Junior with an Interesting Case.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Asian-American Female
Location: California
College Class Year: 2015 (in other words: Fall 2011 freshman term / junior right now)
High School: Public
High School Type: sends some grads to top schools
Will apply for financial aid: Yes</p>

<p>GPA - Unweighted: 3.6 (it varies)
GPA - Weighted: Unsure, but possibly above 4.0
(Note: my HS class was the last one to have unweighted GPAs)
Class Rank: top 25% (10% if weighted)
Class Size: 500-600</p>

<p>APs:
Sophomore - AP Euro (4), AP Chem (3)
Junior - <em>Predicted</em> APUSH (4?), APES (3?), AP Calc AB (3?) AP English (5?)
Senior - will take AP Art History, AP Studio Art 2-D Design, AP Statistics, AP English, and AP Gov/Econ (semester each)</p>

<p>Notes on classes:
- I jumped from CP Biology freshman year to AP Chem
- I jumped from geometry to pre-calc by taking a community college course (see below)
- I'm jumping from Art Foundations (beginning art class) to AP 2-D Design next year</p>

<p>SAT I Math: 770
SAT I Critical Reading: 660
SAT I Writing: 720 (8e)
Will not take ACT
Plan on taking Literature and US History subject tests in June; expected scores 600-800</p>

<p>Now for my weak ECs (12th grade is added on as a prediction):
Aspiring Authors - (10th, 11th)
Invisible Children (it's about child soldier conflicts in Uganda; I may write on it on essay if I get boardmember position next year) - (11th, 12th)
Leo Club - (11th, 12th)
Ecology Club - (11th, 12th)
Temporary Paid Job (Should I even bother putting this?) - (11th)
California Scholarship Federation - Planning on Lifetime member by 12th</p>

<p>Honors and Awards:
Drama Department (note: I am no longer in drama) - Performer of the Year (9th)
National Honor Society (note: I'm not actually in NHS) Essay Contest - 1st place
Schoolwide Spelling Bee - 1st place (11th)</p>

<p>College Summer programs: Intermediate Algebra (Algebra II) at local community college (summer between 9th and 10th grade); I plan on taking a psychology class this summer</p>

<p>Languages: Spanish (three years in school), fluent in Cantonese (outside of school)</p>

<p>*No leadership, no athletics
(I know, ouch)</p>

<p>Volunteer: Nothing permanent; I've done a few hours here and there for various causes</p>

<p>Now for my special case: Hearing-Impaired (moderate; I need hearing aids on both ears but can still communicate without them), plan on writing a small part of essay on it</p>

<p>Recommendations: I can expect great recommendations from my English teacher and past hearing aid itinerant, plus average-good ones from my History teacher and current itinerant (itinerants visit me every other week and pull me out of class for a small amount of time to discuss college/study vocabulary/work on speech)</p>

<p>Prospective Majors: Psychology, Art, Art History, English, or Undeclared</p>

<p>Dream Schools:
UC Berkeley
Pomona College (normal app; can't do early decision, don't know if I can afford it yet)
UCLA</p>

<p>Safeties:
UC San Diego? Don't know if I want to go that far south
UC Irvine</p>

<p>Unfortunately, there's nothing between the dream schools and the safeties :P</p>

<p>Questions besides chancing; it would help tons if anyone knew the answer
(Obviously, you don't have to answer all of these)
1. If I wanted to send art/writings/etc. to a school, could I, and is it common to do so? I know Pomona has that on their app, but most of the schools I'm applying to are UCs.
2. Will my disability help much on its own, or do I need to incorporate it into my essay to have it be considered?
3. Will getting a C (<em>cough</em> AP Calculus AB) hurt my chances too much?
4. Is it true that colleges look at Calc BC more favorably than Statistics, even in the case of having taken Calc AB?
5. Will colleges see your essay subscore in the Writing category of the SAT?
6. If I have a cousin that went to a certain school, does that count as a legacy or must the legacy be in the immediate family?
7. If I am in the first generation (generation, not person) in my family to attend college in America (not in general), does that count?</p>

<p>Thank you so much if you read through all of that!
I'll answer any questions anyone has for me too, though I can't chance back because I'm pretty bad at predicting that kind of stuff.</p>

2

<ol>
<li>Yes you can. I think you can just send it in to them; I’ve heard people do that before.</li>
<li>It could, if you use it to illustrate how you’ve overcome your disabilities.</li>
<li>Not TOO much if it’s your only C (and your other grades are good)</li>
<li>I think so.</li>
<li>Some of them will, depends on the school (UChic doesn’t, for instance)</li>
<li>I think that counts as legacy. You shoul dask.</li>
<li>No idea xD</li>
</ol>

<p>Really try to run for something in the ecology club or any other clubs you’re involved in. And try to make your SAT/SAT2 scores as good as they can be (maybe retake SAT?) Berkeley will be tough, but if you can improve on the above stuff, you will have a chance. <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/897711-chance-me.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/897711-chance-me.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>Our unweighted GPA is about the same! Haha so I guess you’re sort of in a similar situation as me, though trust me, you’re way better off in many aspects. I’m an Asian-American female, from CA. I’m in the class of 2015 for college, 2011 for high school. </p>

<ol>
<li>I think it’s possible to do that. </li>
<li>It’d definitely be more notable and effective if you mention it in your essay…I’m pretty sure they have a section where you write down any special conditions you may have, or they (the admission officers) should already know. But if you can write a good essay about it, by all means go for it. </li>
<li>If you don’t have any other C’s, you should be fine. </li>
<li>I’ve been told by my counselor that students should finish taking the Calculuses and then move on to Stats. </li>
<li>No.</li>
<li>The legacy must be in the immediate family for most schools, but it may vary for the one you’re considering! If you’re talking about Pomona, no. </li>
<li>You must be the first person to attend college in like, ALL of your family to be considered “first generation college student”. If your dad or mom went to college in like Japan or Korea or China, for example, and you’re the first one to go to college in America, it doesn’t count. </li>
</ol>

<p>Hope I helped! I’d appreciate some good advice, as well [:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/894712-asian-painfully-banal-craptastic-junior-year-grades-do-i-still-have-chance.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/894712-asian-painfully-banal-craptastic-junior-year-grades-do-i-still-have-chance.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>Thanks to both of you for the chancing. My critical reading (and maybe essay) pretty much killed me in the SAT, but I liked my math score, so I’m unsure about retaking the test. I am applying to boardmember in one club (it’s almost impossible in the others; I don’t know the leaders that well and am not a standout member), but leadership looks slim. Same with volunteering–I have no idea how to handle that, and I’m pretty much relying on academics/artistic merit/awards to get in.</p>