High GPA Low Sats (Bad at tests)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Sorry for the sloppiness.. i had originally wrote a fantastic post but somehow it didn't submit on CC.. :\ i had to do another one from scratch</p>

<p>Asian, Male, Orange County, Born in Hong Kong, first in family to go to college
GPA: UC: 4.41
Rank: 23/555
SAT: 590R, 600M, 610W (retaking)
SATii: 620Chem, 640 IIC (retaking)</p>

<p>Hardest Courseload and then some.</p>

<p>9th: English Honors 1, Model United Nations Honors, Physical Education, Geometry, Biology, Symphony Band</p>

<p>10th: English Honors 2, Model United Nations Honors, Physical Education, Alg2/trig, Chemistry, French 1</p>

<p>11th: English Honors 3, Model United Nations Honors, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, French 2, Precalculus Honors</p>

<p>12th: AP English 4, Model United Nations Honors, AP Physics B, AP Calc BC, AP Stats, AP French 4 (skipped 3)</p>

<p>What I've done in the summers these 3 years:
9th: -Invited to join the People to People Student Ambassadors to China which culminated in helping the needy in rural Xi'an
-Began my retail and marketing unpaid internship at orisue clothing in huntington beach over a period of 8 months learning the inner and outer workings of a small upcoming business</p>

<p>10th:-Volunteered in one of California's top 6 hospitals, UCI Medical center as both a Lab assistant and general volunteer
-Organized "Hoops for Hearts" in which a basketball tournament is held and proceeds are collected and donated to American Heart Society</p>

<p>11th:-Began work as a Starbucks Barista. Became certified after a 10 day training program.
-Worked as an unpaid business intern at Finishline, learning how to process stock and keeping shipment organized by incoming and outgoing shipments.
-Attended a Retail and Merchandising Regional Occupational Program(class) to deepen my appreciation and knowledge of business
-Enrolled in a Classical(Art) Music study class at a community College for enjoyment</p>

<p>ECs:
-Yulin Chinese School for 11 Years
-Yulin Chinese School Track Team for 3 years
-American Wushu for 11 Years (Martial Arts)
-Basketball in Various Clubs (PCH, NJB, WCB) for 8 years
-JV Tennis for 2 years (soph and jr)
-Web Design (html, php, mySQL) for 7 years
-President of National Honors Society (i created it for honors students to realize that volunteering and helping our community is meaningful, requirement for students: 3.8 GPA, 40+ hours of community service per quarter)
-President of Hip Hop and Basketball Club (To share my two passions wit hthe rest of the school)
-Student Body Boys Activities Commissioner
-School Tutor Club for 2 Years (this along with basketball, hip hop and business are my passions)
-Editor-in-Chief of Newspaper club (passing on the teaching through propaganda :p)</p>

<p>Awards:
-Various Awards in Yulin Chinese School (penmenship, calligraphy, 1st and 2nd place rank of class annually)
-Gold and Silver Medal at the Annual Southern California Chinese School Track Meet in Tug of War and 100 yard sprints
-National Chemistry Olympiad Regionals 3rd place
-UCI Arise Volunteer of the month of July (Big deal for me..i was featured on the front page of ucihealth.com for a month)
-Distinguished Retail and Merchandising ROP Student
-Various Model United Nations Awards from notably West Coast Invitationals and Princeton Model United Nations Conference</p>

<p>Misc:
I dont know if this counts but i along with a couple of friends (current student of stanford) created a gaming organization that won tournaments with a net profit of around 3000 USD.</p>

<p>Bio:
I recently found out what i wanted to do with the rest of my life. It was a culmination between what my father's influence and my own working experience. As a child, i always thought i would end up being a doctor(like most other asians). Yet discovering what my father actually does for a living(he lives overseas, barely talked to him) during my Sophomore summer allowed me to realize that entrepreneurship was always an option(he is a small business owner). Yet what made me truly want to get into business is my want for change in the business world. I want to be able to make a positive impact as well as provide for myself. Through UCI Medical Center, Orisue, and Starbucks, i have learned a crucial lesson. UCI Medical Center has taught me to keep a positive attitude no matter what happens. While Orisue gave me the tools to become educated for someone my age about business. Finally Starbucks taught me that it was possible to complete business' number 1 goal, earn profit while maintaining a positive atmosphere for partners as well as customers. My long term goal is to start my own business with emphasis on "Good business without exploitation". Yet my goal in the immediate future is to get into a good business school or a good school with a major in marketing or economics.</p>

<p>Schools:
-Columbia (i visited the campus and i loved it. I'm going to keep dreaming)
-Penn (same ^^)
-UCs (mostly Berkeley, UCLA)
-UMich
-UNC
*please provide safetys and matches with Business, Econ or Marketing as their specialty. Thanks :)</p>

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<p>UNC and UMich are out of reach simply because your SAT score will feature prominently in their admissions decisions.</p>

<p>Columbia and UPenn are going to be really big reaches, that's just how it is. If you're applying to Wharton, you've really got no shot, unfortunately.</p>

<p>Your best bet really is the UCs where you'll be guaranteed a good, cheap education.</p>

3

<p>Without at least 2200, Penn and Columbia are out. Try at least 2100 and I'd say UCLA and UMich are slight reaches.</p>

4

<p>ok.. thanks for responding guys.. i know i need to raise my SATs.. a lot..</p>

<p>yet i didn't know i needed 2100 to match with UCLA.. anyways thanks..</p>

<p>im retaking the SATs so hopefully everything turns out good.. any more opinions?? i need some safeties :) and other matches if u guys can :]</p>

5

<p>You don't need a 2100 to be a match, a low to mid 2K should be OK so long as you're applying for letters and science major. Your GPA covers those up rather nicely. You're ELC aren't you? Ivies are big reaches, UMich and UNC are slight reaches because of OOS.</p>

6

<p>thanks for chancing me!</p>

<p>Ok, i don't know much about business or most of these schools, but here's my two cents.
I agree that the ivies are a reach, and the others I know little about.</p>

<p>It seems you are looking for bigger schools, but if you wanted to apply to a smaller one, I stayed at Babson College for a camp. Its a beautiful business school in the suburbs of Boston. My friend is also looking at business school called Bentley which I believe is even closer to Boston.</p>

<p>Marist might be a nice safety for you, their business school is reputable and they offer nice scholarships if you raise your SAT scores. However they are also small in comparison to the ones on your list.</p>

<p>I had something else, but i forget right now...i'll get back to you!</p>

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<p>yes i am ELC.. thank you for giving me a little hope in this dark ocean of doubt. btw what is OOS??</p>

<p>and is it possible that you provide some safeties as well as other matches for me??</p>

<p>im still dreamin about the two ivys.. but what can i do but stay positive right? :)</p>

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<p>thank you pensare.. i was also seriously contemplating babson college.. as it is perfect for entrepreneurship being as it is one of the top ranked fortune 500 hired-out-of-college colleges lol. </p>

<p>I am however trying to look at larger colleges.. (ie. berkeley) because it is more of a student community. Oakland is very student-oriented. I just realized that Babson's rural environment is not exactly what i'm looking for.. can you tell me a little more about marist?</p>

<p>btw.. im still trying to keep my glimmer of hope alive as i've seen several examples such as my case in which students have similar stats(their sat scores are a bit higher) getting into Wharton, Haas and other schools.</p>

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<p>OOS: out of state. </p>

<p>I'd rather say UCs as ur perfect matches....again, improve ur SAT and u'll sharpen ur chance at some other places. ;)</p>

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<p>right.. got it.. i actually read a post on the "actual post" from graduating high schoolers talking about their experiences with college admissions.. I must admit.. a girl gave one of the best tips ever. "Always be excited to where your going regardless of reputation".</p>

<p>Regardless, i'm going to keep a very positive outlook on this and raise my SAT scores.. i know even if i raise it up 300 to 400 points.. i will only be competitive with the ivy pool. Yet, my dream school is Penn and i feel i would fit in there</p>

<p>btw. Thanks for all the constructive criticism guys ;)</p>

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<p>my parents wud never let me go to a west coast univ just bcoz of the distance.......so, I'm not at all thinking of stanford or ucs.....no matter how much I'd like to go! (sorry for the off topic)</p>

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<p>hmm not a problem for me :p</p>

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<p>Have you tried the ACT? Worth a shot...</p>

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<p>yeah i was thinking about it.. maybe.. :O</p>

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<p>Columbia: REJECT
Penn: REJECT
UCs Berkeley and UCLA: REJECT
UMich: REJECT
UNC: Unlikely</p>

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<p>ok thanks for being honest.. we'll see how correct you are come march :)</p>

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<p>I'll say this up front: I don't plan on being completely right.</p>

<p>:)</p>

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<p>hahaha what exactly are u iffy on??</p>

<p>im still gonna apply to those schools no matter what ppl say.. i just like a little confidence if its truly sincere :p</p>

19

<p>Hm...</p>

<p>My ratings are brutally honest, but sometimes luck, a factor which I have no control over, plays some role in the admissions game.</p>

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<p>btw.. what would u suggest me to do to strengthen besides SAT? and what SAT threshold do u think i need for UCLA and others?</p>