Great test scores, rejected from top schools. This could happen to you.

Applying to College
1

<p>I was rejected by all my top choices, Princeton, Stanford and MIT and waitlisted at Cornell and Harvey Mudd. Yet I had really good stats. 2360 on the SAT (760 on writing), 800s on all three SATIIs that I took.</p>

<p>MY GPA is 3.5 UW, but I have taken all of the hardest classes at my school, and GPAs at my school are lower than most, the highest is around a 3.8 or so.</p>

<p>My extracurriculars are also really good. I started a Science team at my school sophomore year, and we were able to go on to a national competition last year. I have been involved in Math club, computer club, ski team and done about 80 hours of community service.</p>

<p>I thought I had a good shot at getting into at least one of my top choices, especially Stanford, given I had double legacy there.</p>

<p>Looking back, I think that my first semester senior grades may have hurt me. I had a lot going on last fall in terms of family life, and other issues that distracted me from my school work.</p>

<p>I also think that one of my teacher recomendations wasn't very good. It wasn't bad. A lot of teachers see me as super smart and exceptional, and I guess he sees me as more average. I needed a great recomendation to make up for my only pretty good academic record, but I picked the wrong teacher to give it.</p>

<p>I'm trying to decide if I should go to Brown and try to transfer to Stanford, or if I should defer a year and apply again. If I did that, I would apply early decision to Princeton. I would have better teacher recomendations, and my second semester senior grades are up significantly from first semester.</p>

<p>Any advice would be most appreciated.</p>

2

<p>You got into Brown?! Don't be upset you didn't get into your top schools, lol... some kids are willing to cut their feet off for that acceptance (well, maybe).</p>

<p>Ivy league / top tier admissions are usually always as predictable as the roll of a dice... </p>

<p>I say try Brown - it's an amazing school, and who knows. You may like it there (my cousin sure does!) and want to stay. And if not... well, transfer later on. :)</p>

3

<p>I would be absolutely ecstatic bouncing off the walls crazy if I got accepted to Brown. Don't defer just go to Brown and if you love it stay. If you hate it then transfer.</p>

4

<p>Your GPA is too low. 3.5uw is too low for Princeton, Stanford, etc. period. I haven't seen anyone get into any of the top 10 schools with less than a 3.7 or 3.8 uw. Scores don't matter much and legacy...ehh. I know a guy who applied to Stanford EA, had legacy going back several generations, 3.6uw, flat-out rejected.</p>

5

<p>The GPA was pretty low. But Brown is great!</p>

6

<p>Thanks for your help guys. Brown is great, but I am interested in engineering, and it simply doesn't have as good program as the other schools I was interested in. </p>

<p>My GPA is on the low side, but I know people have gotten in to Princeton from my school with comparable GPAs. They weren't athletes or legacy either.</p>

7

<p>you have no idea how lucky you are, Brown is so amazing! i predict you will look back & wonder why Brown wasn't numero uno all along!</p>

8

<p>Since you're looking into engineering, I see where you're coming from. But go to Brown, be the best at engineering there, and if it's not adequate (it should be) transfer to Stanford. No big deal. You seem to have the credentials; all you need now is a better QPA in college to override HS QPA. =D</p>

9

<p>I have been told that transfer admission at top tier schools is harder than freshman admission. I definitely will be able to get a higher GPA in college though. I spent a lot of time in highschool working on extracurriculars - time that could have been put into getting 'A's. </p>

<p>It is also impossible to transfer to Princeton, which was my top choice.</p>

10

<p>Your story would be a lot of more effective if your GPA weren't so low. Of course, out of context, a 3.5 is a respectable GPA, but do you know how many people apply to Princeton and Stanford with a 2360+ and a higher GPA than you? Yes, your test scores are very good, but for schools such as Princeton and Stanford, a 3.5 is very low. I'm not that surprised.</p>

11

<p>Go to Brown -- with their open curriculum, you can focus on take the best engineering courses they have. Then if you're still not happy, you can try to transfer. But giving up Brown on the CHANCE that Princeton might say yes later on is a HUGE risk.</p>

12

<p>Well, I had a 2330, and I was rejected by Cal, UCLA, and UCSD. That's what happens when your grades suck.</p>

13

<p>It depends on context of the rest of the class. I would say my school only had 5/300 above a 3.5 UW. Maybe, that puts the whole class at a disadvantage, but I would like to think colleges can tell better how to evaluate individual stats on a relative basis.</p>

14

<p>Yeah, there's been a trend in recent years, especially with the advent of the famed "SAT Class," to shift priority from SAT scores over to the GPA. Damn shame either way.</p>

15

<p>ppl have been trying to help me calculate my UW gpa and it comes out to a 3.5, but i'm ranked 14/559 ppl. would it still look bad? ='( my grades are totally my main concern right now but i've been slacking since i've discovered LIFE lol.</p>

16

<p>If your school does not report rank, then it does look bad.</p>

<p>If your school does report rank...it's mebbe.</p>

17

<p>I had a 3.63uw & 2330 and was rejected from all 6 Ivies I applied to. It is worth noting, however, that I was accepted to Stanford. The reason that this is significant is because Stanford doesn't look at freshman grades. Without freshman grades, I had a 3.80uw. I think that shows somewhat that a 3.6 is unacceptable but a 3.8 is okay.</p>

18

<p>I also have SAT score of 2360 (Math 760, Reading 800, Writing 800) and GPA of about 3.8 uw. I am a junior and plan to give SATII's in June.
Please suggest a few good schools (Electrical Engg) where a female like me has a chance of being admitted. I am planning to apply to one safety school plus 4 or 5 others. That should be enough, I think. Thanks.</p>

19

<p>Go to Brown, do well in your Engineering courses, and transfer out to your dream school. If you don't do well in your Engineering courses at Brown, you probably wouldn't have done well at Stanford/Princeton/MIT anyway. Make sure you take courses that would transfer over well to these other schools...in other words, look at their first year curriculums and try to emulate that with the courses you take at Brown your first year.</p>

<p>By the way, most people would be extremely happy to get into Brown...I wonder why its reputation here on CollegeConfidential is poor compared to its preference ranking shown in the Harvard study (7th or 8th in the nation?).</p>

20

<p>thats cause no one goes to Brown for engineerig as first choice... its almost an lac</p>