<p>Male
SAT (taken twice): 2030 (650R, 700M, 680W)
Unweighted GPA: 3.18
Weighted GPA: 3.29
Class Size: 600 (public school)
Class rank: top 17-20%</p>
<p>Honors Math courses 8th through 12th grade. And 3 AP's: AP Statistics (4), AP Physics (2), and AP Computer Science (1). </p>
<p>My grade trend is essentially 3.40 freshman year, 2.90 sophomore year, 3.40 junior year, and 3.60 senior year. </p>
<p>EC's: High school baseball, special needs brother, babysitting, a little volunteering (and by a 'little' I mean only several hours one day), philosophy club, political club, and ping pong club -- I was only a 'member' of each club.</p>
<p>Rec's: My english teacher should show my intellectual curiosity outside of class, and my AP physics teacher should really just say positive things in general. I doubt, however, my recs will be the selling point of my app.</p>
<p>Essay: I'm probably going to write it about the movie 'American Beauty'. I obviously have a lot to work with, so hopefully I can make it original and interesting.</p>
<p>I agree you will be denied unless you are a legacy or developmental admit (Read Rachel Toor's ADMISSION CONFIDENTIAL for a good explanation about these admittees).</p>
<p>I appreciate your candor, but unless you have a really good explanation for your abysmal grades, that is a big detractor. Now, if you started a special program in your community to help your special needs brother that impacts many others, that might be a saving grace? Otherwise, you might want to lower your sights OR attend a junior college and prove you can really do the work for a couple years at a different level and apply for transfer.</p>
<p>...........a postscript...............Don't ask your physics teacher to write anything if he/she taught you in a class in which you scored on "2" on the AP exam!</p>
<p>woah woah woah, how does he have abysmal grades? He may not have grades capable of getting him into and Ivy Leagues but they are certainly not abysmal</p>
<p>They are atrocious for anyone who wants to be admitted to any LACs ranked in the top 25 UNLESS he has a definite hook: nothing personal, just reality.</p>
<p>Since the OP is a new member, you are doing him no favors by urging him to apply to a school where his chances for admisson are minimal at best from the info he posted. Aside from the semantics of what is or is not abysmal, let's focus on encouraging him to be realistic (like cpeltz). If he is really set on Grinnell, I would encourage him to apply with the knowledge that it is a high reach (sorry, cpeltz!) and focus on some safeties and matches in other places.</p>
<p>To everyone defending me by saying my grades are 'not abysmal', yes they are, lol. I admit it. I have given absolutely no effort in high school, and I take full responsibility for my atrociously bad grades, and, consequently, AP scores (my SAT scores would be higher, too, if I actually prepped).</p>
<p>Here is a detail I left out. I am from Arkansas.</p>
<p>So here is what I was hoping. If I write a really good essay (as in, in the top 10% of Grinnell's applicant pool) and apply early decision (this will, although very slightly, help my odds) I might have a chance?</p>
<p>So, if all of you would, recalculate my chances with the above in mind.</p>
<p>whoaaaaaaa
hold up here homies.
grinnell accepts about 50% of its applicants, fact.
early decision DOES increase your chances of getting in, and although your physics AP exam didnt go so well, AP exams aren't part of an admissions decision, only whether or not you will get college credit for them...</p>
<p>your grades are not abysmall lllklll, just because everyone is saying that they are.
im not saying that you are a shoe-in for grinnell, you do have some explaining to do for that sophomore year, but if you can provide a believable excuse, you should have a pretty good shot...and your SAT scores are far above average (500 per section) and i believe that your scores are definitely above-average for grinnells scores.</p>
<p>i think these people are being a little too harsh and negative</p>
<p>Your best shot at ED would have been ED1, and that deadline has passed. Again, apply to Grinnell, but find some other schools where you have a better shot and would still be happy to attend.</p>
<p>These are the college I think I'll apply to:</p>
<p>Grinnell College
St. Olaf College
Depauw University
Hendrix College
Va Tech
Purdue (Engineering school)
University of Wisconsin - Madison
George Mason</p>
<p>despite what many have said about your stats, i think you're a strong candidate for many top 40 schools. there's a big drop between grinnell and the rest on your list. i'd strongly recommend you look into low reaches/high matches like carnegie mellon, case western, whitman, lehigh, wake forest....</p>
<p>...About Wake Forest though. I'm going to major in either physics or engineering (depending, of course, on whether I go to a LAC or large university) --- Wake Forest isn't very good at either, correct?</p>