<p>I can't believe I'm going to do this but.. chance me?</p>
<p>Sex: Male
Race: White :(
Location: Texas
Rising Senior
Public High School</p>
<p>Rank: 15
Class Size: 585
Weighted GPA: 5.2 out of 6
Unweighted GPA: not sure.. but good!</p>
<p>SAT I: 730v 650m 690w (taking again in october)
SAT II Biology - Ecology: 790
SAT II Literature: 660
AP Biology: 5
AP English Language: 4
AP Calculus AB: 4</p>
<p>Senior AP's: Statistics, Government, English, Economics
Took all AP classes available but 3
Varsity Swimming all four years- Team Captain, Academic All-District
NHS
Mu Alpha Theta
National Merit - Commended
Volunteer coach a swim team: 300 hrs a summer for 2 summers
Mission Trips: Nicaragua x2, Mexico x3, Mississippi
Counselor on church middle school mission trip and junior counselor on church fall retreat</p>
<p>
[quote]
I can't believe I'm going to do this but.. chance me?
[/quote]
Not following...
[quote]
Race: White :(
[/quote]
Haha, try being asian
[quote]
Unweighted GPA: not sure.. but good!
[/quote]
Your weighted GPA could be 18.9...we need UW</p>
<p>You have a decent shot atm...bout 60%. You need to improve that 1380. I'd also recommend that you take another SAT II..preferably Math 2 (700+). Try to get all A's this year as well. Good Luck.</p>
<p>Hmm, you have a really, really crappy school in deep Detroit that has an 80% drop out rate. A kid strings together B's and barely works. What am I missing?</p>
<p>What does a grade mean, really? Is it possible that grades mean different things at different schools? </p>
<p>Grades don't have absolute values and there are situations where grades at an entire school are very deflated. Knowing a school's overall profile and how an applicant performed relative to his peers is much more valuable than knowing his GPA. The same goes for standardized tests. Is a 1500 SAT prestigious because it's a 1500, or because one in a hundred students receives a score that high?</p>
<p>Your example of a typical Detroit high school is too extreme to really consider.</p>
<p>edit: canuck, that's probably related to Hurricane Katrina...</p>
<p>
[quote]
Grades don't have absolute values and there are situations where grades at an entire school are very deflated.
[/quote]
I agree 100% cav.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Knowing a school's overall profile and how an applicant performed relative to his peers is much more valuable than knowing his GPA.
[/quote]
I don't agree here cav. I came from a school that has a history of sending students to UF and lower in-state schools. Unfortunately for me, my class had acceptances from every single Ivy except for Princeton. There were 2 perfect SAT's and a perfect ACT among other crazy scores. My class's top 10 was unreal and I ended up being like 15. I could have been easily #1 in the prior year's class. Rank can vary drastically by school and even by class year.</p>
<p>My point is that you must have UW GPA and rank to fully assess a candidate's chance. I don't believe that rank alone is sufficient.</p>
<p>I think my Detroit example is unfortunately all too common and isn't extreme at all.</p>
<p>I agree that there are instances of some schools being significantly stronger through the top 10-20% than others. But your point about UW GPA is just wrong. Really, even rank isn't completely comprehensive. Fortunately, most competitive universities use some sort of holistic process when reviewing applications.</p>
<p>Yes, the effect of peer pressure should not be dismissed. I was watching (Virginian!) C-SPAN last night where this state rep was quoting a study where some minorities apparently start getting ripped on by their peers if they achieve anything higher than a 2.8.</p>