Do I have a realistic chance?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>At a prestigious university.</p>

<p>The Bad Stuff:
I screwed up freshman and half of sophomore year (Mostly in B's except for a couple A's, C's, and I think I even got a D once, yikes), but I picked it up the second half of sophomore year and got mostly A's in everything (A- for the most part, a couple A+'s and A's, A+ for my final weighted average), and 2 B's. I go to a specialized high school in NYC (increasing even further my competition pool), so the classes/teachers are a bit tougher than your regular high school, but still, there are a lot of kids in my grade who get A+'s in everything and some weighted averages even go over the 100's. </p>

<p>On top of that, I have zero EC's (literally none). I have done volunteer work at a hospital and a doctor's office for my summer heading into sophomore year and this summer, but that's obviously not enough. I write for a blog site from time to time, one that generates ad revenue (but I reckon this would be one of those loser extracurriculars like being able to solve the Rubik's Cube or something, which I can do by the way).</p>

<p>My school limits the amount of AP's a student can take per year based off their accumulated average, and I can only take 2 next year, and I am taking 2 next year (mandatory APUSH and AP Lang & Comp). The most a student can take in one year is 5, but I don't think anyone in my grade is taking more than 4. I'm also racially handicapped and have no idea what I want to major in (probably in the crowded Business stream).</p>

<p>The Good Stuff:
I can write a killer essay, at least in my opinion. I have relatively high grades compared to the rest of America, as I mentioned up top, and my projected SAT score based off practice tests right now, is above average, but only slightly above average of the above average (In the 1900's/low 2000's). I'm still studying and yearning for a 2300 or above, and I honestly feel like I can get there (if I just brush up on my vocab, some basic math concepts/problem solving skills, and my grammar).</p>

<p>Zero impressive accolades, or accolades at all for that matter, poor grades for 1 and a half years of my high school career, and an average SAT score right now. And it's already August. I have to say, I'm rather frightened. Getting into a top 30 ranked US News college would, quite honestly, put me in an endless and indefatigable state of euphoria. The source of all my anxiety for the past 2 years has been on the daunting fact that high school has been a nightmare of mishaps, missteps, miscalculations, and missed opportunities. </p>

<p>Don't be too frank and too honest with me, because terrible news will probably ruin me. Matter of fact, I even despise the term "chances" or "realistic chances", I need solid confirmation.</p>

2

<p>racially handicapped?</p>

3

<p>First off to chance you at a prestigious university, you have to define to us what kind of schools are prestigious as the topic is fairly subjective.</p>

<p>I think your determination to turn your academic career around is quite a feat. To add on to the grades, your GPA will be determined by all of your grades through high school (I think) and you’ll need to bring it as high as possible (within 3.5 - 4.0). Google “College board GPA Scale” and you can see how your GPA looks. </p>

<p>To vaguely answer whether you have a chance at a prestigious university, you will have a shot, but you need to start showing your effort with ECs (ones that you’re passionate about, perhaps the school newspaper) and grades. If you can show your passion, I think you can definitely go to a great school as an undergrad. </p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

4

<p>We really need to know what you mean by “a prestigious university” before we can help…</p>

5

<p>Top 30 can be overrated- a lot of students end up unhappy, because most of the schools are of the same variety, and not all kids fit in the large, research-centric schools.</p>

<p>That said, if it’s what you want, you can definitely turn everything around. GPA isn’t everything in college admission, and as long as you pick things up you should be fine. I was a bit like you EC wise freshman year, participating in only one club extensively. Just up your involvement next year. The essay thing is GREAT, and you could really set yourself apart with that.</p>

6

<p>

</p>

<p>Means OP is white or Asian, presumably. </p>

<p>

</p>

<p>First of all…why?
Second of all, this is the most frightening sentence in your whole post. </p>

<p>And to answer your question, I have a 3.99 unweighted GPA and a 2340 on the SAT and even I probably won’t get into a top 30 university.</p>

7

<p>Do you consider the University of Maryland prestigious?</p>

8

<p>“Do you consider the University of Maryland prestigious?”</p>

<p>No</p>

<p>"First of all…why?
Second of all, this is the most frightening sentence in your whole post. </p>

<p>And to answer your question, I have a 3.99 unweighted GPA and a 2340 on the SAT and even I probably won’t get into a top 30 university."</p>

<p>Lol why do you find it frightening?
I guess it’s an ego/self-assurance thing more than anything else, but my parents place a significant amount of emphasis on this and I would rather not disappoint them</p>

<p>How does a 3.99 GPA + 2340 SAT not get you into a top 30 university? That sounds like a buy ticket into any university you want minus Ivy’s.</p>

<p>“Top 30 can be overrated- a lot of students end up unhappy, because most of the schools are of the same variety, and not all kids fit in the large, research-centric schools.”</p>

<p>Well, as I said, it’s a stroke for my ego and a way of holding myself up to my own standards. Whether the school would accommodate me or not is irrelevant - maybe that’s my problem? To be quite frank, I just want to be accepted, actually going there is an entirely different road of logic.</p>

<p>“We really need to know what you mean by “a prestigious university” before we can help…”</p>

<p>The “US News” ranking list is the general idea. I would consider anything in the top 30 to be prestigious.</p>

9

<p>

</p>

<p>Because there’s no logical justification for that kind of euphoria. When you actually go to college, it won’t be an abstraction anymore. It won’t be a list of adjectives like “prestigious.” You’re not going to enjoy the experience of walking around on a certain college campus for four years solely because it’s prestigious. You might hate it there. Prestige can’t be the only thing you care about.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>You’re probably underestimating how selective they are. I’ll get past the “academically qualified” part, but then I’ll get rejected because I’m OOS for the public ones and my ECs, though they exist, are pretty mediocre. </p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Prestige is just a largely-nonsensical social construct. Why would going to a college outside of US News’ top 30 be lowering your standards?</p>

10

<p>^</p>

<p>Heather I’ve seen your stats thread and have a very hard time believing that you won’t get into a top 30 uni. Now, I have no idea where you want to go, but I don’t see how schools like UVA, Georgetown, UCLA, Mich, Northwestern, Notre Dame, etc. could possibly reject you. You’re very competitive for reach for everyone schools.</p>

11

<p>I can sympathize. If you had asked me a year ago, when I was going into my senior year of high school, I would have told you that I needed to be accepted to an Ivy to make my family proud of me, that it would be proof that I was smart and special, etc. Not even go, just get accepted. </p>

<p>I was filled with so much regret over my classes, “mediocre” ECs, everything. Getting rejected was my worst nightmare. But then it happened. And the world didn’t end. I’m still going to a good school, and after visiting a few colleges, I reluctantly admit that I felt more at-home at this school than the others.</p>

<p>So are you guaranteed to get into a Top 30 school, despite your best efforts? No. But are you guaranteed to get rejected? No. You have a lot of time, and you know where your weaknesses lie. But the most important thing is to find schools that fit you, rather than trying to mold yourself to schools you aren’t even sure you’d want to attend.</p>

12

<p>

</p>

<p>Not with that attitude you won’t.</p>

<p>To the OP, if you’re worried about EC’s, go pick one or two that you like and the “impressive accolades” you want will follow. Or they might not, but at least you’ve experienced cool things outside the classroom and have more to write about in those killer essays of yours.</p>

<p>I mean, it seems like you understand what you’re lacking and are willing to go about changing that, so I see no reason you’re not going to get into a college you like. I’m not saying you’re guaranteed a top 30, but it’s not like they’ll refuse to consider your application because you don’t have a 4.0 GPA.</p>

13

<p>@OnMyWay2013</p>

<p>So which school did you end up picking?</p>

<p>I know the world won’t end if I don’t get selected, but it’s still something I need to do and prove to myself. There would still be a lingering feeling of disappointment even if I did find a more suitable college outside of the top 30. You and I might have separate psyche’s, but that’s just how it is for me.</p>

<p>“Because there’s no logical justification for that kind of euphoria. When you actually go to college, it won’t be an abstraction anymore. It won’t be a list of adjectives like “prestigious.” You’re not going to enjoy the experience of walking around on a certain college campus for four years solely because it’s prestigious. You might hate it there. Prestige can’t be the only thing you care about.”</p>

<p>What is everyone’s ultimate goal? Why do people go to college? Secure and well-paid job, stable living, etc. etc. And I very well understand I can get all of those and even more without going to a top 30 university. Whatever college you went to is irrelevant, to an extent, in the corporate globe. With that being said, prestige would technically be the only thing TO care about. This is more of a fulfillment, a crowning if you would, than just a decision. I can handle the work load and I find it hard to believe that I would be unbelievably unhappy at basically a temporary assignment. I don’t like settling for less, even under the most dire of circumstances. </p>

<p>“You’re probably underestimating how selective they are. I’ll get past the “academically qualified” part, but then I’ll get rejected because I’m OOS for the public ones and my ECs, though they exist, are pretty mediocre.”</p>

<p>You’re underestimating your credentials more than I am underestimating the selection process</p>

<p>“Prestige is just a largely-nonsensical social construct. Why would going to a college outside of US News’ top 30 be lowering your standards?”</p>

<p>To keep it funky, it’s like making the All-NBA 2nd team when you know you can make the 1st and you want to make the 1st. Or settling for the less attractive chick when you actually desired the voluptuous dame who was sorta, kinda, realistic. I wish I could find more suitable analogies, but whatever.</p>

14

<p>

</p>

<p>People say that to justify all kinds of weird prejudices and idiosyncrasies.
I felt like this when I first started using this site. But for better or worse, I got over it. At least on some level I did.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Maybe I’m too idealistic, but how about to get an education?
(I’m a citizen of a first-world country in the twenty-first century. It’s fairly unlikely I’ll ever be homeless or starving, even if I go to a community college or no college at all. But, through some accident of chance, I was born privileged enough to move beyond purely practical concerns. And I want to take advantage of that as much as possible. I want to try to understand the world rather than just wander around on its surface for the better part of a century. And you can certainly do that without college, but the public library only has so much.)</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>With the first example, the 1st team is probably demonstrably better. There’s sort of a direct linear hierarchy, while it isn’t like that with colleges. (I think. I know nothing about basketball. And I had to look up what NBA stood for so I could say that.) The US News rankings are more subjective. </p>

<p>I think the second example is a better analogy for colleges. In both situations, I’d suggest looking beneath the surface. (As in, maybe the less-attractive girl is filthy rich and inclined to pay off your student loan debt or something. :)) And physical beauty is fairly transient, just like prestige. </p>

<p>A less prestigious college may have a better program in your major than a prestigious one. They might have a better campus or a better location or better teaching or better financial aid or a thousand other things. Maybe it’s well-known among employers but not the general population. I think prestige counts for something in this world, but it’s certainly not all you should care about, and using “top 30” as a blanket term as if you’d enjoy any one of them is silly. They’re different.</p>

15

<p>excellent comments, heather. </p>

<p>OP, do not waste your time worrying about this. just do your best, develop yourself as a person, and the rest will follow.</p>

16

<p>“People say that to justify all kinds of weird prejudices and idiosyncrasies.
I felt like this when I first started using this site. But for better or worse, I got over it. At least on some level I did.”</p>

<p>I’m a weird person and I don’t intend to justify any of it. If and when I don’t get the college that I want, I can get over it, but the grief and the anxiety is still consuming me, right here, in the present moment. But you, as other comments in this thread have mentioned before, do have a very high chance of getting into a prestigious university and you certainly have way better credentials than I do. So that’s why it’s kinda hard for me to identify my mindset with yours.</p>

<p>“OP, do not waste your time worrying about this. just do your best, develop yourself as a person, and the rest will follow.”</p>

<p>I’ve spent 2 years “developing” myself. I’ve worked and studied really hard this year to see improvement, but not enough improvement to propel me above the above average, and I’ve allowed the “rest to follow” but nothing has came. Time is running out and I’m getting a little bit impatient.</p>

<p>“Maybe I’m too idealistic, but how about to get an education?”</p>

<p>What do you mean by, to get an education? There are people who go to college <em>italics</em>just<em>italics</em> to get an education, as in learning and going to school and not being stupid, and there are people who go to college to get an education which in turn gets them a “good” job.</p>

<p>But what I ultimately meant by saying that is that I understand I don’t need a prestigious university to be successful in life.</p>

<p>"With the first example, the 1st team is probably demonstrably better. There’s sort of a direct linear hierarchy, while it isn’t like that with colleges. (I think. I know nothing about basketball. And I had to look up what NBA stood for so I could say that.) The US News rankings are more subjective. </p>

<p>I think the second example is a better analogy for colleges. In both situations, I’d suggest looking beneath the surface. (As in, maybe the less-attractive girl is filthy rich and inclined to pay off your student loan debt or something. ) And physical beauty is fairly transient, just like prestige. "</p>

<p>Actually, the 1st analogy applies to my situation better than the 2nd. In the 1st, even if you do make the secondary team, you’re still an amazing player and was probably bumped out of the 1st because you didn’t have enough starpower or a big enough smile or something like that (just like how Ivies won’t even look at you if you didn’t save like a million homeless people or invent an electronic abacus or overachieving stuff like that). But in the end, accolades like those are irrelevant, in basketball. They are bragging rights, and a pin to staple on your jersey or another plaque on your wall. All of this applies to me, because while I don’t need to be in the top 30, I am still above average and it won’t be ever likely that I’ll go broke, like you mentioned. In the basketball world, a championship is what matters the most to a player and is what reduces them to tears, but a scrub bench player who doesn’t play a minute can win one if he’s on the right team. In the same breath, a lucrative and secure job is what’s most desirable for a working person, and it’s what some strive for for a lifetime, but you don’t need an Ivy education to get that, just like you don’t need to be the star player of the team to win a championship. That’s how I would break down the analogy. So in essence, I want to be the star player and I also to win a championship.</p>

<p>“A less prestigious college may have a better program in your major than a prestigious one. They might have a better campus or a better location or better teaching or better financial aid or a thousand other things. Maybe it’s well-known among employers but not the general population. I think prestige counts for something in this world, but it’s certainly not all you should care about, and using “top 30” as a blanket term as if you’d enjoy any one of them is silly. They’re different.”</p>

<p>I’m finding it hard to explain myself in the best of words right now, but basically these are more or less bragging rights, a thing where I can say “I did it”. After college, I want to pursue my passion, a passion that does not require an Ivy degree, or even a college education at that. What I’m trying to say here is, whether the school has an outstanding medical or computer research science mumbojumbo program or not is a bit irrelevant, because those are just placeholders, I guess. So while a lower ranking university might have better facilities or cafeteria or whatever, and I might feel more “homely” there, it doesn’t matter anyways.</p>

<p>However, don’t get it twisted, I’m not trying to make it sound like I wanna get in solely because it will boost my ego, but I mean, let’s be honest here, people have their generic dreams of Ivy league colleges because of the prestige and the bragging rights, right? I mean, it’s certainly not for the paralyzing amount of work or the mountain of debt that follows.</p>

17

<p>I mean, the fact that you’re trying to talk me out of it and explain what you perceive as silly logic instead of believing and telling me that I can do it shows right there that I don’t have a good chance. But hey, I did ask you guys not to be too candid with me.</p>

18

<p>What I personally believe is that it is about what you make of college. Not where you go to college. I have a friend with near perfect sat scores, solid grades, good extra curricular, and he chose to go to the lesser state school in my state. He was offered honors and denied it. He plans on working hard in college while also having fun. I know someone else who was accepted to Stanford but chose to go to Gonzaga instead because of the fit. The prestige if a college really isn’t a big deal. You can go to a degree entry school no problem, make the most of it, and gi e yourself an incredible future. What I’m trying to say is don’t put too much pressure on yourself to go to a top 30 school. Where you end up will be the right place for you and you’ll have a great future ahead of you. </p>

<p>Just a side note: those are actually really good Sat scores. The national average is 1500. </p>

<p>One more side note: those rankings that supposedly determine the best school are kind of based on other bs rankings. If you look at what the rankings are actually based on you’ll realize that a schools ranking should definitely not be relevant to your college decision.</p>