Here's my story. Should I still apply?

Applying to College Common and Coalition Application
1

I know this is somewhat of a repetitive sounding post, but are these colleges worth applying for? I’ve worked very hard to achieve what I have and I’ve been considering the option of college. Allow me to explain. Yes, the post is long and if you read it, I’d be greatly thankful.

Freshman year I took a web design class and got bored with the content of the course. It seemed too easy and not challenging enough. I would go home every day and learn in-depth web design and excelled incredibly in the class. I managed to complete 1 and 1/2 week long assignments in 1 or 2 days. I managed to get 100% in the class and went on to excel in all of my tech classes. However, I didn’t bother to get A’s in my other classes.

I get it. This may sound like an ego-stroke. I try to keep emotion out of personal writing and be as honest as possible. So I won’t lie when I say I had zero interest in school. Zero. I would sit in math class and write about ideas I have for websites and company ideas. My head seemed to always be in the clouds and not in my school textbooks (how cliche). Instead, I was reading business books and biographies of my favorite entrepreneurs.

I would then go on to come up with many company ideas and attempt a few, eventually getting bored and moving on. Come Junior year, I realized I wanted to go to college. I aced all of my classes, landing me with a 3.99 GPA at the end of the year (a teacher failed me on a few assignments because they were late and refused to allow me to turn them in for partial credit, killing my grade down to an 89 percent for a quarter).

The prior summer, I had somehow impressed the CEO of a $600m SoCal startup in conversation with one of his employees that he bumped into while stacking chairs after a company meeting: my brother. The CEO asked to meet with me when I came to visit to have some “coffee.” Come time, I had the meeting and that very CEO seemed to take a liking in me. Apparently, my brother reported to me that this CEO told my brother that he was very impressed by me – I believe wanting to me under his wing, but I doubt he explicitly said this.

Fast forward 6 months: I had come up with a few analytic tool ideas while lying and bed and needed to write them down somewhere. I decided to do so in a letter to that one CEO. I pitched it as a free idea and told him I was only doing it because I needed to share the idea and get feedback (the truth). It was a success. He told me he loved the idea and was looking forward to discussing it. He also said we should explore an internship. Wow.

I didn’t expect the CEO to be serious when he said he wished to discuss the product idea. Come to find out, he was serious. He had the VP of Product contact me and request a meeting. The meeting was an incredible success. The VP of Product brought the 2-piece idea further up the ranks of the company and it cleared. I found out they were going to prototype my idea and put it out to the world.

I then went on to complete my internship as part of the Product Development team at this company and met incredible people and learned many things about product development. I also had a good amount of influence over a few decent changes to company product. All of this at 17.

My final High School GPA came out to 3.5 due to my lack of interest before Junior year (B average first two years). My I managed to get a 32 on my ACTs and have awesome references. For example, my English teacher who I spent MANY hours with along with the optional recommendation from the CEO of this company. I want to apply to 5 Ivy Leagues (Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, and Brown) along with Stanford. I feel I could draw a decent amount of attention from at least one school. I already know I’m not a student that would impress any of these schools based upon scores alone.

I would like to thank you for reading this long post. It’s very important that I receive insight from those who are experienced in the college application process. Thank you!

2

Your final GPA is better than I expected from the start of the post, so congratulations on that. You look like maybe a better fit for Penn/Wharton, where your achievements might outweigh the grades. You’re a stretch for any of the schools you list, but I would not tell you not to apply. Do you have any safeties? You can’t just apply to the 6 you list. You can’t. Sorry. Nothing in Southern California attracts you? With the in that you already have (unless that startup has tanked), I’m actually not sure you would need more than a CSU. [Not putting down CSUs, everyone.] I hope you got some buy-in with your idea.

3

Thanks for reading! I won’t just be applying to those 6. I’m also applying to UC: Berkeley and UC: LA (not to mention I can always go to UM: Twin Cities if I’d like). I do have an in and the company and don’t even have to go to college. I just want to go to college because it would be a wonderful challenge and would be something to be proud of. This is why I’d like to go to one of the greatest schools in the nation. I’ve read of a kid who got into Stanford with a 3.4 GPA (very similar grade situation to myself) because he was very passionate about swimming.

I’ve also read directly from someone who worked at an admission office at Stanford that they would let it musicians (for example) not because they had outstanding grades, but because they created a very impressive CD. I was hoping something like this would be my case. I know it’s a stretch to all of these schools, but is it realistic that at least one accepts me?

I did the math and there’s around a ~35% chance that at least one will accept me. However, these numbers hold very little weight.

4

I do have an in at the company* My mistake.

5

Also, UPenn really wouldn’t be a bad idea. I’d love to go there.

6

As long as you’re aiming high, I’d shoot for Penn as well. You tell a compelling story, and there’s gotta be at least one “misfit” [I’m using that term very, very broadly] in each class. If you need a reader for your common app & other essays, feel free to PM me.

7

Great story. UPenn, Berkeley and UCLA, great. What about finances? Geography? Are you interested in medium sized or small schools? Why not choose your favorite couple of Ivys, identify what you like best about them, and then work finding on some less selective but still excellent schools that are similar in the areas which you find appealing. Sounds like you would be looking for programs that combine business / entrepreneurship and computer science?

8

Yes, I would gladly attend a business school. Perhaps Wharton would be a good option? I’m also interested in Computer Engineering/Computer Science. Both work. Honestly, location isn’t an issue with me (I currently live in North Dakota so my location can only go up from here).

I would prefer something with moderately sized classes. I’ve heard Ivys are great with smaller class size. Oh and finance isn’t an issue as well.

9

I would aim high, especially if finances aren’t an issue, but also have a few matches/safeties (that still have decent business schools) because, nowadays, lots of kids do stuff like this AND manage to keep up impressive GPAs and participate in more activities as well. I’ve known of kids with 4.0s, near perfects on the SAT, with great internship/research experience, who still get rejected from these universities. So I’d strongly suggest backing those options up and then maybe transferring later when you have an excellent college GPA.

10

Think I should apply to a few UC schools? I know they care more about scores than your essay and recommendations. I would really like to attend either UCLA or Berkeley.

11

Uh-oh. Big dreams, now you need a better understanding of the college opportunities, what they look for, and whether your independent streak is right for their programs/course requirements or whether you’d get antsy.

Lots of kids want “top schools.” (And lots are jr brainiacs who’ve drawn attention, had internships, won awards, etc.) What Stanford might do with an athletic recruit doesn’t apply to you. Nor do you get in just based on a CD. There’s a holistic review you need to learn about.

Wharton, other Ivies, MIT, Stanford, etc, aren’t looking for “fait accompli.” They want kids they see will fit and thrive, grow, add to their "community " over the 4 years.

I think you might be able to do this. But now you need to learn what the opps really are, what they’re really about, and just what they’ll really want to see in you, your prep, your thinking, what comes across in your whole app.

This isn’t meant to be harsh. Just that you have some work to do. You’ll need an idea how to position yourself, which is more than this one thing about you. K?

Ps. The CA publics won’t offer any fin aid.
Stay in touch.

12

No, not likely to get into Ivies and Stanford. Google lists of top colleges for entrepreneurs, then filter those by at least good, hopefully strong, computer science programs, and swap in some acceptance rate of 25% or better schools.

At Stanford especially, you’re one of a bizillion would-be tech entrepreneurs, and your competitors have much better grades and scores.

I’m not sure where you calculated a 35% chance of acceptance from, but being rejected from one elite school does not improve your chances at acceptance elsewhere. Applying to multiple reaches does not improves your chances.

13

My son is a freshman at Stanford and he told me that there are quite a few kids with lower stats(relative to most Stanford applicants) but they usually have one or more hooks. If your essays can tie in to your passion they may take a chance on you so give it a shot. I still feel like you need more match schools on your list. Berkeley and UCLA are reach schools that are stats focused. How about some mid level UC’s like Santa Barbara, Irvine, Davis. Do you have some other match schools that you would love to attend if you are not accepted into your top choices?

14

If I remember correctly, I believe Stanford does not count freshman grades, so you may have a better chance there (as much as anyone has a better chance there) than at most of the Ivies. Chances might be much improved if you could increase the ACT.

15

^^ yes Stanford does count freshman grades. The have a pass/fail option with no grade but you usually use this for a difficult class not in your major.

16

@18yrcollegemin was talking about counting freshman grades from high school for admissions purposes.

17

Yes, I meant HS freshman grades.

18

You should apply to all those competitive schools, but remember some safeties. Your GPA and ACT are not too competitive for Stanford, Berkeley, Columbia, etc. - but you should look at schools such as Arizona State too. Best of luck!

19

I condensed for the benefit of others.

"I completed an internship as part of the Product Development team at at a company where they prototyped my idea.

My final High School GPA came out to 3.5 due to my lack of interest before Junior year (B average first two years). My I managed to get a 32 on my ACTs and have awesome references. For example, my English teacher who I spent MANY hours with along with the optional recommendation from the CEO of this company.

I want to apply to 5 Ivy Leagues (Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, and Brown) along with Stanford. I feel I could draw a decent amount of attention from at least one school. I already know I’m not a student that would impress any of these schools based upon scores alone.
"

Ok, I read the whole things, condensed it down.

Insight: These are all reaches. You should apply. You need to find some matches and safeties and need to discuss with your parents how much they can pay. Run the net price calculator and make sure you can afford the schools that you apply to.

20

Yes. It’s possible. Not probable, not going to get there by resting on laurels. But app, supps, LoRs and interview done well: possible.

Now it’s up to OP how much work- and smarts- he’s willing to put into this.

Yes, have safeties.

Btw, way back, I had a friend with a similar story of being plucked from obscurity, by kismet.