Do I have a shot at Pepperdine?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Alright, I know no one likes to look at these but I promise I won't post a lot. </p>

<p>I was wondering, with your honest opinion, if I have a shot at Pepperdine University. I'm about to wrap up junior year and I have to start thinking about what schools I want to apply to and I'd rather not just throw away $65 to a school I can't get into. </p>

<p>Do you think I get into a school better than Pepperdine or is that my ceiling? I am also slightly interested in Stanford but I know that's a reach. I am also looking at most UC's, particularly UCLA, USC, and UCB. </p>

<p>I go to the #1 ranked school in my state so my UW GPA is a little low at 3.65. I kinda messed up freshman year, but I got straight A's as a sophomore and a junior. If they consider 1st semester of senior year too I can probably bump it up to ~3.7. </p>

<p>So here are the rest of my credentials:</p>

<ul>
<li>3.6 UW</li>
<li>5.3 weighted (5 scale for honors, 6 for AP)</li>
<li>9 AP classes (All 5's except AP Chemistry) </li>
<li>34 ACT</li>
<li><p>2070 SAT (790 CR, 650 M, 630 W) </p></li>
<li><p>JV Cross Country Sophomore</p></li>
<li><p>Varsity Cross Country Junior/Senior (state qualified) </p></li>
<li><p>Varsity track and field junior year (had to quit because it overlapped with baseball) </p></li>
<li><p>JV Baseball Sophomore</p></li>
<li><p>Captain of Varsity baseball Junior/Senior (won state back to back) </p></li>
<li><p>Boys Bowling </p></li>
<li><p>99th percentile in Presidential Fitness Challenge, 9th to 12th</p></li>
<li><p>Student Council representative Freshman/Sophomore </p></li>
<li><p>Student Council Board member Junior/Senior</p></li>
<li><p>Vice president of school's largest club, Eco club. Instrumental in development of school recycling system.</p></li>
<li><p>Founder of 'Dreams for Kids,' a club going to young cancer patients at a hospital/helping developmentally disabled high school kids. </p></li>
<li><p>Founder of 'sitcom club.' we hang out and watch sitcoms together on netflix, bringing snacks, helps 9th-12th graders interact with each other, let loose. Homework help in a relaxed environment. (TV volume isn't too loud) </p></li>
<li><p>Co-founder of 'the giving tree,' we go to homeless shelters and serve them</p></li>
<li><p>Co-founder of a club where we learn basic ASL and interact with deaf children</p></li>
<li><p>NJHS & NHS, didn't really do anything though, but I did my required tutoring hours </p></li>
<li><p>Business Professionals of America, made it to national competitions 10-12th with 1st place awards in advanced accounting, extemporaneous speech, legal office procedures, medical office procedures, and advanced keyboarding. </p></li>
<li><p>Held a school-wide mock election (Obama vs. Romney) along with my AP Gov. teacher</p></li>
<li><p>Main school photographer, I take pictures at most pep rallies, school events. In charge of other student photographers. I upload pictures directly to the school website, school newspaper, school Facebook page, and wherever those pictures are relevant.</p></li>
<li><br>


<br></li>
<li><p>Traveled to Guadalajara, Mexico on a religious mission. </p></li>
<li><p>Traveled to Baja California for a biology learning experience </p></li>
<li><p>Traveled to Haiti to build churches and schools </p></li>
<li><p>Work experience at Costco, 30 hours a week, age 16 to current</p></li>
<li><p>Did newspaper delivery from 14 to 16 on a bicycle every Saturday. </p></li>
<li><p>Fix people's computers & tutor pro bono throughout my community. </p></li>
</ul>

<p>Thank you so much for your time! Have a wonderful rest of your day.</p>

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<p>Kudos to you for having so much activities first of all! I think you may be a little ‘over-qualified’, if I may, for Pepperdine. I think Pepperdine is prestigious enough as a school where it would be considered a reach, but I think you may actually get into other more prestigious schools if you wanted to. And don’t think of application money as ‘money thrown away’, you do have enough behind you to be able to stand to it. </p>

<p>You have 5s on almost all of your APs, you have a decent GPA, I think you can do better. The only thing I would say that is a little iffy is your SAT. Most people aiming for schools like smaller ivies or Berkeley would have SAT scores of roughly 2200. If you can take the test again, definitely do it. :)</p>

3

<p>Aelaenia – Thanks so much for your response! I realize I messed up on my SAT. I don’t feel as though it reflects on my academic ability, though. Not trying to make excuses, but I had a family emergency on test day but took it anyway. I’m set to take it a second time in mid-June, hopefully my scores will be better.</p>

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<p>@seelee123 Good for you! Take it again and good luck on it all!</p>