Just for the hell of it...

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Just out of curiosity, what do you guys think my chances are at University of Rochester, RIT, Carnegie Mellon, and oh why not, Cornell?</p>

<p>My GPA isn't stellar, but it has an upward trend. My unweighted GPA's were by my calculation:
Freshman: 3.4
Sophomore: 3.6
Junior 3.7/3.8 (depends on my fourth quarter)
They are all .2 points higher weighted.</p>

<p>I've taken an advanced class at every opportunity, except for AP US History, because I had to make a choice between it and AP Chemistry.</p>

<p>Tests-
AP Euro: 3 (bleh... not my best subject)
AP English: Not sure but I'm guessing at least a 3 or 4
AP Chemistry: Also not sure but if I were to guess I would say 4 or 5</p>

<p>SAT- 1410/2050 (680 math, 730 reading, 640 writing)
ACT- 33 (32 english, 31 math, 36 reading, 34 science)
I took both once if that makes a difference.</p>

<p>Volunteer-
25 hours in interact club- grade 10
82 hours volunteering at the UB physics lab last summer- I mapped and built an opamp circuit and saved the department something like $600.
This summer I'm doing something similar with a professor in the chemistry department.</p>

<p>My EC's-
Drama Club- 10,11,12
Musical- 10,11,12
Ski Club- 11,12
NHS- 11,12</p>

<p>(My freshman year was pretty bad for me...)</p>

<p>I've always been involved in projects on my own, mostly having to do with science and technology (where my major will probably be).
*I taught myself several programming languages and have built and ran several websites over the last few years. I also developed a piece of open-source software that I eventually sold to a dutch programming firm.
*I converted my car to run on hydrogen, and I'm working on a new and efficient hydrogen storage system.
*Last year I set up a system to synthesize fossil fuels from carbon (charcoal) and water through (fischer-tropsch process). It was super inefficient but it did work.</p>

<p>Something that may hurt my application- I've been suspended twice (never had a detention though!)- once in 7th grade for fighting and in 9th grade for setting off a firecracker as part of a school project (yeah I know it was a bad idea).</p>

<p>So based on the information above, what do you think my chances are at these schools?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance to anyone who took the time to read this.</p>

2

<p>Does next years schedule count much? Next year I'm taking AP physics, AP calculus, my fifth year of german, and Niagara University Government, as far as advanced classes go. I don't know if they look at your senior courseload or not.</p>

3

<p>It sounds like you've done some unusual projects and summer work. I think schools will be interested. 7th grade was a long time ago, and you were much younger then. I think that since you have not had further suspensions due to fights, schools will see that you have outgrown this and now deal with frustration in a more mature manner. As for the firecracker incident, maybe you can write a short explanation of what you were trying to accomplish, why you thought it was OK, and why you now see it was perhaps not your brightest idea. I don't think those 2 incidents should hurt you much, especially if you are able to pick teachers you think you are wonderful to write reccomendations for you.</p>

<p>And YES, they DO look at your senior courses and even your final senior year grades, so you have to keep working at the same level, or colleges might even rescind acceptances.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the reply, I'm glad you don't think the suspensions were such a big deal. Any idea about my chances in those schools?</p>

5

<p>:/ I know someone from my high school whose Dartmouth admission was rescinded because he was suspended senior year.</p>

<p>EDIT: Then again, I've gotten a detention for blowing something up my freshman year.</p>

6

<p>Your math score might be low for engineering, if that's what you want to study. Especially at Cornell.</p>

7

<p>I figured Cornell would be a reach. What do you guys think about Rochester or Carnegie Mellon?</p>

8

<p>Carnegie Mellon is just as reachy for engineering. I have no idea about Rochester.</p>

9

<p>Thanks for letting me know. Is there a spot on an application to check if you are undeniably sexy?</p>