Desperately Seeking Suggestions!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>One last time, now that all my test scores are in!</p>

<p>I'm a white female student at one of the best public schools in NC (not that that's saying too much, probably)</p>

<p>UW GPA: 3.3571
W GPA: 3.9286 (our school has a crazy high weighting system, I know)</p>

<p>Class Rank: 33/130 (barely top 25%, I think)</p>

<p>SAT: 2240 (800CR/700M/740W [E9]) - may possibly retake once
SAT II: 800 US History, 770 French, 790 Lit</p>

<p>PSAT: 224 (80 CR/74M/70W)
Will almost certainly be a Semi-Finalist. Finalist, of course, is just a toss-up, especially with my grades.</p>

<p>AP Scores:
US History - 5
French - 5
Psychology (self-studied) - 5</p>

<p>And just in case the brief version of my stats wasn't exciting enough for you, here's my full academic history! It's like Christmas! First semester/second semester. </p>

<p>9th Grade:
Honors English I - B/A
Algebra I - A/A
PE - F/B
Biology - D/A
Theater I/Ceramics - B/B
World History - B/A
Honors French III - B/A</p>

<p>10th Grade:
Honors English II - B/B
Geometry - B/B
Civics - A/A
Earth Science - A/A
Theater II - B/B
Drawing & Painting - B/F
Honors French IV - B/B</p>

<p>11th Grade: (UW 3.93, W 4.93)
Honors English III - A/A
Honors world classes - A/A
Honors Algebra II - A/A
AP US History - A/A
Journalism I - A/A
Chemistry - B/A
AP French Language - A/A</p>

<p>(Hopeful) Senior Schedule:
AP Literature
AP Human Geography
Honors Precalculus
AP Comparative Govt.
Honors Journalism II
French course at UNC-CH</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Founder/Co-President Amnesty International (11, 12)
Co-Founder/Co-President of a schoolwide tutoring program (11, 12)
Newspaper (11, 12) - Section Editor (12)
Founder/Co-President Movie Club (11, 12)
various volunteering stuff, nothing huge</p>

<p>Awards:
National Merit Commended
National Merit Semi-Finalist (pretty sure)
6th place in state, 8th place nationally on the National French Exam</p>

<p>WILL be applying for financial aid; single mother makes <30k a year. Definitely not first-gen though.</p>

<p>Not sure what I want to major in, but I like things like history, languages, political science, psychology...in other words NOTHING very business-, science- or math-related. </p>

<p>Definitely Applying To:
- U Southern California (top choice!)
- Tulane (probably EA)
- U of Alabama (guaranteed full scholarship, I believe)</p>

<p>Might Apply To:
- Rice or Vanderbilt (I sort of feel like I don't need more reaches, though)
- Carleton (they keep advertising and I know they're supposed to have "quirky" admissions, but...seems a little ridiculous)
- Occidental or Pitzer (not wild about either, somehow - I just haven't seen anything spectacular about them so far)</p>

<p>I like big cities (although lively suburban will do), warm weather, and schools with character, and I'm not such a fan of LACs (although I'm sure I could be happy at a good one). No religious affiliation, no women's colleges.</p>

<p>I guess what I'm really asking for is: chances at the schools mentioned and suggestions for which ones I should apply to/what other schools I should consider.</p>

<p>Thank you so much for reading all this!</p>

2

<p>U Southern California - mostly likely you’ll be admitted. They are very forgiving of grades especially when someone’s test scores are as high as yours. (85-90% in)
Tulane - match
U of Alabama - match</p>

<p>Rice - low reach/reach
Vanderbilt - low reach
Occidental- match
Pitzer - match</p>

3

<p>Wow, you really think my chances are that good at USC? Thanks! I’m a little worried that they won’t like the F’s in easy classes and will write me off as a slacker. (Which at the time…was true, haha.)</p>

4

<p>I’m almost positive you’ll be admitted. They place a big emphasis on test scores, it has the most weight on the application, I had my fair share of discussions with the admissions committee (long story). Your grades overall are not bad at all except for the occasional and evident slack off period, but honestly I’m almost certain they’ll overlook it considering everything else in your profile. I stick with my original estimate: 85-90% chance you’ll be admitted. It’s really is an awesome school, best of luck in the future.</p>

5

<p>Wow, well thank you! If I get into USC I’ll be perfectly happy for the rest of my life.</p>

<p>…almost, haha! </p>

<p>Does anyone else have chances/suggestions?</p>

6

<p>I also think u’ll almost definately get into U South California. however, i just have one question… how did u get a F in art and PE?..</p>

7

<p>Be prepared to provide a statement explaining the Fs - how they happened, what you learned, why it will never happen again, etc. Your junior grades are pretty stellar, so that, along with your first semester senior grades, will go a long way in overcoming those grades.</p>

8

<p>Haha, it actually wasn’t very hard. I could give lame excuses for both, but I don’t think anyone would be interested. In the meantime, I’ll just have to work with them… Thanks for the chance though!</p>

<p>And fireflyscout, I definitely intend to do my best senior year and to explain (if I can do it without sounding whiny) that the slacking off won’t happen again.</p>

9

<p>Wait…</p>

<p>Something that immediately caught my eye was a “D” in Biology and an “F” in Drawing (Wat???). You probably have to explain these lapses on any of your applications, since the grade gap between the two semesters is incredibly wide</p>

10

<p>I’m still wondering how I can possibly explain without sounding like I’m making lame excuses - I don’t have any compelling reasons and I don’t want to sound as though I think I do. </p>

<p>Any advice as to where I might mention this? I could tie it into my essay, but I wouldn’t want to make it the central focus… (And as always, any chances or suggestions for other schools are very much appreciated!)</p>

11

<p>You can always submit an additional statement to your application. Be sure to discuss this with your counselor so you’ll both be on the same page when they do the counselor recommendation.</p>

12

<p>Here’s the breakdown:</p>

<p>Grades: What happened? As I have said before, you need to make a note of this in your application. </p>

<p>Standardized Tests: Solid. You shouldn’t need to change a thing.</p>

<p>ECs: Also very solid. Founder/Co-President status is impressive, but remember not to be too varied. Colleges like applicants have focus in a few areas, and when filling out applications, remember to accentuate the ones that are the most important to you.</p>

<ul>
<li>U Southern California - High Match (It may be slightly tough since you are out-of-state)</li>
<li>Tulane (probably EA) - Match</li>
<li>U of Alabama - In - Match</li>
</ul>

<p>Might Apply To:

  • Rice or Vanderbilt - Low Reaches
  • Carleton - High Match (Be aware of the bitter cold)
  • Occidental or Pitzer - Match</p>

<p>Here are some school suggestions, all of them are LACs, sorry!:
Pomona (Located in California. Great curriculum, awesome campus)
Pepperdine (Located in California. BEAUTIFUL CAMPUS)
Harvey Mudd (Third highest Doctorate rate, beats all Ivies and Stanford. Incredible consortium)</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/746334-what-my-chances-these-liberal-arts-colleges-others.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/746334-what-my-chances-these-liberal-arts-colleges-others.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

13

<p>I will definitely make sure my counselor is on the same page - she’s really nice and already knows about most of it. </p>

<p>samsunimomo - Thanks for the detailed breakdown! Since I really only have four EC’s (and the movie club is a joke!) I hope it will look like I spent a fair amount of time with each. I don’t think OOS will hurt my chances with USC, since it’s private, but that is why I’m not applying to UCLA and other California publics (which is a shame). I’ll look into the suggestions; thanks again!</p>

14

<p>About explaining the F’s: focus more on what you learned from them, and why it’ll happen again than on why you got them (since you don’t have a good reason).</p>

15

<p>I can’t say for USC, I’ve seen similar stats turn out both positively and negatively.</p>

<p>I think Occidental and Pitzer are matches. Both are extremely different from USC’ environment. They’re tiny and honestly more “nerdy,” and in residential areas. Occidental is close to LA and USC though. The campus itself is nothing special, in my opinion. The dorms were pretty dingy.</p>

<p>Of course, I have to recommend my school— Pepperdine. It’s a match for you, and a pretty good blend of the social aspect of USC and the academics of LACs like Oxy and Pitzer. Might be a good one to look at.</p>

16

<p>@Michae2010: That’s what I was thinking - less a “why this happened” and more a “this won’t happen again”.</p>

<p>@gwu_girl: I’ve always considered USC a big reach, so if my shots are even anywhere close to 50/50 I’m thrilled. As for being nerdy etc., that’s kind of why I haven’t been too excited about them. A beautiful campus is important to me, too, so thanks for the tip about Oxy. </p>

<p>Pepperdine sounds fantastic in almost every way except one - its religious affiliation. I am not even vaguely, slightly Christian (or religious period) and I wouldn’t be willing to mark that down on an application. I would also feel uncomfortable in an atmosphere where everyone else was Christian! Are there atheists at Pepperdine, or is it pretty pervasively religious?</p>

17

<p>[Waves</a> of Faith: Secularism at Pepperdine - News](<a href=“http://media.www.pepperdine-graphic.com/media/storage/paper1377/news/2009/03/25/News/Waves.Of.Faith.Secularism.At.Pepperdine-3684589.shtml]Waves”>http://media.www.pepperdine-graphic.com/media/storage/paper1377/news/2009/03/25/News/Waves.Of.Faith.Secularism.At.Pepperdine-3684589.shtml)</p>

<p>Here’s an article Pepperdine’s student newspaper wrote about nonreligious students.
I’m not personally very religious, I’m a deist more or less. I don’t think Pepperdine is uncomfortable, but it really depends. There’s convocation/chapel attendance for a grade, basically church-related events. I think you have to attend 14 per semester for an A. There are also three religion classes required for GE, but they’re taught keeping in mind that not everyone is Christian.</p>