<p>I am a rising senior in Nashville,Tennessee with much ambition, but poor statistics.
My GPA is around 3.2, caused by an abrupt dropoff in junior year (F in AP English, D in AP US History). Essentially, the courses that were more interesting/challenging to me got much more of my effort (All A's in AP Chemistry and Physics C). I also participated in a molecular biology research program at Vanderbilt for my entire 11th grade year.</p>
<p>My AP scores go as follows:
AP Chem-5
AP Gov: Comparative-4
AP English-5
APUS-4
AP Calculus BC-5
AP Environmental-5
AP Physics C: Mechanics-5
AP Physics C: Electricity-4</p>
<p>Also, I dont know how much this matters, but I took AP Chemistry and Physics C without any previous highschool/easier AP class background.</p>
<p>I made a 2300 on my SAT with a 700 in writing (6 on essay because I barely finished the second paragraph :P)</p>
<p>ECs: Nationally ranked chess player
Science Olympiad (organizer and participant)
Mathlete</p>
<p>I want to go to a school with a good chemistry program, how high can I shoot?</p>
<p>The most important thing that colleges will consider is an applicant's transcript. In other words, not even a high SAT score or some impressive ECs will make up for lower grades such as D's and F's. A 3.2 is pretty low, so Ivys and other top-tier schools are out of the question. I don't know which state you are in, but definitely consider your state school...and maybe some other lower private schools?</p>
<p>According to collegeboard, 16% of accepted Vandy applicants have a GPA of 3.25-3.49 (to which I can easliy bring mine by the time I apply) and 7% have a GPA of 3.00-3.24, and I would certainly consider Vanderbilt a top-tier school. I am retaking the first semester of AP English, so the F will disappear from my transcript. Even so, I know that with my grades, I will not be the safe, "typical" applicant; I'm shooting to be an exception. So let me change up my question, what do I need to be a possible exception?</p>
<p>You already are an exception with a 5 on the english (the F) and a 4 on the US (the D). That is about the most interesting thing I've seen. Make sure you submit these scores to colleges and they will see exceptional achievement on a national test compared to a school. Your transcript, meaning the grades in respective classes, tends to matter more than gpa. You may not be toward the top of your class only because of these two grades. The AP scores will override this, and adcoms will think you had a horrible teacher who was out to get you or some special circumstance.</p>
<p>Explain this to your counselor (the discrepancy in grade and ap score), and tell him/her to include it in the letter of rec.</p>
<p>This should be an exception. Having a high grade and low ap score looks awful :-(.</p>
<p>Also, if you have a high SAT and other high results, these grades can be overlooked. I hope your research was exceptional (for the fact that someone with high gpa and scores could get in).</p>
<p>Pick out some colleges and write and ask them about their chemistry depts. You want to focus on the kind of equipment they have in the lab and how much undergrad research they require/encourage.
Pick a couple of great schools, like Rice or Johns Hopkins, and find out what they have for equipment in their labs. Then compare that equipment with what's in the labs for lower level colleges.</p>
<p>IMO, chemistry is one of those more cut-and-dried majors, where you have to learn facts and lab procedures. Inspiring research is great, but you first have to learn the basics--well. You can either transfer if the research looks better elsewhere, after you have shone for 2 years in your original college by acquiring a great background, or else you can apply to a wonderful grad school.</p>
<p>If you are NMfinalist (try to pull up that GPA!), you can get in-state tuition at U.Texas Austin (where they are in #2 spot for NMFinalists, right behind Harvard U in the # of NMFs attending their university). UT-A no doubt has a fantastic chem dept.<br>
U. Florida Gainesville also awards in-state tuition rate for NMF's. And Un Alabama Huntsville pays for everything for NMFs (tuition, books, room, etc).</p>