Ivy League Chances? Please & Thank you!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hello! </p>

<p>I am interested in going to UPenn, Cornell, or Columbia. Other schools I am interested in are: Georgetown and UMass Amherst.</p>

<p>GPA: 3.76 UW, 3.9 W</p>

<p>Rank: 24/336</p>

<p>SAT: 780M, 760CR, 760W (2300)</p>

<p>APs: Chemistry (4), Biology (4) (JUNIOR YEAR)</p>

<p>SATII: Chem (750) Math II (770)</p>

<p>Senior Year: Calc AB, Calc BC, AP Psych, AP Macro, Physics, Gym/Health, AP Lang, Sociology. </p>

<p>Extracurriculars: Student Council, Key Club, Newspaper, NHS, Spanish Honor Society, Cross Country</p>

<p>Volunteering: Library 200+ hours</p>

<p>I know my GPA is super low, but will the essays and teacher recs make up for that?</p>

<p>Also, I'm a first generation college student. </p>

<p>Be realistic and tell me what you think, not what you think I want to hear. Thank you.</p>

2

<p>Academically speaking, b/c of your gpa and class rank, you’re somewhat weak (SATs make up a little). And it seems like you haven’t taken many APs…is this b/c your school hasn’t offered them or you opted not to take them. If it’s the latter, it will hurt you. You’re in some clubs, but do you haven any leadership roles, awards? And to answer your question, essays/teacher recs cannot really make up for low gap…they can only if you’re on the tipping point in terms of your whole application. First gen seems the like the main thing working for you. You may be able to leverage this for a “lower” ivy like Cornell, but otherwise I wouldn’t say you’re a “strong” applicant.</p>

3

<p>Essays matter a lot for the Ivy’s; your grades are good, but not perfect, but you have good SAT scores, and some important extra-curriculars- I think a lot of it is how you can spin yourself, particularly if your grades have improved after, say, a weak freshman year.</p>

<p>How do you feel about your essays? Are you using them to tell the best story you can about why you’d be a great addition to a university? I am a Junior at Columbia, and I think my essays really helped my application; I had help, and it made a huge difference. UPenn and Columbia were both dream schools, and I got into both.</p>

4

<p>I think youre in at umass and probably georgetown. probably cornell too. Not sure about Upenn or columbia, because theyre both reaches.
Youre right about the gpa being low, but i think your test scores may cancel that out. If you write really good essays, then you will be a strong candidate at each. good luck!</p>

5

<p>Honestly, I am not sure how your chances stand at the moment. I know a friend who didn’t have the highest GPA in his year group but he had a killer essay and pretty good SAT points and was accepted to Brown. He was however part of all science clubs at his school so that helped and there were a couple of other factors involved with his acceptance. </p>

<p>Like dblazer said, your GPA is “low” compared to the GPA of the other thousands of applicants applying to Ivy Leagues. Again, if you had taken more AP’s during Junior year that would have helped because you may have already applied to your college of choice before you take your senior AP tests. You SAT scores are ok compared to the SAT scores of other applicants. However, you like everyone else mentioned you have what people would consider “amazing and diverse” extracurriculars meaning you challenged yourself. </p>

<p>If you continue to get extremely good grades senior year, have amazing teacher recommendations and write a pretty impressive essay, I would say you do have a chance to get into Cornell, Georgetown and UMass Amherst. </p>

<p>You might even have a chance, however it is an extremely low, low chance, to get into UPenn and Columbia, you never know. There have been several people who didnt have the highest grades compared to other applicants but colleges saw something “special” in either the essay or extra curricular activities.</p>