How do you think I would fare with these credentials?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Okay, so I've got a pretty messed up profile. I'm an Asian male, senior, in a decent blue ribbon high school in NJ. While all my friends are talking about applying to schools like UVA and UPenn, etc. I'm stuck in a rut with my terrible transcript. Even when I check Naviance and other graph sites there isn't any data for me to compare myself to - nobody has my GPA and SAT score.</p>

<p>Freshman year I did awful. Got almost all B to B+s and even a C in biology (All academic classes except Chinese). Sophomore year wasn't much better. Mainly B and B+s with a couple scattered A-s, but still not enough to get into any advanced placement or honors classes. So Junior year, I started to get my stuff together. Ended with As and A-s in all my classes. This year, I'm finally taking four AP classes. I'm most likely going to get B+s and A-s in all of them for the first two marking periods. I know an upwards trend is always beneficial, but I also know mine isn't particularly strong. My strategy is to apply to a ton of reach schools and hope that one accepts me...</p>

<p>So, right now my weighted GPA is 3.4... terrible, I know. </p>

<p>My SAT score is a 2200, and I think I got at least 750+ on my Math II and US History subject tests.</p>

<p>My ECs include: FBLA member for 4 years, Robotics and FLDC for 2. Teacher's Assistant at a Chinese school for 4 years, hospital volunteer for 2. I also did a lab internship at Boston College for 3 weeks over the summer.</p>

<p>My essays are okay, I don't think they're especially risky or groundbreaking, but they are well written in my opinion and most people share that view with me. And finally, my preferred major is Computer Science.</p>

<p>These are the colleges I'm looking at :</p>

<p>-Rutgers</p>

<p>-Georgia Tech</p>

<p>-University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign</p>

<p>-University of Wisconsin-Madison</p>

<p>-Wake Forest University</p>

<p>-University of North Carolina @ Chapel Hill</p>

<p>-Boston College</p>

<p>-University of Michigan Ann Arbor</p>

<p>-University of Rochester</p>

<p>-Vanderbilt University</p>

<p>I'm aware that I listed a ton of different colleges and most probably seem absurd for my credentials (Vanderbilt especially), but I'm pretty much throwing myself out there as best as I can. If you've got any tidbit of information on my chances at any schools, I would greatly appreciate it. I've got a terribly cynical view of my college prospects and could really use the advice. I know this is a long post, so thanks a lot for reading it all and thanks even more if you can help me out.</p>

2

<p>Some (maybe many) schools value scores more than grades, so that might help but you’re right that it’s difficult to predict. There are some threads on CC about schools that don’t pay attention to freshman year grades, so look for those. Also apply early to several places so you get an idea what your results will be. Look for schools where your math plus verbal SAT is at or above their 75% level and apply to as many schools as you can----you may be pleasantly surprised by some school.</p>

3

<p>What is your unweighted GPA? Is cost a factor? Has your family run the numbers to see what their EFC is? Other criteria - location, urban or not, Greek life, sports etc.?</p>

4

<p>I actually don’t know what my unweighted GPA is, since my school calculates it all for us. Cost isn’t a factor, and I’m okay with any school as long as it isn’t tiny (Wake Forest size would be the minimum). I’d prefer schools on the East coast or midwest, and greek life and sports are just perks that I could care less about.</p>

<p>@ Hitch123 Yeah, my SAT is usually around their 75% , just my critical reading is always 20-30 points below while my math and writing is always above by 10-20 points</p>

5

<p>Well if you have 3.4, what is the highest you could have? 4? 4.2? 4.5? 5? Saying 3.4 without knowing the scale is meaningless in terms of trying to figure out where you would get in.</p>