good scores, bad gpa... chances anyone?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I am currently a junior in the IB program at a very difficult school. We are ranked in the top 10 schools by Newsweek (although I know that's not a very accurate source of ranking high schools). For example, a friend of mine has a 4.0 uw gpa and a 5.0 w gpa and he is only ranked 11/320. Another friend of mine has a 4.0 uw gpa and a 4.7 w gpa and is ranked 42/320. Okay, so about me:</p>

<p>Stats:
GPA: 3.4 (UW) / 4.1 (W)
ACT: 34 comp. (math:34 science:35 reading:35 english:2 essay:10)
SAT II: Math IIC 780... going to take bio and english lit</p>

<p>Academics: toughest courseload possible</p>

<p>soph year: 3 AP (stat, us gov, comp gov) - 3 honors/Pre-IB - 1 regular</p>

<p>junior yr: 1 AP (macro) - 6 IB (bio, chem, tok, hist, eng, math) - 1 honors (spanish)</p>

<p>senior yr (prospective): 2 AP (calc AB, music theory) - 5 IB (eng, hist, tok, bio HL, span)</p>

<p>EC:
travelled to india and conducted a study on anemia (I got to draw blood and run blood tests and helped with the indentification and treatment of anemia in schoolchildren... I am in the process of writing a paper sponsored my an MD)
summer program at duke
volunteer at hospital
patient assistant at local clinic
volunteered at local hospice
office assistant at hospital
secretary of doctor club at school
various clubs (key club, hands across campus, cinematography, tennis club, debate club, asian student association, blah blah blah)
several debate awards
youth court - participated as lawyer and juror
i play piano, guitar, bass guitar, and drums
i also play tennis (recreational)
principle's award for excellence (9,10,11)</p>

<p>I also had a question on how to increase my chances over the summer. My two choices are either to go to a biomedical research program at U of Chicago for 4-5 weeks or take classes at the local community college to increase my gpa. Which of the two do you think would help the most?</p>

<p>Here's my list of prospective colleges (if you have any to add thatd be great). Please chance me at as many as possible.</p>

<p>U of Miami
George Washington
U of Florida
NYU
UCLA
UC Berk
Emory
U Mich
Northwestern
Georgetown
Washington U
Johns Hopkins
USC
Boston College
UPenn</p>

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<p>I'd also like to add Duke and Stanford to the list.</p>

3

<p>Where is your high school? that makes a big difference when applying to UC schools, especially berkeley. </p>

<p>Overall, though, your GPA may hurt you, but your other aspects make up for it. I would say that most of the schools on your list are reaches, but you have a solid shot at a some of those (like USC, George Washington, and U of Florida). Good luck!</p>

4

<p>U of Miami - Match
George Washington - Match
U of Florida - Match
NYU - Slight Reach
UCLA - Semi-Reach
UC Berk - Semi-Reach
Emory - Semi-Reach
U Mich - Semi-Reach
Northwestern - Semi-Reach
Georgetown - Semi-Reach
Washington U - Semi-Reach
Johns Hopkins - Semi-Reach
USC - Match
Boston College - Match/Slight Reach
UPenn - Reach
Duke - Reach
Stanford - Reach</p>

5

<p>community college classes can raise your gpa? how much so? i have about a 3.6 (soph/junior).. when would i take them?</p>

6

<p>In response to your question about what to do over the summer... I recommend doing whatever most interests you. You seem to be interested in medicine (that observation is based on your ECs) so I'd say go with the UChicago program. Ratings on a scale of: high reach, reach, semi-reach, good fit, likely, safety.</p>

<p>U of Miami... SAFETY.
George Washington... LIKELY.
U of Florida... SAFETY.
NYU... GOOD FIT.
UCLA... GOOD FIT (if you're in-state, LIKELY).
UC Berk... GOOD FIT (in-state, LIKELY).
Emory... GOOD FIT.
U Mich... GOOD FIT.
Northwestern... SEMI-REACH.
Georgetown... SEMI-REACH.
Washington U... REACH.
Johns Hopkins... SEMI-REACH.
USC... GOOD FIT.
Boston College... GOOD FIT.
UPenn... REACH.
Duke... REACH.
Stanford... REACH.</p>

7

<p>DukeAlum how is UoMich and many other skills u said semi-reach a reach at all. UoM is a safety for this kid. I don’t think u know what ur talking about</p>

8

<p>All UoMich cares about is how rigorous ur courseload is.</p>

9

<p>heatfan I have u in for sure at University of Michigan</p>