Interesting EC's+High SAT scores, Make up for lowish GPA?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I've listed my stats below and am hoping that all of you could comment on my chances and what I should try to improve to prepare for the college admissions process next year. I really want to participate in a joint program between Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary. So, if you all could comment on what you think my chances to Columbia (School of GS), Cooper Union Brandeis, University of Washington, and Washington State University are that would be great. Right now, I am planning to get my bachelors degree in general mathematics or engineering.</p>

<p>Essays: This is where I am hoping I can "shine." I've had a lot of really great things happen to me in my life and I am hoping to craft almost all of them into a unique essay about me. Basically, I'm hoping to write about how my struggles being born partially deaf taught me determination in school and sports. In turn, this determination opened new doors for me and allowed me to train at the Olympic Training Center a couple weeks in taekwondo and I got to spend my rising junior summer at NASA SHARP</p>

<p>Recommendations: Expected to be pretty good. Hoping for a recommendation from my supervisor at NASA SHARP (Assistant Dean to the medical school), my mentor at NASA SHARP, my Spanish teacher, and probably a couple other teachers</p>

<p>3.65 Unweighted (hoping to improve to 3.8 by end of junior year by improving study skills)
PSAT (Sophomore Year, no prep): 189
Expected PSAT (with prep): 210+, I took it this October and am pretty confident I did well
Planning to prep a lot more and then take the SAT in January or March</p>

<p>Classes
9th Grade (at Junior High)
Highly Capable English (B+/A-)
Highly Capable History (A-/A-)
Highly Capable Integrated Math 2 (B-/B)
Introduction to Physical Sciences (A/A)
Symphonic Band (A/A)
Spanish I (A/A)</p>

<p>Summer
Integrated Math III</p>

<p>10th Grade
English 10 (A-)
AP European History (B)
Pre-Calculus (B+)
Biology (A-)
Sports Medicine (A)
Spanish II (A)</p>

<p>Summer
NASA SHARP</p>

<p>11th Grade (I am planning to participate in March of the Living in April/May in Poland and Israel)
Dual Enrollment Program (18-20 credits qtr.)
Community College
College Strategies 101 (Fall) A
Calculus I (Fall) B+
English 101 (Fall) B
Web Authoring (Fall) A+
Calculus II (Winter)
Chemistry (Winter)
English 102 (Winter)
Discrete Math (Winter)
Calculus III (Spring)
Intro. to Web Authoring (Spring)
US History from 1865 (Spring)</p>

<p>Summer
Applying to MIT Mites, also local high school internship at Microsoft</p>

<p>12th Grade
Dual Enrollment Program
Differential Equations (Fall)
English 201 (Fall)
Physics 1 (Fall)
Spanish 201 (Winter)
English 251 (Winter)
Chemistry 142 (Winter)
Physics 3 (Winter)
Nutrition 110 (Spring)
Statistics (Spring)
Physics 3(Spring)</p>

<p>Extra Curriculars
Taekwondo (10 Years)
-Captain of Washington State Junior Elite Taekwondo Team
-Captain of Washington State National Taekwondo Team
-Won local, regional, national, and international taekwondo tournaments
-Selected to represent Washington State at Olympic Training center for national camp
-Washington State Best Female Taekwondo Athlete</p>

<p>Varsity Cross Country (Just started this year, so only two years total)
-on varsity team, but not excellent at the sport. I guess my times are a little above average but I'm not like MVP quality or anything.</p>

<p>Volunteering
-Planning to restart the science fair at my local elementary school (it was cancelled back in the 1980s due to budget cuts)
-Volunteer every Friday at my old elementary school because I have no classes. I usually stay for 3-4 hours and the teacher gives me a lot of responsibility. I teach the third graders typing and help tutor them individually in Reading and math. I also help the teacher with grading tests, typing up worksheets, etc.</p>

<p>Community High School of Jewish Studies ("Hebrew High")
-Basically in this program, I get to select two classes each trimester to attend every wednesday night. They are graded: fail, pass, pass with honors
Conversational Hebrew (Fall)-Pass
The Relevance of the Holocaust (Fall)- Pass with honors
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict discussion (Winter)
Leadership (Winter)
Isreali folk-dancing (Spring)
The American Jewish dilemma (Spring)</p>

<p>National Honor Society (Predicted)
-6 Years</p>

<p>P.S.: Sorry about the very long post! Anybody who suggests schools I might be able to go to can have a free G-mail invite. (if anybody even wants one anymore)</p>

2

<p>Your at the beginning of Junior year</p>

<p>a 4.0 junior year and first seester senior year will bring that up to a 3.8, easily</p>

<p>a 3.8 wont hold you out of anywhere</p>

3

<p>Cool, that's good to know. thanks for the advice habdragon08. </p>

<p>Now I'll just have to figure out how to get an A in Calc next qtr.;)</p>

<p>Anybody else? I really want to go to Olin or Cooper Unioin but am still really afraid that I won't have a good enough GPA.</p>

4

<p>If you are graduating from high school this year you are not eligible to apply to Columbia GS as you would have to be out of high school for at least one year.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.gs.columbia.edu/viewbook/applications_admissions.htm#Admission%20Procedures%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.gs.columbia.edu/viewbook/applications_admissions.htm#Admission%20Procedures&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>The School of General Studies (GS) is the college at Columbia University created specifically for students who pursue a nontraditional path to complete a B.A. or B.S. degree. **Nontraditional students include persons whose education since high school has been interrupted or postponed for at least one academic year* or individuals who for personal or professional reasons have a compelling reason to attend college on a part-time basis.</p>

<p>Applicants may not simultaneously apply to the School of General Studies and to any other undergraduate division of Columbia University (Columbia College or the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science), nor are candidates eligible to apply to the School of General Studies if in the last three years they applied to any of these divisions and were not accepted.
*</p>