<p>I don’t think you’re competitive for Yale, Princeton, or Penn. You’ll be competing with people who have similar stories but who still managed to get 4.0s and 34+ on the ACT.</p>
<p>32 is right around the 50th percentile and if the OP thinks a score raise of one-two points is probable, then that is a competitive score. </p>
<p>I’m not sure how it converts from the 100-scale, but something to consider:
* 77% had h.s. GPA of 3.75 and higher
* 11% had h.s. GPA between 3.5 and 3.74
* 7% had h.s. GPA between 3.25 and 3.49
* 3% had h.s. GPA between 3.0 and 3.24
* 2% had h.s. GPA between 2.5 and 2.99</p>
<p>And 4% had a rank between 25th and 10th percent. I’m not sure that a lot of other people have a “similar story” but I’m no expert</p>
<p>@daretorun, i dunno about that. penn says that 160-190 get on average 20K a year, which is a lot, because my EFC is about 42. but i dunno, if i can’t afford it i’m not going, i doubt the situation will be different elsewhere…i don’t have a single parents, btw?
@atican, <em>sigh</em> we’ll see i guess. i don’t know how many people have similar stories…
@physicsnut1, yeah it converts to about a 3.8 weighted and 3.4 unweighted (which is stupid because my schools grading scale is completely different…A = 93+, B = 75-85, and so on</p>
<p>my top choice if i don’t get into penn/don’t get FA is mcgill. which hopefully i will get into.</p>
<p>bump! all opinions are welcome. :)</p>
<p>Having read/reviewed admissions essays for a good two years or so, I can say with some confidence that sick (or dead) relatives aren’t too uncommon in application essays. I’ve also seen those stories used to explain deficiencies in an application, although I couldn’t give you a number. It’s a fact of life many people deal with in high school. </p>
<p>I wasn’t really referring to those stories in particular, though. I mean that most everyone will have a story about overcoming some struggle or other–something in their background or formative history–that made them learn something about themselves and do something good or interesting about it, etc. Pretty standard narrative. The particulars of your story might be unique, but thematically, the story itself is not. And ultimately, it is how you weave your story thematically into your ambitions and interests that matters, and not how it prevented you from getting good grades. Your father was seriously ill, and some people grew up with no fathers at all. In short, everyone has a story, and if you’re hoping to get into schools like Yale and Princeton, you can bet that anyone competitive will have a damn good one (and I would think most tell the story with this kind of ending: “… and despite all adversity, I still managed to get all 4.0s!”). </p>
<p>I don’t think you’ve listed your ECs yet, but again, despite the story and in view of your grades and scores, I do not think you’re competitive for Princeton/Yale/Penn. And if you had an extraordinary EC that would alter the balance in your favor, I think you would’ve mentioned it already. You have no chance at all if you don’t apply, but it might be more constructive for you if you had some more realistic schools in mind that people could evaluate.</p>
<p>@Atican, blah, I know you’re right. I’m hoping the fact that I’m from Maine and the whole academic atmosphere is different here will help me. I do have really good ECs: I started the first tutoring program w/ my elementary school, 300+ hours community service (taught Hindi to little kids for a nonprofit, hospital, old age home), swimming, went to Nationals for Debate (only girl debater, state champion, CoCaptain, etc. etc.), yearbook editor in chief for two years, RYLA, one of the first people to advance interact club (because it started my sophomore year, i was the first member, i’m now like “board member”), played piano for eight years and graduated from grade 5 of royal conservatory of music.</p>
<p>I feel like one of the essays I could write would be seeing my dad in the hospital…I write very well narrative style.</p>
<p>Yeah. The other schools I’m REALISTICALLY looking at are UMaryland, UConn for their Bs/Md, Penn State for their 6 year med (if I don’t get in, that’s fine, it’s a safety for regular undergrad cause my dad went there), Purdue, Indiana U, UWashington, UMinnesota, and my top choice: McGill.</p>
<p>this is a good thing to put in</p>
<p>@quakerlove, thank you!
@Atican; another thing I wanted to add was I’m not going to try to use this as a scapegoat, but rather a priority reality check, which I’m sure many students don’t use, how adjusting back to school was hard, but I did it - I STRUGGLED and came out on top, which a lot of students don’t do…they don’t struggle. They don’t show that they struggled. I struggled.
- Also, what would you think about baby Ivys? (Tufts, etc)</p>
<p>Great ECs, but Harvard/Yale/Princeton are another ballgame entirely. The other schools you mentioned are definitely way more realistic, even a bit safe given your ECs and ACT score. You might reach a bit higher for some of the schools, although the University of Washington is notoriously strict about GPA for out-of-state students (3.8+ range), but their holistic application philosophy will definitely take account of your situation and your ECs. Having said that, if pre-med is your thing, you might consider doing it somewhere other than UW and then going to UW for med school (not that this is an easy feat). Stats show UW doesn’t like accepting its own students to its med school.</p>
<p>I don’t know about Tufts (as in, I have no idea what your chances would be). Great school, but I don’t know what their system is for admission. For someone in your situation, though, it’s worth casting a wide net. If you want your highest reach, I’d probably say Cornell. Not because it’s the worst Ivy (it isn’t, contrary to popular belief), but because you’re just maximizing your chances at a bigger school. Might be easier getting into Cornell than Tufts for that reason alone.</p>
<p>@Atican, Ohh. I don’t really like cornell though, hehe. D: My RD schools besides the ones I listed are probably going to be Harvard, Columbia (probably will take them off once I get rejected from Penn and am completely disheartened) and I’m looking to add one or two Tufts type schools…any recs?</p>
<p>Not sure. Some top state schools? UMich, UWash, Virginia, UNC… UC schools might need your money. Then again, they’re probably more orthodox with their admissions standards for out-of-state students. I can’t recommend any Tufts-type schools… don’t know anything about their admissions processes. And other than top schools like Tufts (and not too far down below it), I can’t in good conscience encourage you to waste your money on a small liberal arts school anyway. :)</p>
<p>@Atican, haha, thank you! I think I’m gonna trade Tufts for UVA…just for kicks. We’ll see what happens, and if I get rejected from Penn, wasn’t meant to be anyway! If all else fails, Purdue it is :P</p>