High School Junior, Struggling. Chance me please?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

female Junior at EXTREMELY competitive public high school. Asian (from India), upper-middle class. Have no hooks, first in my family to attend college at USA.

Freshman year taken all honors, ended up with B-s, Bs, and B+s. Sophomore year same deal, except ended with C in Algebra II. Junior year took 2 APs. Ended with a D in AP Physics 1, B- in PreCalc, A-s and As in everything else.

My physics grade is pretty awful, and foils my chances of attending my dream schools. How much would this impact me? I’m voluntarily repeating the class at a community college over the summer to show that I’m proficient in physics. If you care enough to see the reasons I got a D, please see the post on my profile that explains why. Am planning to include this experience of getting a D in my college essay.

GPA: HELLA LOW
Weighted: 3.54
Unweighted: 3.3something

Senior year, taking 2 APs and 1 AP-weighted class.

All APs:
Spanish - A-
Biology - to be taken
Physics 1 - D
Psychology - to be taken

SAT:
Took old SAT twice, superscored to 2080 (got 780 and 720 on writing and reading respectively, bombed math and got 580 so 1600 score is 1300. Will take ACTs, hopefully am more prepared this time and will get a higher score. Took practice test, already my cumulative score was a 32!!)

ECs:
Pretty solid.
-dancer since 6 y.o (will give solo 4 hour debut performance summer after senior year)
-cellist since 7 y.o(play for prestigious local youth orchestra & school honors orchestra)
-heavily involved in schools Amnesty International club (but no official leadership role)
-volunteering at local hospital since freshman yr, 100+ hrs
-youth justice advocate at family court since junior yr. Super cool and unique experience where I provide advice and stuff to lower income students who have committed crimes.
-string quartet club at school
-got a job at local market summer before senior yr. Work aligns with what I’m interested in - sustainable agriculture, protecting environment.
-Spanish Honors Society (will hopefully get more next year)

**might be one of 3 students in my grade to take a class at Princeton University. I’m super good at Spanish, so I was offered a chance (this was before they saw my GPA plummet after I took physics), but my spot still holds and I might take the SPA 207 class during my senior year of high school!! :slight_smile:

Colleges Ranked. Here is where I need advice. I’m not sure if I’m going about this all wrong, because my physics grade really ruins my chances and this may be a little to optimistic. The colleges in CAPS are schools I’d really love to go to. Ranked from Ambitious - almost impossible to get into to Safety - will easily get into w/ a scholarship. I really want a smaller, close knit intellectual community and a strong liberal arts education. I really want to major in environmental studies (preferably enviro engineering working with renewable energy but LOL @ my physics grade) and minor in Spanish. I also want a solid music program so I can continue my cello in a orchestra setting or through chamber music. Also looking for strong foreign language program, diversity (don’t wanna be the only Indian), strong study abroad programs, strong international student body presence. Also want to stick to small, liberal arts schools if possible.

Ambitious:
LEHIGH
MIDDLEBURY (great enviro program!)
Smith

Reach:
Mount Holyoke
BRYN MAWR
SKIDMORE
Tulane
Boston University
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
Dickinson

Target:
THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY
Rutgers (really don’t wanna go here though)
BARD COLLEGE
BUCKNESS UNIVERSITY

Safety:
Drexel
Hampshire College

(Ideally want to stay in East Coast region)

Do these rankings sound about right? My school counselor said that if it weren’t for my physics grade, these colleges would be bumped down on this chart (ex: Bryn Mawr would be target not reach). Am I being too optimistic? Should I consider more safeties and targets? I’m really depressed right now, because all my friends have 3.8+ GPAs and are considering schools like UPenn to be their targets, while I’m barely qualified for a STATE COLLEGE like Rutgers. Please give me advice on how to present myself to colleges. If I show a lot of interest and communicate with them a lot, does that increase my chances? Also, could someone chance my on the colleges in CAPS?

Thanks lovelies!
Will chance back for sure!

2

Hi! I think your rankings seems right but Drexel may be more realistic as a target school than a safety school. Its average GPA is approximately equivalent to your GPA, but that doesn’t guarantee your acceptance. Maybe find another school whose average GPA is less than yours just so there is a very slim change that you’ll be denied. I think your target schools are realistic! Especially if your ACT score is as good as your practice test score!
Good luck (:
chance me back?

3

What do you mean by ambitious schools?

4

^

5

Nvm, I think Lehigh is a high reach due to your low GPA. Additionally, it does not have a strong liberal arts program, but strong business and engineering. In that case, I think you should look at Bard and Skidmore as targets. While, Bryn Mawr and NYU would be low reaches, but those schools will have stronger liberal arts programs. So in my opinion, I think you should focus on those more.

6

Do you mean “Bucknell” instead of Buckness? If so, there is no way Bucknell is a target school. Is is in the same league as Lehigh and harder to get into than Dickinson. I don’t think your GPA is where it needs to be for many of these schools.

You should find a few more match schools IMHO.

7

I think Lehigh is a possibility. Because it only accepts women, you may also have a chance at Smith. I think you’re really reaching for Middlebury. I’ll be surprised if you get in there. But you’ll never know unless you apply. Good luck.

8

@surfcity Yeah, I meant Bucknell. And you’re totally correct, I ranked it wrong. But I did some research on it, and I don’t think I’ll be applying there anyways because of the environment (strong greek life, frats, parties, not very diverse) and its emphasis on engineering programs. Thank you! I’m not quite sure what schools I should consider to be match though…

9

@urbanslaughter Thanks for the advice! Yeah, I knew I never really had a chance at Middlebury, it was just always a dream of mine to go there. Thanks again!

10

@studyhard13 Yeah, Lehigh is probably a bit ambitious. I shouldn’t waste my time looking at it. I’ll definitely look at Bard and Skidmore. Thank you!

11

@rubyvg Thank you! I’ll definitely consider re-ranking Drexel. Most schools with GPAs under mine unfortunately are not schools whose environment I’d enjoy. I prefer a close-knit intellectual community to a large, urban, public education system like Rutgers or Rowan or Drexel. Thanks for the advice, I’ll chance you back now!

12

First, @urbanslaughter Lehigh doesn’t only accept woman. It used to be a men only school. The ratio now is about 60/40 men to woman.

@shielapathukare Lehigh and Bucknell and maybe even Drexel (depending on your chosen major) are a reach. Your SAT math score is too low and even if you can bring it up, your GPA hurts you. But you still have great stats and can get into some great schools. I also think you will missing out on a great school by not considering Rowan. It is nothing like Rutgers and Drexel. Rowan is a growing school in size and quality while feeling like a smaller school. The campus is not very large (you can walk it in 15 minutes). It is in a suburban settings and has brand new modern buildings being built. Plus it gives great merit aid and is affordable. You should visit.

(I have two who graduated from Lehigh but am very excited and proud my son will be attending Rowan for Engineering).

Good luck!

13

@Lehighmother note the punctuation in my comment. I never said Lehigh was all women. I did, however, say Smith was, but only because it is.

14

@Lehighmother I am not planning to submit my SAT score - I have received a 31-32 consistently (680-700ish) in the math portion of the ACT and when I take it later this year that is what I’ll be submitting. That is the lowest possible score I can get - I’ve also scored a 33 once. I hope to improve greatly! Also, I took the SAT Math II and received a 720 which I believe is pretty solid. Based upon my practice tests, I will receive a 680 in my Physics one. Do these new stats increase my chances? I am no longer considering Bucknell because I don’t like the atmosphere. Thanks for your advice!

15

Even with you get a 32 on the ACT, your GPA is still too low. However it gives you a better chance with that score.

16

@studyhard13 are you saying in general, or for lehigh specifically?

17

TCNJ is a great option for in state students. Plus it has a great reputation. Small size so you can get to know the profs. Your best shot would be to pick a school where you are competitive and then apply ED.

18

Yeah

19

In general.

20

@sgopal2 thank you!! I’m definitely considering TCNJ… not sure how competitive I am though given my stats. Do you know hoe strong their enviro program is?