GPA: 4.16
ACT Composite: 35
Math 32
English 35
Reading 35
Science 36
SAT Subject Tests
Chem: 680
Math Lvl 2 710 (1st time) 690 (2nd time)
Bio E 750
AP Chem: 3
Now for the fun stuff
I am employed by AmeriCorps to work through Boys and Girls Club and volunteer over the summer for the local VA medical center. I am VP of several clubs including Beta and NHS. I lead the FTC Robotics Team and a Varsity Starter/Alt. Captain for the Academic Team. I have been the HS choir bass section leader for 3 years and have made All-District Choir for 4 years and All-State Choir for both years of eligibility. I also attended Boys State and received an arts award from Uni. of MO at STL.
I have taken all of the honors and AP courses my school offers (Small SE MO school so not many).
I am a middle-class (around $60,000) white male, but I have LGBT parents (lesbians).
I applied REA Science Tech and Society at Stanford. I have also applied to Mizzou and have gotten in with Honors College and Sho-Me Scholars with a shot at the Mizzou Scholars program also. I applied to WUSTL and Vanderbilt as an Undecided Engineering major.
I am interested in going to the east coast, but I don’t want to waste my time applying to schools I have absolutely no shot at. I am considering applying to UPenn (as a NETS major) and Cornell (as Undecided Engineering or STS-like major). I would like to be located near or in a large city, which isn’t a huge obstacle for the east coast.
I am open to suggests to schools located anywhere in the country and if I can provide anymore information I’d love too!!!
Thank you for reading this and spending your time thinking about a random HS senior.
I’m sorry for how this sounds, but I don’t think that GPA is high enough to get you into schools at the level of Stanford. UPenn and Cornell are really competitive schools and, although your ACT is really good, your GPA just may not cut it. Perhaps consider applying to a few schools that are a tier or two below the Ivies. Some possible choices are NYU, UPitt, University of New Hampshire, or UConn.
Every high school weights differently, so I don’t think we should be drawing any conclusions on weighted GPA.
OP, what’s your unweighted GPA? Are you taking/have you taken any AP classes besides chem?
Other schools on the east coast a tier or two down from the Ivies include schools such as Wesleyan, Bowdoin, Colby, Bates, and again NYU. That being said, those schools are still very competitive and should not be considered safeties.
You could also look more outside New England at schools such as American, GW, and Johns Hopkins.
If you don’t have a hook for UPenn or Cornell then imho you would be waisting your time with these schools. With a 32M and a 710lvl2 and a 3 APChem there is some weakness in your application which can only be overcome by a hook. Maybe pick one as a super reach to feel like you shot for the moon but expect to get rejected. I would suggest a target list of NYU, UPitt, Northeastern, Case Western and Boston College. It’s free to apply to Case Western plus there is no extra essay. Vanderbilt and WUST are nice reaches for you. Good luck!
Thank you all so much! I am currently taking all of the AP classes my school offers: APUSH, AP Comp, AP Physics 1, and AP Bio along with Chem II I took last year. My unweighted GPA (on an 11 scale) is 10.97, weighted is 11.45, so on a 4.0 scale that should be a 3.9. My school isn’t very heavy on AP and I am taking Calc (the highest level of math my school offers) also. Edit: I am rank 2 of 296 also, if that helps.
@ChristianCW Where are you going?
One of my S classmates is brilliant, 99% avg. 2400 SAT. Rejected from Stanford. Don’t take it too hard. They seem to reject everyone;)
You’ll do very well. Try not to worry. You’ll have some great choices!
Wow! How did you not get into Stanford?
Thanks for your support! @Komz1304 to update my post, I applied to UPenn in the NETS program, but I didn’t apply to Cornell. I also applied to Northwestern to their Science in Human Culture program. I had an interview with a UPenn alum that went amazingly and I got the Mizzou Scholars Award, their top scholarship. I don’t know decisions until around April 1st, except for Mizzou.
@ChristianCW Good job! Keep us posted!
Congrats!
I just learned I got placed on WashUs wait list. I don’t know what that says about the other schools, but I’m still hopeful
So, to give you guys an update. I got rejected from Northwestern, but surprisingly enough I got waitlisted by Vanderbilt. UPenn is the last school to reply. I applied for a specific program there and the alumni interview went wonderfully, so I have a little more hope about my chances there.
@ChristianCW Update?
Sorry, things have kinda been crazy lately. I got rejected from UPenn as well. I am still on WashU’s and Vanderbilt’s waitlistswait lists, so I’ll be going to Mizzou! When I toured Mizzou, I liked it to the point of it not being a backup school anymore, so I applied for reach schools. I am getting no federal aid, but in state tuition and the sheer amount of scholarships I am getting from there makes it extremely cheap for me to go there, so I do not have to take out loans my first year. I know a lot of people who have been to Mizzou, who are at Mizzou, and who will go to Mizzou with me. Mizzou also has fantastic programs through their honors college that I will certainly be taking advantage of.
Congratulations! Yes, do take advantage of everything that they offer. I can see you flourish with confidence!