Low ACT, but Great EC's: Chance Me?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Good Afternoon Everyone!</p>

<p>I am a white, middle class, first generation student from a small city in the heart of Kentucky. </p>

<p>The colleges that I have on my list are:
1.) University of California, Los Angeles
2.) Northeastern University
3.) University of California, San Diego
4.) New York University
5.) University of Kentucky</p>

<p>You should first know that I am a student at the Gatton Academy. At this school I take college classes and live at Western Kentucky University. Currently, I only have thirty-four college credit hours, but I will have over sixty by the time I graduate.</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA: 3.91
Weighted GPA: 4.33</p>

<p>ACT Score: 28 </p>

<p>Course load: I have not taken any AP's, but I have earned thirty-four college credit hours, which means I am technically now a sophomore in college. My course load is very rigorous as I actually take hard classes at the university instead of easy general education requirements.</p>

<p>Extra Curricular Activities and Achievements:
- I have conducted undergraduate research in which I discovered my own bacteriophage, which I was able to name and archive at the University of Pittsburgh. I was then able to take a bioinformatics course and actually annotate the genes of a bacteriophage.</p>

<ul>
<li><p>I have conducted field research in Costa Rica. I had to hike up a mountain to the location of a recent landslide where I collected samples of Gunnera so that I could study the symbiosis between the Gunnera and Nostoc bacteria that grows in the plant's roots. I then returned to a small "lab" where our only technologically advanced scientific instrument was a 40x microscope.</p></li>
<li><p>I am currently conducting lung cancer research at the University of Kentucky's Markey Cancer Center, Kentucky's only NCI designated cancer center, where I am comparing lipid profiles of cancerous and noncancerous tumors that were taken from patents' lungs. This research will then be used to try and formulate a way to diagnose patients with lung cancer sooner so that they have a higher chance of survival. (I will be entering this research project into the Siemens Competition and the Intel Science Talent Search. Also, my mentor constantly repeats that this will become a publication)</p></li>
<li><p>I am a member of the beta club, Spanish club, MED club, yearbook club, and WKU's microbiology club.</p></li>
<li><p>I will be a community developer for my floor of the residence hall, which is a huge leadership position</p></li>
<li><p>I have presented my bacteriophage research at the annual Western Kentucky University Student Research Conference where I won best of my session. I also presented at the local regional science fair (I won a total of five awards), state science fair, and even qualified for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.</p></li>
<li><p>I traveled to Italy for two weeks where I learned Italian and was fully submerged in the culture of various parts of Italy</p></li>
<li><p>As part of my trip to Costa Rica I also partook in a study abroad course where we were taught Spanish and also exposed to the biodiversity of Costa Rica. </p></li>
<li><p>I won an award for having the highest grade in algebra II honors, which I took a year before the others in my class.</p></li>
<li><p>Perfect attendance freshman, sophomore, and junior year</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Volunteer:
- I volunteered at my local hospital's Intensive Care Unit and Progressive Care Unit (18 hours)</p>

<ul>
<li><p>I helped organize and run a benefit dinner for a young girl that was suffering from cancer (We raised over $5,000 in less than two hours, but the whole process was over 30 hours)</p></li>
<li><p>I volunteered at the local food kitchen multiple times (6 hours total)</p></li>
<li><p>I also helped deliver, relocate, and take care of endangered baby leatherback sea turtles in Costa Rica. I ended up saving over fifty baby turtles, which is a large amount considering how few are left. (35 hours)</p></li>
<li><p>As a sophomore, I tutored juniors and seniors that needed help with math. (4 hours a week through out the whole school year sophomore year)</p></li>
<li><p>I have over 30 hours of other random small volunteer things I did</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Letters of Recommendation:
- One will come from my residential counselor. We are extremely close and she has seen me prosper and bloom as a student and as a regular teenager</p>

<ul>
<li>The other(s) will come from my college professors that has their PhD and knows me very well.</li>
</ul>

<p>There are other things I am leaving off, but this is a gist of what my applications will look like. Also, please make any recommendations that I should do to better my chances! Thank you very much!</p>

2

<p>Hmm… NYU isn’t impossible. It’s a low reach. Also, your letter of recommendation should both come from teachers in high school. The college letter from a professor should be secondary. It’s very easy to think that a teacher knows you very well, and you may think you are close to them, but id bet there are 50 other students who think they are very close to the professors as well. Your teachers have known you for longer and have more direct interactions with you. Having a college professor write a letter isn’t going to put the odds into your favor just because they have PhD’s. </p>

<p>Other than that, I think you have a decent shot at every school except UCLA and UCSD. Those will be high reaches because you are OOS</p>

3

<p>Sorry, but I’m going to apologize in advance for being extremely frank.</p>

<p>You say your course load is “rigorous” and you take “hard” classes. Please keep in mind that these classes might be “hard” by Western Kentucky University standards, but most of the schools you’re listing are in a whole different league academically.</p>

<p>You seem to be getting very high grades in college-level courses, but you could only manage a 28 on the ACT. If you were purely a HS student with a very high GPA and a low test score, I’d say that was a red-flag that your HS was not very demanding.</p>

<p>In your case it’s similar, but really highlights the difference in rigor between a school like Western Kentucky and a school like NYU or UCLA.</p>

<p>That being said… I do think you have a shot at some of these schools – you might want to look into NYUs alternate testing options to boost your chances, you really do have a high-quality application if you put your ACT score aside.</p>

4

<p>@AnnieBeats‌, the only problem with having a high school teacher write my recommendations is that I haven’t lived in the same city as my home high school since last August. The professors that I would have write my recommendations are my teachers. It’s not like I took classes over summer, I actually live on campus and attend this college as a full time student, so I’ve been able to actually form a closer bond with my professors. Also, I haven’t had any interaction with my home high school since the May of 2013.</p>

<p>@soze‌ Thank you for being frank! My ACT score is low because it was the state mandated test so I didn’t take it serious. I didn’t even answer 15 questions on the reading part because I just didn’t care about it. In that respect, I don’t think it actually represents my intelligence level, which is why I’m going to retake it again. Also, I’m taking sophomore and above level classes where actual college students in my class are struggling. To be frank in return, all of my classes are more challenging than AP’s are and I took over 10 classes just in my junior year.</p>

<p>All together I really appreciate your responses! Do you have any tips to help me improve my chances? </p>

5

<p>Wow. I thought you meant some college credit, I didn’t know that meant you were a full time college student. This changes a lot. You might have to apply as a transfer student, thus, lowering your chances for financial aid and lowering your chance at admissions.</p>

6

<p>@AnnieBeats‌ Yeah, the school I go to makes me a weird hybrid. The state of Kentucky recognizes me as both an undergraduate student and as a high schooler. For this reason, I and my classmates apply to college as freshman and just hope that our credits transfer. Knowing what you do now, do you think my chances will increase or stay the same? I have my heart set on UCLA and Northeastern. Also, thank you very much for chancing me! </p>

7

<p>Unfortunately OP, if you apply as a transfer student, it may decrease your chances. If you apply as a freshman, to Northeastern, I believe you have a very good shot at admissions. At UCLA, since you are OOS, it will be a reach</p>

8

<p>To be candid, those trips to Costa Rica and Italy makes it sound that you have a lot of money and like to spend it. </p>

<p>Being a transfer decreases your chances by a lot. </p>

9

<p>@AnnieBeats‌ Thank you very much!</p>

<p>@Hawkace‌ The trip to Italy was an early graduation gift that my parents saved up for over the course of five years. I applied to multiple scholarships through the university and was given enough money to cover the cost of the course/trip and have money for spending. Should I include that I received scholarships for that trip on my college applications or is it irrelevant. I feel like it may show that I’ll take advantage of any opportunities that I am presented with. Thank you!</p>

10

<p>@Hawkace Just to clarify, I’m talking about the Costa Rica trip when I started discussing the scholarships I received. </p>

11

<p>OP, it’s okay to have opportunities, but it comes across that you have had a very privileged life. Colleges don’t like privilege unless your privilege has made them richer in some way. Don’t include the Italy trip on your application. And yes, please do explain how you are able to go to Costa Rica</p>

12

<p>Thank you for the advice! Can anyone else chance me? Are there other colleges in California that I should apply to because it has always been my dream to attend a school in California! </p>

13

<p>The UC system gives very little financial aid to OOS and you will be expected to pickup at least $23K (OOS tuition) if you attend. Your best bets would be privates, such as USC/Occidental/LMU/Chapman/Santa Clara and possibly the Clarmont Colleges which might give you more merit aid and grants.</p>

14

<p>Thanks, @Gumbymom‌! Do you think I actually have a chance at any of those schools? </p>

15

<p>Using my current statistics, can anyone chance me for University of Southern California, Santa Clara University, Loyola Marymount University, Occidental College, Claremont College, and Chapman Unibersity? I really appreciate it and I’ll even chance back! </p>

16

<p>Holy cow, your ECs are very impressive. I don’t think that many people have discovered their own bacteriophage or have done lung cancer research. For an unweighted GPA in some college courses, that is quite high. That said, I would check your school’s policy on applying as a freshman or transfer applicant. Some colleges take it very seriously if you apply as a freshman but are actually a transfer. Anyways, that said, I recommend you retake the ACT since you mentioned you “didn’t try” on your first attempt because your scores don’t match up with the rest of your application. In addition, I agree with the others that you consider some privates because OOS UCs don’t offer that much in terms of FA. Good luck!</p>

17

<p>Thanks! I currently have a small list of private colleges in California that I am looking at, thanks to @Gumbymom‌! I took the ACT my first time without studying and received a 26 composite with a 22 in English, 26 in math, 28 in reading, and a 26 in science. Then I took the ACT again, without studying, and received a 28 composite, with a 30 in English, 28 in math, 24 in reading, and a 28 in Science. The second time I took the ACT, I didn’t try, I left more than ten blank on the reading section, because it was the state mandated test. However, I’m hoping that if I study this summer and actually take the next ACT serious, I’ll be able to get a 30. I think that will help me with the colleges on my list. Can anyone chance me for the private colleges that @Gumbymom suggested? </p>

18

<p>Can anyone else chance me or recommend more colleges to me? Also, if it matters, I am able to do my summer internship because I received a grant to conduct research, should I include this in my application? I will also enter my summer research into the Intel Science Talent Search and Siemens Competition. I will also be presenting my bacteriophage research at the NCSSSMST student research conference. So, as you can tell, I really love research.</p>

19

<p>As others have said, a lot of the positive aspects of your application are due to privilege - most kids don’t have the opportunity to take college classes of their choice, most cannot go on trips and do research, and most do not have the ease of finding research opportunities in universities.</p>

<p>30 ACT may help, but it’s still quite low tbh, and not consistent with someone who has done this much research and has claimed to have taken challenging university classes. It just raises some unfortunate questions.</p>