<p>Specifically Northwestern or University of Chicago, applying in-state, with one parent who is an alumnus. No sports or clubs or anything, mainly due to shyness/stupidity but not lack of desire. ik it was stupid of me but its too late to start anything now. From what I've heard and understand these schools are getting lots of students with high stats (I know mine are already mediocre) and extracurriculars are the more important part of the application and therefore I basically have zero chance at any highly selective private schools. But I've also been told that I should apply anyway because I might have a chance at getting in; is this correct or not?</p>
<p>unweighted gpa - 3.1
weighted - 4.1
All honors courses
7 APs by the time i graduate
highest ACT - 33
40 service hours that were mandatory
Ethnicity: not white
Highschool doesn't rank</p>
<p>Oh and sat subject tests. Make sure that your personal statement requires you to talk about why you haven’t been in extra curriculars and make sure its VERY well written and there’s more of a higher chance.</p>
<p>I’m just going to be honest… you have seriously a .5% chance of getting into these schools, possibly lower. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME. </p>
<p>Not trying to bash other posters, but I remember reading oreo’s chance thread and he isn’t close to a qualified applicant. I’ll give you a fair prospective and helpful advise.</p>
<p>Let’s discuss why, and what you can do from here:
-Your GPA is too low. You need a 3.6 GPA or 10% rank to be considered for top tier, 3.9+GPA highly preferable
-You are expected to take all honor courses. Colleges are not impressed.
-ACT is good.
-40 hours is pocket change when applying to these colleges. No need to tell colleges these hours were mandatory, but they won’t help you too much anyways.</p>
<p>Let’s now talk about the overall problems:
-You got a 3.1 unweighted in high school. Students in these colleges have a 3.4+ average GPA IN COLLEGE, which is significantly harder than high school. You aren’t up there, even in high school leveled courses (you can argue, but honors courses are significantly easier than college courses, there is a reason why you only take 4 college courses at a time…)</p>
<p>-This is going to be brutally honest: there is no reason as a college admission officer that I would pick you out of a pool of applicants to come to my school. You have proven to have no passion and will bring nothing unique to the school. I often say that what needs to be conveyed the most is some kind of extracurricular focus in the application that you will bring to the college, and you have none. They have no clue what person you are and no prestigious university will risk a dime of their reputation to accept you.</p>
<p>PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE trust me here. I honestly do care that you end up in the best school possible. Many of these prestigious colleges require essays (UChicago is known for their tricky essays) and you will WASTE valuable time that you could spend on other applications. You honestly have no chance of being accepted and nobody on this forum will tell you otherwise.</p>
<p>I recommend that you to find a school where you can get a scholarship. Your GPA honestly is bringing you down. I highly recommend that you reevaluate your profile and I would not apply anywhere that averages admission to people at an average of a 29 ACT or above.</p>
<p>For me the EC situation is just an added problem. Your GPA is the thing that diminishes your chances. Maybe you have been seeing 3.9 GPA average for these higher schools and you think that is weighted? It is unweighted.</p>
<p>That’s what I was thinking. and I knew about the gpa. I know this is the wrong way to go about it but I’ve read that it is the university’s policy to give “special attention to applicants whose parents are alumni” I’m not saying that I expect to get in on that basis alone, but what exactly would that entail? i know it’s a stretch but that’s why I am wondering…</p>
<p>The way I see being a legacy is it helps you stand out from a pool of many who are already being considered. You still need around the average statistics for the school, but it makes the school just more dependable at those average statistics because it is just seen as an added bonus I guess.</p>
<p>It is more than a tie braker, but less than anything that will have you go from an absolute no to a yes. It is more of a “we have so many kids, how can we possibly distinguish them from one another” factor.</p>
<p>definitely agree with wallrus75. Legacy, or outstanding ECs, or whatever, will not make top colleges accept an average student. If, however, they have ten students for example all with very good test scores and high GPAs (the biggest considerations, in my opinion), if they can only admit 3, they’ll use other factors like legacy, ECs, URM, etc. to determine who has that extra edge.</p>
<p>Completely agree with what everybody has said. Your stats are just too low, although legacy will help if you are qualified it won’t get you in if you are under-qualified.</p>
<p>I’m afraid EC’s are becoming more and more important as time goes on. Good news is that you ACT score is incredibly good. Do some research on google for schools that put extra emphasis on test scores. Good luck.</p>