<p>Hey, I realize there are probably about five of these types of threads a week, but honestly they really have helped me in the past to guage on what I need to work towards for acceptance. So, now that I have a little bit of a better idea on what my credentials are looking to be like, if anyone could give me a little bit of a judge on whats good / what I need to work on I would be eternally greatful! :)</p>
<p>Ok, I'll try to keep this concise
- 3.5 GPA unweighted - 4.0 weighted (weight may go up so much as .3 by the end of this year because of IB classes)
- 1420 SAT (720 reading, 700 math), only 2000 on new version (means a 580 writing :-\ ...I'm most likely going to take this again)
- Haven't taken ACT yet, hoping for anywhere from a 31 and up
- about 210 hours volunteering for school auditoruim (sound tech, I've recorded local bands, booked shows for school, held an outdoor concert for local area, as well as 3 day concert series, worked with noteable people such as Marvin Lewis and Maynard Ferguson)
- On school bowling team, ran cross country freshman year
- Also volunteered for Pasta for Pennies committee for my high school, which consistently ranks in the top 3 in fundraising for it in the nation (#1 in 2005)
- IB English HL (two year course), IB Physics SL (one year course), IB History HL, IB Biology HL, Honors Pre-Calc (with intentions to go into IB Math SL), hope to be photo editor for school magazine next year
- Plan to apply reg. decision</p>
<p>Ok so the "concise" thing didn't work out too well, but hey oh well, all the more thanks to people who actually read it and leave a message!</p>
<p>I like the IB courses, I like the SAT believe it or not, but what worries me a bit is the GPA. Do you know what your class rank is? If it is possible to get around the top 5% (I know, that is high) then I would feel pretty good with your chances. Definately focus mainly on your GPA but retaking the SAT is probably a good idea (though that is a good score so it is hard for me to say that). That is just my opinion though. Good luck!</p>
<p>I really don't think he should worry about his GPA at all, as long as he can raise the SAT score a bit (~100 points?).</p>
<p>When I looked back at his rank I would agree because it at least used to be top 5% (I believe) but 3.5 worries me just because I have seen kids not get in before with better. However, grades are impossible to judge by, you just have to look at rank. I don't know how they deal with high schools like mine that don't rank!</p>
<p>thanks for the quick responses, sorry for my delay on this side.</p>
<p>In response to the GPA, I definately want to try to get that up also, I agree that would probably be my weakest point right now. Hopefully the rest of this semester and senior year will be nice to me (I'm planning on making sure it's more A's than B's from here on out, which would help immensely)</p>
<p>Right now looking at my transcript as of this past semester (they update ranks per semester) I am 29 out of 351, putting me in the 8% range, it looks like about 17th is my target point for top 5%, again this is definately a goal to set. </p>
<p>SAT I'm going to take for the 2nd time this coming fall, same with ACT for the first time. On that note, how is Notre Dame with turning a blind eye to the lesser of the two scores? I'm sure both go into effect, but (realistically) is there a penalty for one being lesser than the other. </p>
<p>Finnally, something I just thought of, how advantageous is it to me to start forming a relationship with my state's counselor at Notre Dame. I've heard of people doing this in the past and don't know if this is a good idea or if the counselor would just be annoyed by it, hence hurting my position. </p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>I think they just take the score that is better comparitively and use that in your application process. At least that's what they say. Obviously, if you score an 18 on the ACT and a 1550 on the SAT, they're going to think:</p>
<br>
<p>you were hungover when you took one of them
you cheated on the latter
you thought it would be funny to see what u could get if u just filled in bubbles ont he ACT</p>
<br>
<p>i'm assuming this isn't the case. so i would focus on improving the score u think you can improve most. </p>
<p>Notre Dame's pool is only getting more and more competitive, so anything you can do between now and the end of your first senior semester..can't hurt. I do like your chances as of now.</p>