I'm not gonna be modest - I'm smart. But school is just not working out for me.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I've been lurking CC for a long time, trying to gauge my chances from what I've read. I don't particularly waste my time here and procrastinate, just read it now and then when I wake up in the morning in the hour or so before school. </p>

<p>I've come to a conclusion: I have no idea how I will fare. International EC's and awards are well-regarded by colleges, but GPAs are a HUGE factor in admissions. Colleges will take the higher GPA but lower SATs over the high SAT but low GPA kid.</p>

<p>I'm currently a junior, and I am seeking your opinion on whether the colleges that I aim for will take me: Harvard, MIT, Caltech, UChicago, Columbia, Rice, Northwestern</p>

<p>My stats:
2390 SAT (800 CR, 800 M, 790 W)
2.8 UW GPA
Class Rank - 308/651
Competitive public, sends a lot to top schools
No FA needed
Asian (haha)</p>

<p>Classes taken - straight honors and APs
AP Biology - 5
AP Chemistry - 5
AP World History - 5
AP US History - 5
AP Economics - 5
AP Computer Science - 5
AP Statistics - 5
AP Calculus BC - 5
AP Physics C - 5
AP English Literature - 5
AP French Literature - 5
AP Japanese Language and Culture - 5
AP Spanish Language - 5
AP German - 5
AP Music Theory - 4...
AP Art History - 4...</p>

<p>I took Music+Art just for the sake of it last year...
By the way, in case you were wondering on how it's possible to take so many AP's in such a small timeframe, I took some of the science AP's before HS. I'm already fluent in french and spanish since I lived in a french-speaking country for quite a while before moving to the US and getting a permanent residence. I do live in a very spanish-populated area so I kind of just picked up Spanish. Japanese comes from parents, spoke it my entire life. Took German in middle school and HS, and the only language AP I seriously studied for.</p>

<p>EC's
Class Vice President - 2 years
Class Treasurer - 1 year
Designer for a very nice photoshop design site - 5 years
Have coded multiple iPhone applications - 2 years
Helped write a security program for a particular company in 2008
Have designed some websites for some of the local businesses around here, pro-bono - 4 years
Yearbook Editor-in-Chief of Design - 2 years (regular staffie for 1 year)
Played the piano since I was 8
Varsity Debate - 3 years
National Ocean Science Bowl Varsity - 3 years</p>

<p>Awards - for privacy reasons, I won't explicitly list my specific awards but:
US National Chemistry Olympiad - 10
International Biology Olympiad - 9, 10
International Olympiad in Informatics - 9, 10, 11
AMC 10 Qualifier - 9
AMC 12 Qualifier - 10 (I'll be taking it again in a bit)
State Science Olympiad - 1st in Forensics (10th grade)
NOSB National Placements in top 5 - 3 years
Tournament of Champions Qualifier - 2 years
State Debate Champion - 3 years
Placed in the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF)
Probably NMSF</p>

<p>Spent my summers:
NASA Research Program (SHARP) - 9th grade
U of Michigan Debate - 7 weeks - 10th grade</p>

<p>Our yearbook has won a journalist award from the Columbia Press in the Class I Division every year during my time there (it also won before I joined the yearbook, though)
Meh, some piano competitions here and there.</p>

<p>To sum it up, I'm fluent in some languages, well-rounded academically, with an emphasis in the sciences and math. I get along very well with people, nice sense of humor kinda thing. I'm smart, not afraid to admit that. Only, school is just. not. working out. Mostly because I devote so much of my time to my EC's and pursuing international awards that I don't do much work. I come to class and ace my tests, but don't do much else.</p>

<p>Do I even have a shot? Should I be looking at community college and then transfer? I don't feel like I'd do well with people from low tier colleges like Arizona or whatnot... I'd probably feel disconnected even though I get along well with anybody.</p>

<p>In all honesty, I don't feel like I'm lazy. My priorities are just a bit skewed but in a weird way. I'm having a hard time placing school above some of the international teams...</p>

2

<p>Double-posted a topic O.o… sorry about that again…</p>

3

<p>There are many colleges that will be happy to have you, you will not end up at a CC, especially as you’re full pay. But I can’t see you getting into any on your current list. 2 years of doing well at a solid college and you’ll be a good transfer applicant.</p>

4

<p>Hmm, that was a tad depressing to hear but I had it coming. Question - on a transfer application, you’d list everything from your senior applications, right? High school classes, grades, or ECs won’t go unnoticed?</p>

5

<p>I presume that you actually won medals at the I*Os? I have a sneaking suspicion that some of the colleges in your list might overlook your GPA. Anyhow, you should continue to try to get your GPA up junior and senior year will only help you - this will make you much more “palatable” to the top colleges.</p>

6

<p>Yes, I have won medals. </p>

<p>I think junior year I’ll finish with a 3.5 average, which would bring me to a 3.0 even. Uhh… doesn’t do very much to my class rank. I think senior year would be much better. I’d have the choices of independent-study some of my subjects (I’d do it for languages and mathematics.) I could maybe finish high school with a 3.2 UW. Ahh…</p>

7

<p>If school is not working for you why do you expect that a traditional college (selective or not) would work for you? Colleges are in many ways similiar to high schools – classwork, class assignments, class participation, etc. That’s the reason why colleges put such a high premium on grades. The past is a good indication of the future. Independent studies have shown this to be more or less correct.</p>

<p>My sense from reading your stats, is that you have the ability to get a straight A average in high school. So do that for 2nd semester of junior year, and repeat it for first semester senior year. Put aside whatever is blocking you from getting those grades.</p>

<p>Your chances for some selective colleges would then improve.</p>

<p>And when you do get into a selective college, be sure to not get into a situation where you again get good numbers in external tests, but your grades are mediocre. You may be asking the same question then regarding getting an appealing job offer, or getting into grad/professional school.</p>

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<p>@OP</p>

<p>In general, what you do in high school doesn’t matter much for transfer applications. That’s why you stand a good shot; if you can manage good grades at the college you for the 2 years, nobody will know or care what your high school GPA was.</p>

<p>However, do realize that doing well in college classes isn’t going to be trivial for you. Tests may be weighted more heavily in college, but they are not like the high school tests where you can sit there memorizing the material for a few nights and then ace them. If you don’t start to prioritize your schoolwork, you’re going to join the many smart people who scrape by their first semester.</p>

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<p>Fogcity + amarkov - because there aren’t really Olympiads that I’d be aiming at. It’d be all about the research projects! And, from the impression I got from college students, there weren’t much in the way of homework other than readings. I do the readings for all my classes and I study everyday. I think I could definitely handle that. I participate, no problem with that. Never was much of a loner. </p>

<p>Ah, I get what you mean on the blockage, I think. Guess programming and design are on hold now :(.</p>

<p>Although, I know there are problem sets. I think I’d definitely do those. And the work environment would be so different, everybody would be doing them as opposed to HS, when people are gungho about EC’s, too.</p>

<p>Excellent pointing out of how this could possible repeat in jobs/grad school. Never thought that far into the future, I’ll definitely have to keep an eye out for that, too.</p>

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<p>why won’t you be modest? =P</p>

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<p>you are amazing.</p>

12

<p>I think you are a ■■■■■ but I’ll consider your post real nonetheless</p>

<p>Many people would kill to get your SAT, AP scores and ECs,</p>

<p>but with 2.8 UW gpa and that low rank, you don’t have a chance at any of the colleges you mentioned.</p>

13

<p>Wow. You’ve only finished 2.5 years of high school and taken 16 AP exams while studying ASL. And already been admitted to UMich as a Junior. Just unbelievable…</p>

14

<p>So…if your hair isn’t long and frizzy and sticks straight up out of your head, then:</p>

<p>Just go to Oxford - (I see you mentioned it in another post) - they don’t give the least little care about your GPA.</p>

<p>Or go to MICH this year for a year, prove you CAN get the grade (IF you can…and you surely know THAT is what colleges would be worried about, they don’t want students who can’t get the grade it high school because they won’t be able to get the grade in collge) - then try and transfer. Perhaps by then they’ll only want to see your college grades. </p>

<p>“School is not working out for me”…? We have an argument about this in our house quite frequently. Place the blame where it belongs. Don’t sidle around it, trying to make the sentence sound as is you don’t really have a hand in it. How about “I’ve not worked enough on my school grades”, instead of IT not working for ME?</p>

15

<p>I’m sad to say that you really don’t have a shot with your GPA. Your scores and EC’s are stellar, but in the end, GPA always matters more.</p>

16

<p>If you want into those colleges on your list, your best bet would be to transfer.</p>

<p>Go to a smaller state (or private) school, get to know a few professors, get involved in research or something else interesting, then transfer. Harvard reopened their transfer program, and all the other schools on that list are pretty transfer friendly.</p>

<p>With a year of modern physics, multivariable/linear/diffeq, and some other junk you should be golden for transfer. Assuming you get near a 4.0.</p>

<p>MIT takes 0% of those ranked below the top 20% of their class for freshman admissions. Applying might be a waste of your time, but there is always a chance they will take you.</p>

<p>If you transfer, schools will largely ignore your high school GPA.</p>

<p>So, if you have your eyes on one of those top colleges:</p>

<ol>
<li>Apply to some smaller universities (so you can get face time with professiors - this is crucial for letters of recommendation).</li>
<li>Get good grades in focused classes and have a major or concentration in mind when you apply.</li>
<li>Do activities related to that major or concentration.</li>
<li>???</li>
<li>Profit.</li>
</ol>

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<p>definitely a ■■■■■. All his posts were done after midnight Saturday, so I think that someone is just having fun online…</p>

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<p>@SDonCC</p>

<p>I second that. Being an IBO participant myself, I have come into contact with the USA members. As far as I know, they never touched IOI stuff (at the most the local selections)</p>

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<p>^ I was a bit suspicious too. There isn’t any overlap of team members between IBO and IOI in the recent 2 years from the US. Gave him the benefit of doubt though.</p>

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<p>2.8 UW and you still get all those scores on AP? “Hey, look, I’m a smart person who just happens to know all the answers on the AP Exam even though I failed all my tests in my AP classes that gave similar or easier questions AND ended up with a low GPA!”</p>

<p>Lol…</p>