Do my strong points outweigh my weak points?

Applying to College
1

<p>So, my weak points are obviously my GPA and perhaps my class rank. Do my EC's, SAT, and AP scores balance my weak points out at all? </p>

<p>The schools which I'm aiming for are:
Dartmouth, Carnegie Mellon, Stanford, Yale, Princeton, Swarthmore, UVA, Vassar, UPenn, Tufts, and maybe Columbia and NYU</p>

<p>3.7 UW/4.5 W GPA
Upward trend: 3.4 Frosh, 3.7 Soph, 4.0 Junior
Top 3%
Public school in the Northeast, Sends some to top schools</p>

<p>SAT I: 2380 - M:780, CR:800, W:800
SAT II: Bio:800, Lit:800, Spanish:770
AP's: Lang:5, US:5, Chem:5, Psych:5, Art History:5 (self-studied), Enviro:5 (self-studied)
Senior Schedule: AP Lit, AP Euro, AP Bio, AP Calc AB, AP Physics, Photography, Independent study with Yale environmental science graduate student</p>

<p>EC's:
Editor-in-chief of School Literary & Arts Magazine (nationally-recognized)
Editor-in-chief of School Newspaper (nationally-recognized)
Currently publishing a novel
Regular contributor to my city's newspaper
Published in various local/national/international magazines
President of Environmental Club
Outreach Coordinator, then Media Relations Coordinator at environmental nonprofit run by & for youth
Have attended numerous national and international environment-related delegations
Intern with city's waste department
Run my own photography blog (800 subscribers)
Run an Etsy photography shop (50% of proceeds go to charity of buyer's choice, over 130 sales so far)
Worked with autistic child for 3 years (over 150 hours)</p>

<p>Awards:
1st place - Novel-Writing Competition (National)
Gold Scholastic Poetry (National)
Gold Scholastic Dramatic Script (National)
1st place - Creative Nonfiction Writing Competition (National)
Courage in Student Journalism Award (National)
1st place - Local Literary Competition, Poetry
1st place - Local Literary Competition, Nonfiction
Finalist in environmental competition (International)
3rd place in environmental competition (International)
1st place in environmental competition (National)
Citizenship Award (Local)
Honorable Mention in photography contest (Inernational)
2nd place in photography contest (National)
Gold Scholastic, Photography (National)
1st place in photography contest (Regional)</p>

<p>Summers:
Interned at a television production company
Interned with city's waste department
Lots of writing, photography, studying
Interned at a publishing house
NSLI For Youth: Turkey
UVA Young Writers Workshop
Yale Journalism Workshop
Have taken Algebra II, Chemistry and H Physics</p>

2

<p>This is the seventh thread that you have started in the last few days having to do with your chances and/or improving your application.</p>

3

<p>this is more than the y seventh considering you’re using a myriad of usernames. considering you haven’t actually done any of the stuff you say you have, it’s impossible to chance you. you’re also SEVERELY underestimating the difficulties of AP’s, SAT’s, ACT’s and even honors classes.</p>

4

<p>I am so sure you’ve done all of this yet you still feel the need to be chanced. GOSH some people >.<</p>

<p>I’m also sure that the top 3% is a horrible rank. My rank is top 3% so thanks for making me feel dumb. UGH ■■■■■</p>

5

<p>What are you talking about…</p>

6

<p>I go to a public school, so yes, 3% may be considered not-so-great.</p>

7

<p>If you’re not a ■■■■■, you obviously have a great chance anywhere so stop bothering here.</p>

8

<p>Why do these people even bother…</p>

9

<p>Nothing balances anything else at the top colleges–they reject most kids with it all. You’re in at CMU and NYU where scores can balance things–but can you afford them, neither give good aid. Vassar and UVA look promising and meet need.</p>

10

<p>Thank you for your reply. Good to hear!</p>

11

<p>I agree with Redroses’ evaluation – at the top schools (namely the Ivies on your list), they frequently reject kids with BOTH good grades through all 4 years and amazing EC’s. You can definitely apply; just don’t be disheartened if you don’t get accepted. </p>

<p>PS – Don’t freak out too much over college! Posting chance threads everywhere with hypothetical stats isn’t going to change your chances much. You’d be much better off actually doing things rather than planning to do them ;)</p>

12

<p>You might have a shot at getting into your local community college…you should look into that.
Your other school choices are kinda far-fetched…Need more EC’s for those :)</p>

13

<p>But they aren’t hypothetical LOL…</p>

<p>Samd: I guess you’re right. I was thinking about applying to this community college near me, but now I’m seriously considering it.</p>

14

<p>If they aren’t hypothetical, than what, of those things, have you ACTUALLY done? It’s far easier to chance on truth…</p>

15

<p>Wait a second… o.o</p>

<p>I knew I’d recognized those EC’s from somewhere! Don’t you also go by bookwormer, OneLoveOneLife, and ctgirl628 on this site? If you do, then please please PLEASE get off this site right now and stop posting hypothetical stats (they ARE hypothetical since you are currently a rising junior and NOT a rising senior like your most recent threads seem to suggest). Fretting will get you nowhere, and neither will creating a bunch of accounts to make yourself seem less frenetic. Come back when you’ve actually won those awards or done what you hope to accomplish (and I can almost guarantee not EVERY single thing will go according to plan). Even then, please don’t go about posting a million chance threads.</p>

16

<p>I clarified this somewhere else: A few months ago, I was going on college tours. I was staying at my cousin’s house in Boston (she’s 15) and talked to her about college admissions, applications, etc. She told me she had heard about this site and made an account for me without my knowledge. She was the one who made those first 3 accounts out of boredom. I recently remembered that she had told me about this site and so I made an account for myself. In one of my first threads, someone mentioned to me that I seemed familiar so I talked to my cousin and figured it out.</p>

<p>Everything that I wrote is legitimate.</p>

17

<p>Yes, but the fact remains that you keep on posting the same chance threads in a handful of different forums repeatedly. Only one thread is necessary, and if you really want to see more responses, just bump it instead of re-posting it in another forum. Everyone’s already told you that you have good chances, and while I understand that you may want more “specific” predictions, there’s literally not much more to say because none of us are the college admissions counselors who will be making your admissions decisions next year.</p>

18

<p>You’re right.</p>

19

<p>Okay. But even so, why do each of THOSE accounts have a bunch of chance threads to their name? Your cousin seems to be unusually anxious/curious (not sure what the right word is) about your chances…</p>

20

<p>Not sure. She’s trying to plan out her EC’s for her high school years so I guess she wants to see what kind of stuff is considered “great”.</p>