<p>Alright, so i've got bad grades, decent test scores.</p>
<p>The biggest problem is i'm an asian male.</p>
<p>GPA: 3.2 (weighted too!)
ACTscore: 32 (yeah, it matches my gpa)</p>
<p>anyway, will the general top-tier schools (for example, harvard) go on to ACTUALLY read my essay if i have bad grades. I know for a FACT they do keep quotas-by-race, evidence shows because if I were the adcoms, i MYSELF would have a quota for asians. And its no secret that asians are the highest performing students, so i think the possibility of them throwing away my application at the second they see that my last name is 'Kim'(common korean last name) associated with gpa:3.2, is pretty high.</p>
<p>I had a lot of good things to say in my essay, do you think they actually read it?</p>
<p>Harvard? Not gonna happen my friend. Dont worry. Waste of time school anyway. </p>
<p>Any other school I’d say would read it just to see, but I seriously doubt they would overlook such a low GPA if they are high tier schools. What is your rank however? And do you go to a highly competitive school? </p>
<p>Its no secret Koreans get high grades. Did you just get high grades because you went to a hard school or because you just didn’t perform well?</p>
<p>edit: i go to a private catholic school, quite academically strong, but thats not the reason why my grades are mediocre. Theyre mediocre because i just didnt apply myself for a long time. Class rank is around 40th-50th percentile
So I’m in the upper middle of my class.</p>
<p>A 3.2 GPA is going to be troublesome at a 2nd to 3rd tier school regardless of the rigor of your HS. At the top 10, you have no chances whatsoever, if I were to guess. However, face the fact that life isn’t over and that your current achievement can be matched and fostered into lifelong success if you choose a college wisely. Speak frankly and openly with your guidance counselor. Set aside pre-conceived notions and heed his/her advice. This is your first experience choosing a college. It’s that person’s career. </p>
<p>Best of luck to you</p>
<p>EDIT: I see you’re already a senior and have already applied. Can you tell us some of your match/safety schools? Have you already been admitted to some programs?</p>
<p>Yeah, as stated above, they will glance at your essay and throw it and your whole application in the trash. It’s not that bad though. You still have a chance at some decent school (perhaps even BU) and you could go to even community college and transfer to a top Ivy. </p>
<p>Apply yourself from now on, and let this be a life lesson to you. </p>
<p>I wish you the best of luck wherever life takes you.</p>
<p>They will still read, especially with a 3.5, but you are still at a disadvantage at top schools. Still, you have a chance at even Tier 1 (though they would be ranked low, like boston university or something). And you have even better chances at 2nd and 3rd tier, and you can always transfer</p>
<p>And Asians are not the highest performing students.</p>
<p>How high is “top tier”? </p>
<p>and it wouldn’t matter whether they actually read you essay or not, your chances of acceptance is as good as a monkey throwing a spaceship and actually landing it on Alpha Centauri.</p>
<p>Oh Gryffon, I hope I get into Cornell class of 2014 JUST so I can ■■■■■ here like you are right now. You must be feeling on top of the world at the moment.</p>
<p>EDIT: Oh, and Gryffon brings up a good point. Asians are not the highest performing students in college, they just score the highest on the SAT. Yet another example of how tests=/=good college performance. It’s white wimmenz who do the best in college if I recall correctly.</p>
<p>hmom, thats pushing it. Harvard is somewhat cynical about its URM’s, and sometimes even admits underqualified URM minorities just so they can go and perform poorly, thus keeping the white/asian minorities in power.</p>
<p>Lower performance by URM’s, developmental admits, or athletes can take grade deflation pressure off an instructor and allow the dedicated scholars to all get A’s instead of A’s, B’s and C’s. </p>
<p>The last time I checked Asians were a majority on the planet. Asians and Whites together constitute a majority in the US. Probably “Whites” alone are still a majority for a few more years.</p>
<p>To the OP,
It is hard to imagine anything in an essay can overcome relatively poor academic performance. However stranger things have happened.
Remember that for graduate and professional school, only the college record is seen. You can do well at a lower ranked school and get into an Ivy or equivalent when it really counts. </p>
<p>This board is not really a good place for a slacker to look for validation.</p>
<p>Northstarmom - ouch!
A 32 ACT is not too wow - I don’t think a 36 ACT would save you with that gpa, for Harvard that is. Still, I think your numbers will give you MANY options, just not tier 1 - these schools are for gifted and/or hard working students, that’s not your profile nor is it the profile of most hs students - review your school list and be brutally honest with yourself.
Good luck, there are plently of schools for you!</p>