<p>How good/bad are my chances for UC Berkeley, UCLA, and NYU Stern? I'm debating on whether I should apply ED to NYU. If I have a decent shot at the UCs, then I'll probably RD to all 3. </p>
<p>NJ Asian kid
Econ or business major
School sends tons of kids to NYU every year but not that many to the UCs. School is very competitive and has grade deflation (my GC will comment on this)
GPA: ~3.3-3.4 UW, 4.0 UC weighted GPA (upward trend)
Rank: no rank in my school
SAT: 2220/1470 (took Oct SAT and probably got 2250-2300+)
SAT II: 800 chem 800 math iic
AP: Straight 5s on chem, calc ab, music theory, bio, english lang&comp
Sr sched: AP Econ, AP Stat, AP Calc BC, AP Lit
~20 APs offered in my school (most of the ones I didn't take are either the languages or less rigorous ones like psych, enviro, and studio)
ECs:
-My main EC is piano. I've been playing for 9 years, and I have won many competitions and awards. I have played solo in Carnegie Hall and other famous halls, and I've been tutoring for 4 years.
-I also have a couple of other stuff like clubs/violin, but they're not as good as piano as ECs
Other info:
-My GC + teachers said they'll write about my improvement during my junior year, so maybe that'll make up for my GPA a little bit.
-Aiming for a 3.8-4.0 1st sem. Senior year. How much will this help?</p>
<p>A lot. People worry about GPA if they are going for a perfect 4.0. Yet if you messed up, if you show you improved its fine. College look for the perfect A line throughout HS pr the upward slope to an A student.</p>
<p>Berkeley-target
as for the other ones idk
good luck with college apps</p>
<p>Your EC’s are fantastic and would definitely make even Ivy league envious</p>
<p>Also judging by your strengths in math and science you might want to consider applying to something like MIT or CalTech just for the heck of it, you never know.</p>
<p>I’d say you have a great shot at all the schools you listed as long as you don’t slip up too much and write good essays</p>
<p>I think there is no reason that you shouldn’t aim even higher than this. I think you’ll get into UCs and NYU no problem. Kids posting on Ivy League chances threads are no better than you are. While, sure, there are a lot of NJ Asian piano players, and your GPA could be better, your piano EC is amazing. You have great SATs and APs, I’d go for Stanford, Caltech, you know, all those places :)</p>
<p>Haha I think you guys are being a little too generous, saying I have a chance at Stanford, Caltech, or MIT. Only 1-2 people have ever gotten accepted to those schools from my HS, which sends tons of kids to HYP and other top schools every year.</p>
<p>I think they are being too generous. I’m not sure of the selectivity of NYU Stern (I know it’s a great business school) so I don’t know whether it’s advisable to ED there for a solid chance or whether to take a risk and apply to a broad variety. It does look like the UW (even with the upward trend) is too low to be competitive in those top top schools. You’d be competing with people who had acceled all their high school. Piano is really nice, but it seems like the only thing. There isn’t that demonstration of leadership colleges would like to see. Try though and def. send a music supplement. UC schools, b/c of your high UC, should be within your range even though it might be tougher out of state. If you know NYU is your school and that ED will give you the competitive advantage that will make or break your decision go for it. If you’re not sold on it, don’t bother.</p>
<p>^Exactly. There’s no way in hell Stanford or MIT will choose a 3.3 GPA unhooked kid over a 4.0/2400 kid. The thing is, I’m not 100% set on going to NYU, so I don’t really feel comfortable doing ED. But my parents are really pressuring me to do so :(</p>
<p>i’m just curious how your UC GPA can be so high if you’re uw is a 3.3, i have a similar uw, but my uc gpa is 3.5, just double check and make sure you’re not messing anything up.</p>
<p>if you do have a 4.0 uc, i’d say target to BERK and LA, because despite your great ecs and solid test scores, a 4.0 uc is more at a UCSD level, which is also a great school btw.</p>
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