<p>Are you guys serious?! </p>
<p>You call: "Yes, miracles have happened before. Anna Nicole Smith really did lose all that weight with Trim Spa." </p>
<p>constructive critism. All he is trying to do is put me down. I am definently not the one who needs the reality check.</p>
<p>That's humor, not a put down.</p>
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I am definently not the one who needs the reality check.
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<p>oh yeah, you DEFINITELY do NOT need a reaaaaaaality check...</p>
<p>you know what, screw that. i will tell you that you have a GREAT chance at brown, and that you should DEFINITELY expect to get in. HOPE THAT HELPS!!!</p>
<p>What is wrong with you guys, you certainly don't have to attack him. The humor, unfortunately, fails at its goal, and it remains true that if he does well on his test retakes that he has a "shot" at those schools, maybe not a good chance, but it would be worthwhile applying. His EC's are great, if you don't think so, then you have no idea what you're talking about; starting your own business is EXTREMELY time consuming, and for a HS student to be sucessful at it, AND maintain above a 3.5 at a reputable HS is quite impressive and at least gives him a shot at these schools, not this zero percent that you proclaim.</p>
<p>you are either accepted or rejected. there is no in between. based on current credentials the OP will be rejected from Brown. why tell him 'he has a shot"? everyone has a shot. OP doesn't have a REAL shot.</p>
<p>I beg to differ, I've seen people accepted to Ivy's with 3.5's from decent HS's, especially with minority status and unique EC's.</p>
<p>Bitter, huh A2Wolves? Might be time to move on and stop shooting kids' dreams down to make yourself feel better.</p>
<p>yeah i dont get why Bobert_McCloud and A2Wolves seem to be so invested in this. You guys seem visiously angry. Are you guys ok?</p>
<p>I'm not even going to comment on the chances part. I don't think you should have gotten upset and written the angry response though kevin. They were answering your question. You asked about your chances and they told you that they don't think you have one at the schools in question. If you don't want to hear what people think, do no ask for honest opinions.</p>
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Wow. If founding a business that grosses enough for me to drive a mercedes and live in the wealthiest city in the country isnt good enough I dont know what is.
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<p>Are you completely self-sufficient? If so, that would make for a great essay topic.</p>
<p>I was trying to help someone here. I don't want to see someone waste $130 on applications when their chance for admission is worse than winning the lottery. I'm not attacking anyone, i'm giving them a description of their chances. I can read numbers, which some of you are having difficulty doing so. When 94% of students have something that you more than likely don't, then I have a hard time saying "You have a chance!" especially when the general university only accepts 15% of students.</p>
<p>Please, do enlighten me as to how his ECs are great. Kids take relief trips with their school clubs to New Orleans to help hurricane victims, win national science competitions with their science teams, captain a varsity sport, are president of their class, win debate tournaments. The OP has done absolutely nothing other than one small club at his school. Brown doesn't want to accept students that aren't going to get involved and make for an enriching academic environment. Neither does Claremont.</p>
<p>Here are Brown's admissions statistics. Look where the numbers fall, and look at the correlating admissions chance.</p>
<p>He doesn't have the ECs to get in. He doesn't have the test scores to get in. He doesn't have the grades to get in. It would be a waste of time applying there. Ditto for Claremont.</p>
<p>And if you don't like hearing that you have no shot, don't come on to a forum and ask for people to evaluate you and give you your chances at a school! It just screams ignorant when you look at numbers realizing that you aren't even close to the accepted appicant to the school, and then still come on here and ask for chances, people give you accurate depictions of them, and you act as if they have something wrong with them.</p>
<p>As for you 19382, how about you try contributing to the thread rather than speaking about irrevelant topics that have no point or reasoning whatsoever behind them. He burnt his own bridge here, and i'm letting him know of it.</p>
<p>I got angry because he started comparing me to Anna Nicole Smith (actually is kinda funny I have to admit) and because his critism wasnt constructive at all. I probably over-reacted I admit, but I still think they were a little off base. I asked for my chances at certain schools, but they took it to a different degree. </p>
<p>The house my parents bought. The car I bought. So completly self-sufficient no, but I've still done pretty well.</p>
<p>I apologize for my response earlier, but in no way was A2Wolves6's response helpful, but I still apologize. </p>
<p>College admissions can be a very emotional thing and I guess I just took it too personally.</p>
<p>If you think founding a business compares in any way to the time commitment of being president of a class, or being captain of a varsity sport, then I challenge you to try and start a business from the ground that is actually profitable.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Be careful about considering Pepperdine a match. Not that your scores and its averages don't match up, but it's known for selections that are way more involved/complicated than numbers would predict. It's certainly a possibility, I just wouldn't recommend placing a lot of weight on it since it can be a particularly unpredictable one.</p></li>
<li><p>You're in a similar boat as my sister...great ECs, less strong grades/scores. Your scores are just low enough to make the toughest schools on your list into true reaches, but certainly high enough to keep you in the running, especially with your unique ECs. In particular, I know multiple CMC students who didn't fit normal profiles...who weren't necessarily "book-smart" (not that they weren't exceptionally intelligent people), but who had had exceptional experiences in some way or another. You haven't described your business in enough detail to really let anyone judge it, but it <em>sounds</em> like it could be unique enough to count for a lot. I've met at least 3-4 people in Claremont who took their GEDs to get there.</p></li>
<li><p>Agreed with Dirt...don't ask for advice if you're already very sure of how you feel. Respectful disagreement is one thing and fair enough, but these threads aren't for ego-stroking. CC is rarely the place to go for that. Also, you only gave a VERY brief description of your business endeavors in your original post, so it's fair that subsequent posters didn't all assign it appropriate weight.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Good luck!</p>
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If you think founding a business compares in any way to the time commitment of being president of a class, or being captain of a varsity sport, then I challenge you to try and start a business from the ground that is actually profitable.
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<p>Despite all this boasting, you only yield an 1830 SAT? Cut it out already sonso.</p>
<p>well this thread has gone in the wrong direction like so many other threads on CC. lol</p>
<p>If it's worth anything, I'll give you my opinion. </p>
<p>The single most powerful part of your app is the fact that you own a VERY successful business. That is truly impressive and quite unique among high school students. For that reason, I would not say Brown is impossible. However, others are right in their claim that your academic position is weak. Regardless of whether or not your school is competitive and difficult to get over a 3.7 at, your ACT score does not reinforce the assertion that you are quite intelligent (or should I say intelligent enough for Brown) and that you are just unfortunately at a difficult school. If your school is so difficult, a lower GPA is acceptable, but you should be able to prove your superior education with superior test results. I think that is where things don't add up. I've seen the same thing with students that supposedly went to "prestigious private schools" where it is very hard to get a GPA b/c the education is so much better than regular public schools. That is fine to say, but something will be fishy when Brown sees that your test scores are lower than average and that many regular school students are scoring in the 30s. </p>
<p>So to improve your chances, a retest is the best idea. Study hard and take the ACT as many times as possible until you get a very high score. Your GPA is going to hurt you but a high test score will balance it and prove that you are smart and that you just attend a really tough school.</p>
<p>Like I said, the business thing is incredible and will greatly play in your favor. You've got the business sense, but you need to prove that you've got the academic ability to compete at Brown. I think the only way you can do that is with amazing test scores. </p>
<p>There's some constructive criticism. Hope it helps.</p>
<p>I agree I just should have taken his comments and moved on.</p>
<p>As for the business heres the short summary:</p>
<p>I started out by purchasing books at local library sales and then selling them at garage sales and whatnot. I then found that Amazon.com had a feature where volume sellers could list and sell their books on Amazon for a feel. The problem was that I wasnt a volume seller. So I gradually built up enough capital by selling the books I had and by investing in the stock market. I then had enough to make contracts with publishers who had "hurt" books which are books that are somehow lightly damaged in some process of publishing whether it be bending of the cover or something else. Recently, I have worked out contracts with local librarys so that I receive the donated books that people donate to the library and they either dont have space for or dont want. I then have hired people who list the books, pack and ship them. </p>
<p>With this business firmly rooted and not requiring my help I've moved on and am now attempting to form a tutoring service in my local community that would consist of academic tutors familiar with a students specific school and if possible teacher. </p>
<p>Eventually, I hope to move into the real estate sector. My dad is heavily envolved in this and it has always been my dream to take what he started and make it bigger.</p>
<p>brand_182, thanks for the advice I really appreciate it.</p>
<p>Yeah...those are pretty damn good ECs. I'm not really sure what some people are looking for when they say they're not. </p>
<p>I think what really threw people off and started the immediate "no way in hell" responses was your low test scores and GPA. Study hard...I really think you could do it.</p>
<p>Edit: You're welcome. And one other thing - with that much money (enough that you can pay for college), you won't be asking for financial aid I guess. That's another plus.</p>
<p>As for those saying he should save the application money, come on. If you really make that much money, it's worth $70 to give it a shot. I think this thread got a little too negative from the beginning.</p>
<p>Many people scoff at a Brown applicant with a 3.5 UW GPA, that's it.</p>