IU-B's my 2nd choice.. safety/match/reach? Chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Indiana University - Bloomington
1

<p>First off, I visited in October and I get 3-4 things in the mail from them every week. I don't know if that means anything.</p>

<p>(Current junior, all accurate estimations)
White Male from Minnesota
Decent Public school near St. Paul
Upper-Middle Class Income.
UW GPA 3.12 (2 D's junior year. One was actually a D+. This can be explained. I learned some valuable life lessons.)
W GPA: 3.19
ACT: 25-26 (hopefully higher?)
PSAT: 157 (not taking the SAT)
Class Rank: Top 38% (9th grade & beggining of 11th were bad... some 'bad' grades in some classes that I should not have taken. Depression.)
I'm quite a writer, since I do it all the time, so I think my essays will be TOP OF THE LINE.</p>

<p>Good Recs. GREAT. </p>

<p>Honors Courses: (If it was offered, I took it. Hardest possible.)
- HONORS US History
- HONORS 10th Grade English
- HONORS Advanced Algebra
- AP English Lit.
- HONORS Chemistry (I'm taking the AP Test)
- College Level Anatomy
- AP English Comp.
- AP Psychology
- HONORS Calculus
- AP Spanish Language
- HONORS Economics (maybe micro/macro AP Test)
- HONORS Physics (AP Test)
- AP Statistics
- APUSH</p>

<p>Extra Curricular Activities:</p>

<p>Varsity Cross Country (6 years)
- Captain
- Hosted several team events</p>

<p>Varsity Track ( 4 years)
- Captain 2 years</p>

<p>-PT Job at Department Store since June '08</p>

<p>Intro. Med. Residential Program @ U-Wisconsin this summer... in August.
- This was competetive to get into.</p>

<p>Environmental Club (2 years so far)
- minor volunteering
- possible president next year?</p>

<p>School Band (5 years)
- Pep Band
- Section leader
- Orchestra Ensemble
- Jazz Ensemble- 2 years</p>

<p>Piano (13 years)
-Participated in various recitals/ competitions.. no awards.</p>

<p>Guitar ( 3 years)
- Been teaching myself</p>

<p>MSWE Leadership Team (Model Students With Enthuisiasm)
-Red Ribbon Week President (Organized an anti-drug and alcohol themed week of activities for the school.)
- Active in community volunteering through this program.
- Elected on to the Executive Board</p>

<p>WEB (Where Everybody Belongs)
- Group Leader.. volunteered to assist underclassmen with adapting to a new school
- Did twice as much volunteering than anyone else</p>

<p>Junior Class Comittee (probably senior too)</p>

<p>Peer Tutors (Roughly 3-4 hours weekly)</p>

<p>Student Senate (Elected for Junior Year)
- Hoping to work up to President or Vice by senior Year</p>

<p>Fall Musical (will be 3 years)
- Medium sized roles, likely a lead role junior or senior year</p>

<p>Winter One-Act Play Competition (2 years)
- Small roles. This just gives me something to do in the winter.</p>

<p>Student Ambassadors (Freshman Year)</p>

<p>I write novels in my spare time. My longest was 210 pages. I want to get something published soon.</p>

<p>I am a dedicated rower.. I row 4-6 times a week in the summer, and 3-4 times in the school year.</p>

<p>Chances/Advice?</p>

2

<p>Write about why you got those D's and your life experiences...in for sure.</p>

3

<p>Well, unless the App changes for 2010-2011, IU doesn't have a required or optional essay, but I hear u can still send one in via snail mail.</p>

<p>While you have nice challenging classes, your UW/WGPA is rather low compared to other IU applicants. Your ACT score will be about their median range, but try to aim for a 27 or 28. </p>

<p>Make sure you get good recommendations from your strongest subjects or from classes where you've improved or shown the most potential. Have your counselor emphasize your extracurricular involvements and explain the downfall in the grades. </p>

<p>Seeing how admissions standards are this year, you do have your work cut out for you but I wouldn't rule it out completely. You still have A chance. My advice is, just get your app done with and sent in ASAP, along with grades and test scores and such.</p>

4

<p>In order:</p>

<p>Receiving 3-4 things a week doesn't mean anything. It's automatically generated mail because of your visit</p>

<p>The Common Data Set indicates that the first three items of consideration are GPA, Class Rank, and the rigor of your high school course load. Next is SAT/ACT scores. Recommendations and essays might be considered but are of less importance. Keep in mind this is a large college with 10's of thousands of applicants. There is not enough time to make lots of subjective decisions. Objective things like scores and GPA will be more important. </p>

<p>It seems you should be fine in terms of course load as long as you didn't receive the low grades in those classes. See the IU website for minimum and recommended course work. </p>

<p>GPA is on the low side. There was a recent post by someone here with a similar GPA that was deferred. I don't recall the SAT score though. </p>

<p>Class rank--Nearly 69% of the 2009 class was in the top 25% of their graduating class. This will hurt you. </p>

<p>ACT score is in the mid range. Getting something higher than 28 would certainly help your case. </p>

<p>There is one optional essay. Do it. I don't recall forms for recommendations, but perhaps have a couple of teachers write them for you. Submit them with your application.</p>

<p>Apply early! The application comes out in August. Aim to have everything sent in by mid/late September. </p>

<p>I think IU is a slight reach for you, definitely not a safety.</p>

5

<p>Does anyone know when they start making decisions?</p>

6

<p>They are a rolling admisssions school--they have already made many decisions (there are threads on this on here already)--and they will continue to send out decisions daily.</p>

<p>Things were a bit slow over the Christmas break period--I've talking to their admission office (called on a different issue) and while on the phone found out that they were "short-staffed" over the holidays, but are back at "full-staff" now.</p>

<p>If you've already applied, you should have your answer within 3 to 4 weeks, I'm guessing.</p>

7

<p>one person said "in for sure," and someone else said "Reach."</p>

<p>Should I just go with "match?"</p>

8

<p>slight reach. IU doesn't give a ***** about your ECs. It's pure stats, and you're below average.</p>

9

<p>That's disappointing.</p>

<p>Is it even worth my time and money to apply?
I don't want to apply unless I have a decent shot.</p>

10

<p>you have a shot, apply.</p>

11

<p>I know this is slightly off topic, but is it easier to get into Purdue? (my #3 choice)</p>

12

<p>Purdue is not easier to get into then IU. I'm not sure, but I imagine they have fairly similar admissions standards.</p>

13

<p>It really depends if you are trying to get in Business at IU if so IU is harder.</p>

14

<p>I agree with cheesewiz. My own son was accepted as a business major for both IU-B and Purdue, but it seems that IU-B is the more difficult for business.</p>

<p>Purdue is very competitive for its engineering programs (IU-B has no engineering school). </p>

<p>There are some programs at both schools that are a bit less competitive, but they usually don't look at these when determining admittance to the universities--they only consider these later when you try to get into the majors.</p>

<p>I'd say that, for the majority of majors, both schools have similar admission standards.</p>

<p>However, you should apply--here's why:</p>

<p>Your W GPA (based upon you taking lots of honors and AP courses), should be much higher than your UW GPA. If your UW GPA is 3.12, then your W GPA should be at least 3.45 (not 3.19 like you said)--which is very competitive at both schools. Do what you can to make sure that your school puts your weighted GPA (not your UW GPA) on the transcript if you can. (If they put both, that's also okay--if they don't, then get a letter from your counselor saying what your UW GPA is and send that as a supplemental item). Also, you being in the top 38% of your school, rank-wise, makes you very competitive. IU-B and Purdue generally admits those in the top 40%-50% of their high school class (although rrah is right that 69% are in the top 25% today). Also, don't be afraid to retake the ACT, or else take the SAT and see if you can get your score up very slightly and you'll be fine.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>