-
World History A-</p>

<p>Sophomore Year:
English 10 B+
Algebra II A-
Honors Physics B
Honors Government/Economics A-
Honors Spanish IV A-</p>

<p>Junior Year
Honors Chemistry B
English 11 A
Precalculus B+
Honors Spanish V A
AP US History B+</p>

<p>Courses I am planning to take Senior Year
AP English Language
AP Spanish Language
AP Government
Honors Statistics
Marine Biology/Oceanography</p>

<p>I have been a member of the following sports teams. I plan to continue all of my sports throughout senior year:</p>

<p>JV Cross Country 9-10 (captain)
Varsity Cross Country 11-12 (will be a captain)
Varsity Wrestling 8-12 (will be a captain)
Founding member of First Lacrosse Team (Plant Panthers) in Tampa (7th)
Varsity Lacrosse on the Panthers 8-10
Varsity Lacrosse (founded the team) 11-12 (will be a captain)</p>

<p>Extracurricular Activities:
Tour Guide (11)
Assistant Head Tour Guide (12)
Lacrosse Club 9-12 (founder)
Photographer/Sports Writer for the Newspaper 9-12
Classic Film Club 10-12 (president)
SADD 9-12 (currently Vice President of Finance and will be running for president next year)
Writing Center Tutor (12)
Diversity Awareness Club (11-12)
Spanish Club 9-12 (will be running for president as a senior)
Red Cross Certified in CPR, First Aid, and Lifeguarding
I have been lifeguarding at my local pool for 2 years.</p>

<p>I also am very passionate about fishing, kayaking, SCUBA Diving (NAUI certified), and spearfishing.</p>

<p>Scores:</p>

<p>ACT: 30 (I am planning on retaking this throughout the year).</p>

<p>SAT II's</p>

<p>US History- 630</p>

<p>AP US History- 4</p>

2

<p>As long as you get that ACT score up, you probably have a legitimate shot. An essay on your love for water sports and activities would probably be unique.</p>

3

<p>Can you give us a guestimate of where you rank? It is really impossible to give you an accurate accessment otherwise.</p>

4

<p>My school doesn't rank but I would say maybe top 25-35%.</p>

5

<p>Don't take it personally, but that is a pretty low rank for ND.</p>

<p>Right now, without an improvement on the ACT, ND is a possibility, but still a rather lengthy reach. Grades and test scores are very important items.</p>

6

<p>I have to agree. Definitely re-take the tests and see what happens and work on your rank as well as you can. Regardless, good luck and let us know if there is anything we can do to help!</p>

7

<p>even though my school "doesnt rank", will this my rank still be reported to the schools i apply to?</p>

8

<p>Well, your "rank" won't be reported, but your counselor must estimate a percentage much like you just did. (Ex. "top 10%" instead of "5/349")</p>

9

<p>Sorry, to clarify: Yes, a "rank" like this must be reported on ND's app.</p>

10

<p>The other thing that schools sometimes do is give a grade breakdown for a class so that ND knows how many A's, B's, etc came out of that class. For instance, I was in the "Gifted and Talented" program at my high school and the two GT classes were well-known because everyone got A's, not because we tried because we really didn't, but because everyone just got A's. However, I am guessing ND didn't take that class as seriously because they looked and saw it was that way. However, if you got an A in a class where most kids got C's, they may pay more attention. It all depends on your hs but usually your counselor does estimate your rank and at mine they included the grade breakdowns.</p>

11

<p>Thanks for the help. Do you think my best bet for acceptance would be applying early action because I am URM (Hispanic) or should I wait for RD?</p>

12

<p>Yeah. My school is really competitive. We have a lot of kids who literally study all the time. They dont go to parties, play sports, etc. They just study. So that is probably part of the reason why my rank is not that great.</p>

13

<p>RD, URM really doesn't affect if you should apply EA or not to the best of my knowledge</p>