Gimme a CHANCE! Thank You.

Colleges and Universities A-Z Vanderbilt University
1

<p>Ok, bear with me this is a somewhat long chances post but I'm trying to give you as much information as possible.</p>

<p>General Info:
African American
Male
Pennsylvania Resident</p>

<p>Academic Record:
3.0 Un-weighted GPA (I know, bad, but don't count me out yet)</p>

<p>Courses:
Mostly Honors Courses; AP's are listed below.</p>

<p>AP Courses:
AP World History, AP Biology, AP English Literature, AP Gov't & Politics</p>

<p>Special Courses:
Gifted</p>

<p>Testing:
SAT (took one time; will take again)
Critical Reading: 700
Math: 650
Writing: 660</p>

<p>SATII
Biology: 690
Literature: 700
Math: 680</p>

<p>AP
Biology 5 out of 5
Literature 4 out of 5</p>

<p>Special Awards:
Who's Who Among American High School Students
Ventures Scholar
Johns Hopkins Talent Search
National Achievement Semi-Finalist (Finalist status pending)</p>

<p>Extra-Curricular:
9 th Grade
Gifted Project: Engineered Role-Playing Computer Game</p>

<p>10 th Grade
Volunteered with the High School TV Studio to record/edit community events
Hosted Public TV Show (Weekly on Comcast Channel 27)
Gifted Project: Designed Academic Instruction Website</p>

<p>11 th Grade
Volunteered with the High School TV Studio to record/edit community events
Volunteered with AP Biology Program to conduct Forest/Stream study with youth
Sports Medicine Certified - American Red Cross
CPR Certified - American Red Cross
Gifted Project: Designed Virtual E-commerce Online Program</p>

<p>Church Youth Group
Awarded AWANA Achievement Award
Appointed Youth Group President</p>

<p>Future Business Leaders of America
10 th Grade
Placed 2 nd in Regional Competition in Microsoft Visual Basic Programming</p>

<p>11 th Grade
Placed 1 st in Regional Competition in Technology Concepts
Placed in Top 15 in State Competition in Technology Concepts</p>

<p>Pennsylvania Technology Fair
10 th Grade
Placed 3 rd in Chester County for Computer Animation</p>

<p>11 th Grade
Placed 1 st in Chester County for Information-Based Website</p>

<p>Also if you could give me tips on other colleges that I should look into it would be great. Also anything I should try to accomplish in the near future.</p>

<p>P.S. I would just like to thank you guys for taking the time to actual read this (extremely long) chances thread. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!</p>

2

<p>Your GPA is too low, sorry.</p>

3

<p>Unless everyone in the college admissions biz is lying, these decisions are not driven completely by numbers. You have great AP and SAT scores and you take hard courses. If you write a convincing essay, there is no reason that your lower-than-average GPA would disqualify you, especially if your grades show some particular pattern. If you really want to attend a particular university, you owe it to yourself to try to gain admission. Did you screw up a particular course or a particular year? If so, try to explain why that happened (and won't happen again). You get the idea. Give it a shot.</p>

4

<p>I was similar to you with the exception of GPA. Mine was 3.3 UW and 3.8 W. I had a 31 on the ACT and started writting my essays the summer before senior year started. I applied Early II and was rejected. I don't mean to say that you definitley won't get in, but I worked so hard on the app (I even sent in a video essay) and I was absolutely heart broken when I didn't get in. I don't want you to be heart broken so just keep in mind that college admissions are CRAZY. Everyone has a chance so I definitely think you should apply...but learn from my mistake and don't get your hopes too high.</p>

5

<p>mirimom, I never said it was all numbers driven. At the same time, a 3.0 is too low for a school like Vanderbilt. A 3.0 is not a "lower-than-average GPA" as you so kindly put it at a top 20 school; it's simply low. I think people should ignore your post. A person came on here asking for chances, should we "ignore" every post that tells the kid he doesn't have good chances...? What is the point of asking for them then?</p>

6

<p>I agree with mirimom. You shouldn't be ruled out strictly on a lower than average (by Vandy standards) GPA. You have some other things going for you, and your minority status should help. Good luck.</p>

7

<p>I agree with the other moms on this thread. The OP has decent test scores, a challenging curriculum, and some interesting ECs. And he's a URM. I think the committee would evaluate his app carefully. </p>

<p>princeadeolu, if there's anything you can focus on to explain the GPA (a hard time in one particular class, personal issues, difficult freshman year, etc.), it would benefit you to do so. Your recs will be very important, as well.</p>

<p>As to other schools - many will be happy to accept a student like you. Are you looking for southern schools in metro areas?</p>