good ECs but ok grades -- chances?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I’m really new to this forum, so if I put this in the wrong place, please tell me!
TL;DR I’m an Asian American rising junior girl with good ECs but ok grades.

GPA: 3.6UW (ik this isn’t terrible, but it doesn’t seem like top-tier material)
SAT: 1550 (will retake & hopefully get 1580+)

ECs:

  • MOSP 2020
  • State Science Fair Winner
  • Writing a research paper that will likely get published by the end of the year
  • on the leadership team for a nonprofit org dedicated to equity in STEM, reached 3000+ students
  • founder/president of a club at my school, treasurer of another

Also, I’m a National AP Scholar

What are my chances for top-tier schools like MIT, Princeton, Harvard, and CMU, as well as really good schools like Georgia Tech, Caltech, and UVA?

2

Since you are going into your junior year of high school (if I read this right), I think that you should try very hard to significantly pull up your grades for this upcoming year, and see where you are a year from now.

I think that the combination of being Asian American and have a 3.6 unweighted GPA will be tough to get over for the very top universities.

3

Thanks for the reply! Yeah, I will try really hard to get all As next year. Unfortunately, that brings my UW GPA to at most 3.75. How much does that help me?

4

Strong junior year grades will definitely help you. Especially if you can show all As with rigorous coursework. You also have your 1st semester of senior year to shine.

IMO, you may not want to apply ED so you can show your continued upward trend.

5

Having a 3.75 after a junior year with a GPA of 4.0 is better than having a steady 3.75, especially with an SAT if 1550. If you also have a rise from freshman year to sophomore, that would be great as well.

All that being said, since you have not started Junior year, there is really no point in trying to figure out your chances at acceptance to any college.

I would say that there is no reason for you to take the SAT again. AN SAT score of 1580 will not provide you any more of a boost than that 1550. Moreover, with a GPA of 3.75, an SAT of 1590 could indicate that you are good at testing, but do not have the level of mastery of the material which would be indicated by a high SAT score.

Continue those ECs, get a 4.0 GPA for your Junior year (you CAN do this), and revisit the colleges in which you are interested next summer.

PS. All of those are top-tier schools.