<p>I'm a senior this year, gauging my prospects. Since I don't really know what the colleges prefer if the application isn't perfect (as I imagine few are), I thought I'd ask you folks. I'm hoping to try for one or two Ivys; but before I get into that, my stats:</p>
<p>For starters, I'm a white male from California.</p>
<p>GPA:
3.8 Weighted
3.4 Unweighted (I screwed up more than once with grades)</p>
<p>Rank:
50 of 600</p>
<p>SAT I:
2360 - 780 in reading, 800 in math, 780 in writing</p>
<p>SAT II:
Physics - 800
Biology E - 790
Math II - 780</p>
<p>AP exams (how large of a factor are these, anyway?):
Four 5s.</p>
<p>ECs:
Various research projects involving lab work
Science bowl (2 years)
Band (4 years)
Drum major for the band (2 years)
Freshman orientation group (3 years)
Various honor bands
Tutoring (3 years)
Active participant with a position in 4 clubs (3 years)
Over 100 hours of community service doing various jobs</p>
<p>Awards:
National Merit commended scholar</p>
<p>Current schedule:
French 4
Band
AP Psych
AP Calculus
AP Government
AP Physics</p>
<p>Prospective colleges:</p>
<p>UC Davis
UC Irvine
UCLA
UCB
Harvey Mudd
Claremont McKenna
University of Chicago
Brown
Harvard
MIT (I consider this and Harvard completely out of my reach, but there's no harm in trying, right?)</p>
<p>Would a good application essay sway the decision for any of these schools?</p>
<p>What do you want to major in? You’ve got excellent an physics SAT II, a perfect math SAT I, an interest in MIT and Harvey Mudd (what are possibly the two hardest engineering schools in the country), but you’re also applying to U chicago? You know that Chicago doesn’t have an engineering program, right? And Harvard? Haravard has an engineering program, but it’s not a very strong one. Is that for the prestige, or do you have other majors you theoretically want to major in?</p>
<p>3.4 for Harvard, Brown, UC and MIT will just kill you, plus the fact that you don’t have only the hard AP’s. AP Psych means nothing to MIT. Brown would probably prefer to see APUSH, LIT over Psych. Also, 4 is a low number for those schools, most come with a much higher number.</p>
<p>Our DD has a much higher uw (@3.7 - 4.25 w) with more APs and would never suggest those schools, unless I knew she had a hook. The problem is you look good as a test student, but I would question why the low gpa, does that mean you are not motivated in class or does it mean you can’t manage your time (band)? Either answer makes me concerned that transitioning to college at these schools will be difficult. Your reaches will have students that have that SAT score, plus the gpa uw of 3.9+, and their APs will be all core subjects (math, science, english).</p>
<p>Not trying to be a downer, but just trying to give a realistic view. Now take that and throw it in the garbage, because the only way NOT TO BE ACCEPTED is to NOT APPLY!</p>
<p>Also I would place Harvey Mudd as a maybe only because of Band, but realize that Harvey Mudd is hardcore academically, so again the low gpa might hurt in the admit process.</p>
<p>Yeah, the GPA was my primary concern. The reason it’s so abysmal is because I got lazy in a class (a very easy one at that), earning 2 Ds, but I retook the course to get 2 Bs (again, not because of difficulty, but because I got lazy for whatever reason). The rest comes from a generally A-/B+ report card. It’s more of a result of not taking classes seriously, as cocky as that sounds, and not any sort of challenges faced. I’m sure colleges would love to hear all about that.</p>
<p>I’m taking all of the AP courses offered at my school; is it worth mentioning on the application that I am self-studying, or do they prefer tangible evidence of achievement?</p>
<p>I know I want to major in physics, electrical engineering, or maybe even biophysics, but I haven’t quite made the decision yet.</p>
<p>Would it be wise for me to try applying for upper division schools, such as UCB, UCLA, and MIT, or would it be money wasted? I’m not entirely hopeful with my prospects anyway.</p>
<p>As I said the only way not to be accepted is to not apply. Your decision, do you want to walk the rest of your life with what ifs? If you fine with that, than don’t apply, if you will always wonder, than apply. Every yr there are a couple of students that we all say no way in Hades, only to be shocked in the spring that they got in. Conversely, there are kids we say “you’re in” to get the thin envelope.</p>
<p>Hope for the best, but expect the worst and you will never be disappointed.</p>
<p>BTW don’t ever say, I know I got D’s, but I was lazy, it creates quivers on the admission boards. Instead, state, I was young and immature, by the time that it finally sunk in that school matter I had already done the damage. As you can see, I learned my lesson well, because I never repeated that mistake again!</p>