<p>My GC is clueless!</p>
<p>“Girl in engineering” is a VERY powerful hook. I know this from my daughter’s personal experience. Not that 0.13 diff in GPA matters all that much, but that hook should be plenty to override that little shortage. Not that you’re shoe in into S or P, but lots of top schools for sure.</p>
<p>OP:</p>
<p>Ask your counselor for a copy of your school Profile. It might even be available on the school’s website.</p>
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<p>Liv, you know by now that I am a fan of you and your spunky attitude, but you’re really not being respectful of Metrical and starting to miss the main advantage of these threads: getting ideas that will help you overcome the odds of getting into top schools. It doesn’t do you any good to gather a consensus of CCers who think you’re going to get into your college choices when they aren’t, in fact, part of decision-making process. Better to hear from a cynic, naysayer or pessimist who will help you pinpoint your weaknesses and lead you to hopefully do something about it.</p>
<p>Metrical’s question is valid: Why would Princeton/Stanford take you over someone with a higher GPA?</p>
<p>Well, first of all, as a female in engineering, you are effectively a URM. Second, as my son demonstrated, perfect stats alone are not enough for HYPSM. Third, if your grades and test scores are within the ballpark of what they expect, a stellar outside-high-school EC can get you in, even over higher scorers. </p>
<p>My son got personalized details in 3 of his acceptance letters, from Brown, Williams and Amherst. Each one talked not about his grades or test scores, but about his commitment to his community. I suspect his community service project could have also gotten him into Princeton and Yale, had it been further along but, since he was a 3-year-graduate and carrying 10 classes to finish by June, he didn’t have the time he had hoped to move his project forward far enough.</p>
<p>Find a need that is yet unmet and start an organization to do something about it. That will lift you above the others who rely exclusively on pre-packaged high school activities to make their impressions.</p>
<p>P.S. it’s either resume or r</p>
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<p>Your GC gets to write one of those 3 letters of recommendations that could determine whether or not you get in. The better he knows you and likes you and appreciates your accomplishments, the better your chances of getting accepted at one of your dream schools.</p>
<p>I’ve never heard that Princeton doesn’t consider the freshman year. I’m not sure that’s true of Stanford anymore either. Even if they say they “don’t consider it,” they still see it and it’s got to have some effect on their impression. Do you think they actually calculate sophomore to senior GPA? Also, there is no way to calculate adjusted class rank either.</p>
<p>The people who get in with lower stats tend to have started organizations that did something concrete (raised $50,000, developed an outreach plan that was instituted in 40 states, wrote for a real newspaper). I think some of these things are over-valued by colleges, but these are the sorts of things which help you. I think sometimes people with lower stats can get in without these things if they are viewed as having a good attitude or refreshing outlook. I read about one girl who got into Harvard with a 3.5 GPA who wrote about how she rode the pine on her bball team. She was at a private school, though, so that may have helped somewhat. And I think that sort of thing is rare.</p>
<p>My feeling is that one to two B’s are not fatal, but after that it becomes much more difficult to get in. Not impossible, but it raises the bar you need to clear in other areas of the application. </p>
<p>I don’t know what a 3.87 is equivalent to–like one B a year?</p>
<p>I’m not going to comment on the females in engineering angle as I’m not sure how big a factor that is.</p>
<p>1.5 B-pluses per year, with some A-minuses factored in</p>
<p>Concerned: I’m glad it’s compelling to colleges! Where did your daughter get accepted?</p>
<p>Lorem: Does it only look impressive if you founded it yourself? Or can you play an active role in building off something else someone else already created? Also, I looked it up, and "resum</p>
<p>IMO, xy chromosomes helps tremendously at tech-engineering schools, but not so much as some of the Ivies, which tend to be more liberal arts-focused. It probably won’t help much at Stanford either since there are plenty of sciency-girls in California with high tests scores.</p>
<p>Your ECs seem good, but nothing out of the ordinary. “Girl in engineering” is unique, but it’s really not that uncommon; there are two other girls in my school, besides me, who have the girl in engineering hook + similar ECs + 4.0s. I think taking SAT IIs in the areas you got Bs in will help (providing you score well.) A strong SAT score would help as well.
It’s important to be involved in ECs that you are passionate about. To play the devil’s advocate again, it appears that you have scattered interests (which is okay) but you do them all so it ‘reflects well on your applications’. Also, part of being a woman in science is not simply checking the box on your app when it asks for intended major. It is showing a commitment to science and engineering both in your grades and your ECs, which I don’t see.</p>
<p>What I mean by “Ivy League-competitive” is really just “top school-competitive.” I think I have a good chance at Carnegie Mellon then because they’re big on engineering, and they don’t count freshman grades. How’s Princeton’s engineering program?</p>
<p>I’m definitely strongest in math. I don’t do these ECs so they “look good.” My math and science grades (aside from 9th grade) are strong. I’m in Robotics, and I’m taking AP Physics next year. I’m pretty sure my SAT IIs will be Math II, Physics, and Chem. Is it a crime to like being in yearbook and Forensics?</p>
<p>I’d suggest checking common data sets … here is Princeton’s … <a href=“http://registrar.princeton.edu/university_enrollment_sta/common_cds2010.pdf[/url]”>http://registrar.princeton.edu/university_enrollment_sta/common_cds2010.pdf</a></p>
<p>GPA = 3.75-4:00 = 85%
GPA = 3.50-3.74 = 10%
GPA = 3.25-3.49 = 3%
GPA = 3.00-3.24 = 2%</p>
<p>Some athletic rectruits, legacies, etc (other strong hooks) probably make up a lot of those lower GPAs … so your GPA certainly looks to be in the hunt … good luck!</p>
<p>I don’t know anyone at my school with a perfect 4.0. Maybe my school is harder to get all As in than that of your average applicant. That should be taken into account.</p>
<p>3togo: good, I see I fall in the vast majority of admittees!</p>
<p>^It’s likely that those with 4.0’s are accepted at much higher rates than the 3.85’s, however.</p>
<p>Of course, it’s absolutely possible to be accepted with your GPA. I’m the only (non-recruited athlete) applicant in my school’s history to have been accepted to an Ivy without a 4.0 UW; certainly, it’s doable. But it does stack the odds against you, and you want every advantage you can get in admissions. Your best bet is to ask your GC where kids with your GPA have a reasonable shot at (even if you think she’s incompetent).</p>
<p>She honestly probably won’t know. What was your GPA?</p>
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<p>Even if you build off of someone else’s original project, you should ideally have opportunities to improve effectiveness or reach, or to develop a special niche of services for some subgroup that is not yet being served. If you’re just showing up and doing a pre-packed volunteer role and counting the hours, it probably won’t be enough to make a significant impression. But if you show leadership, a willingness to explore new ideas and a determination to see them through, then it could make a significant impression. You may well need to elaborate in an essay to explain your specific accomplishments, because a one-line description in the activities list may not be enough.</p>
<p>Excellent point ^</p>
<p>Physicz, I better qualify my point about your “hook” a little. Bluebayou is correct about its effect on the Ivies. With one exception. You see, in most schools, including most Ivies, you can easily change your major, especially during first two years. Princeton, for example, won’t even let you declare a major until late into your sophomore year. So any female applicant would have the advantage of declaring engineering, and then switching to something else, like English, where females are definitely not underrepresented. </p>
<p>Here is one exception though. My daughter was always planning to do pre-med, but when she took PSAT as a sophomore, she put “Environmental Engineering” on the form for her intended major. Ever since then, she’s been inundated by mail from all kinds of engineering/polytech schools, ranging from top ones and all the way thru the range. The one exception from the Ivy liberal arts theme was Columbia’s Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. You see, Columbia has two distinct undergrad schools - Fu and College of Arts and Sciences for everything else. Transferring between the two in either direction is the equivalent of transferring from an outside school (exceedingly rare). </p>
<p>My D ultimately decided against majoring in engineering, and didn’t apply to Fu (she’ll be going to Berkeley this fall), but for two years she’s been getting long and heartfelt love letters from Columbia’s Fu, from the dean and on down, basically assuring her that if she applies, she is in. D had similar GPA to yours, combined SAT of 2260 (on two takes) and nothing particularly extraordinary engineering related. So if you want an engineering degree from an Ivy, I think your stats and gender will get you into Columbia. Cornell may be another good choice to check out, as they have six distinct schools, that are also supposedly difficult to transfer to and from, but I don’t recall how it works there exactly.</p>
<p>So the hook works in places where females are underrepresented AND are locked into male dominated majors. Some great smaller tech schools, but even MIT admits females at over double the rate of males. </p>
<p>[MIT</a> Office of the Provost, Institutional Research](<a href=“MIT Institutional Research”>MIT Institutional Research)</p>