Desperate! Please chance me for NYU!

Colleges and Universities A-Z New York University
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Hey all! I am polishing my applications at the moment, and was wondering what my chances were at NYU Steinhardt for Media, Culture, and Communication!

GPA isn’t too great: 3.25 Weighted
ACT: 30
Superscored ACT: 31 (35 on Reading and Writing, high 20s for Math and Science, and 17 on Writing)

No class rank to report. Not too good with grades. I have intellectual intelligence (“Life Smarts”) which won’t matter to admissions officers, but I am incredibly motivated and passionate about the Communication Major and the field of Advertising…
I want to essentially be the next Don Draper. Advertisement is a THRILL to me. Happy to have found my calling.

Tanked my Freshman year due to personal anxiety issues… Couldn’t adapt to high school / Family issues

ECs:

  • Over 100 hours of community service
  • Eagle Scout candidate (finishing up my service project now… shooting a video for elementary schoolers on proper library behavior… WAY harder than it sounds!)
  • Best Buddies - 2 Years (Buddy Coordinator)
  • Gazebo Creative Writing Organization - 2 Years (Secretary)
  • Service trip to Costa Rica in which I volunteered over 45 hours (Doesn’t sound like much-- worked with children)
  • Swim Team - 3 Years (Manager for 1 Year)
  • Lead actor in NOAC 2015 theme and closing shows - Spent over 90 hours preparing to perform in front of 15,000 Boy Scouts, adults, and other staff members at Michigan State University
  • Two-week Marketing/Advertising internship with a healthcare firm in Saratoga Springs, NY. I created a presentation which my team then used to pitch an idea to a client (I essentially designed a TON of advertisements)
  • Lifeguard at local YMCA - 2 Years (8 hours a week)
  • Swim Instructor at the same YMCA - 1 Year (4 hours a week)
  • Been active in my Boy Scout troop for 7 Years. I’m an ASPL (one wrung under the “leader” of the troop), and as I’ve said, I am finishing my Eagle Scout project

RIGOROUS SCHEDULE (At least to me)

  • Have taken 7 APs total, all of the rest having been Honors
  1. AP Human Geography
  2. AP United States History
  3. AP Psychology
  4. AP European History
  5. AP Government
  6. AP Microeconomics
  7. AP Environmental Science

Currently taking Micro and Envi Sci this year. As I mentioned, everything else has been an Honors course. Math is my weak point. I have an active senior-year course load. This is all I can really handle, with everything else.

Essays: All of them PHENOMENAL. Writing is my card. I am NOT a Jack-of-All-Trades.

Recommendations: One AMAZING teacher recommendation, One “regular” teacher recommendation, Guidance Counselor recommendation (he knows me well, and how motivated I am to learn and to challenge myself), and
ONE SPECIALIZED RECOMMENDATION FROM MY VICE PRINCIPAL FOR NYU (He is an alumnus)!

I am from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and am a white male.

One last note:
As great as I may be with writing and reading (excuse the crappy ACT Writing score), MATH has always brought me down. It’s the only class I’ve ever gotten a “C” in. Just can’t do it ): Currently taking Honors Calculus AB.

Major: COMMUNICATION

PLEASE chance me! I will chance back (: Thanks so much for listening to me **** about my mediocre stats. I know NYU is a reach school for me.

Thanks SM guys and girls!

  • B
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Bump. Please, this is very important to me.

3

What other schools are you applying to?

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@ClarinetDad16

Boston U (School of Comm)
Occidental College
Fordham University at Lincoln Center
Syracuse (Newhouse School of Comm)
Emerson College
Fairfield University (CAS)

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NYU also superscores ACT, so I’d really be applying with a 31 composite !! (=

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It’s a reach. A 3.25 Weighted GPA is quite lower than the NYU average, and your ACT composite is in the below average-average range as well. You have good ECs and if your essays are as good as you claim, they may boost your chances, but your GPA will still hurt your application.

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Thanks for the reply! I’m still definitely doing it, on the off-chance of acceptance

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I would recommend to apply to schools that fit your academic profile.

Not sure if you would get in locally to Temple because of your GPA. It would seem NYU, Newhouse, BU are not in reach.

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Is that your entire list? Which is your safety (the school you know you can get into, is affordable, and that you’d be happy to attend)?

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What kind of school are you from? I realized that mattered a lot when they stated that 90(?) percent of their students were top 10% in their high schools. I was top 40% (maybe 30%) in my school but still got in and was offered to join the honors program.

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@sungjong I am from a competitive Pennsylvanian public school, with just over 300 in my class. I believe we are ranked as one of the top 50 public schools of Pennsylvania.

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@chappaqua ah, that might be advantageous for you then! if you’re applying from a school with good reputation, then they’ll definitely give you more wiggle room for not-so-stellar grades

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Writing is your thing but 17 on the act essay? That’s a red flag to admissions right there.

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@NYCpls have you taken the ACTs. FYI- writing is my thing. I’m talented. I’m graceful. My rhetoric is undeniably impeccable. The ACT Writing section is one, massive formula, which very few students are able to figure out. Sure, my writing was amazing, but that won’t stop them from harshly grading my essay. I didn’t have the formula down. Hell, it’s as simple as that. The admissions counselor WILL truly know that I am a great writer-- my Common App essay is near perfect, all of my teachers have highlighted how amazing I am with words and structure, and my supplemental are sure to knock them out of the water. It’s as simple as one, single formula, which I simply could not perfect. You make it sound worse than it actually is.

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@chappaqua I hope your lack of humility doesn’t come across in your essays as it does in your writing here (which is not perfect by any standard). Colleges do not like braggarts.

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@itsgettingreal17

First off, how stupid do you think I am? LOL. I know how to work an essay. Just because I have a low GPA doesn’t mean that I don’t know how to write a damn good essay. Trust me, I don’t even REMOTELY come off as a “braggart.”

Second, I need to address this"
“I hope your lack of humility doesn’t come across in your essays as it does in your writing here…” Are you FOR REAL? Dude, I am PROUD of myself, and I was standing up to you bullies on this site (for once). The way that NYCpls framed their question definitely revealed their negative reservations towards me.

JUST because I am standing up to you “perfect” people for once DOESN’T mean that I’m “lacking in humility.”

Third, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but this is a COLLEGE FORUM SITE. Do you really think that I’m gonna waste energy trying to write perfectly? NO. LOL, I save my energy for when I really need it.

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@itsgettingreal17 Dude, I feel the need to mention that you seem like the type of person to support the oppression of the LGBTQ community, minorities, women, etc. Just saying. You might want to try being nice. It’s quite evident that you can’t tell that I am sticking up for myself.

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I’m not trying to start anything @chappaqua. I’m just trying to be helpful and say that the ACT and SAT essays are often used as a validity check on the personal statement and that admissions counselors will have access to both of these essays. If the writing doesn’t match up between the two, then the admissions counselor will often thing that there is something sketchy going on. I’m not saying that there is anything sketchy with your essays, it’s just what most colleges do with the essays on these standardized tests. Just something to keep in the back of your mind, that’s all.

First of all, to answer your question, I have taken the ACT, the old SAT, and the new SAT. Contrary to your beliefs, most students have figured out the formula for these essays.
Second of all, why are you starting an argument on CC?
Third of all, no one was bullying you, and I certainly did not mean for you to interpret my previous comment as such. I was just trying to be helpful.