Low GPA ... chances for top tier? WILL CHANCE BACK!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Title pretty much says it all:

Middle class asian family.
One of the top public schools in the state.

GPA: Total: 3.55 (went from 3.3 freshman year to 3.9 junior year, looking really strong to finish the year like this.)
Weighted: Total: 3.85
I’ve taken 3 AP’s this year, which is the most people are allowed to take junior year. I’ve been allowed to take 5 next year, which I plan to, making my schedule the most rigorous possible.
All three years my math has been the worst of all my classes, B freshman and junior, B- sophomore

Rank: We don’t rank

SAT: 2340: 800 math, 770 writing and 770 reading.
SAT II: 800 math, 780 Chem 760 U.S History
(800’s in both math’s, and I’m atrocious at math lol. Just goes to show how prep-able the SAT is)

Volunteering: Various nonprofits amounting to around 300 hours. I’ve been appointed supervisor/leadership in one of them. Also have NHS volunteering, but so does everyone.

Interview and Essay: Obviously haven't had them yet. I suppose they'll be good?

EC’s:

Small business owner: founded my own clothing company, making a tidy profit. Was responsible for website building, production, marketing, to pretty much everything. Took up a huge chunk of my life, especially late sophomore, up till right now.

Co-founded a web-based application. Was a little pet project at our school with a few classmates to develop an application for the school administration and teachers to use. We expanded it and launched it a few months ago. Required knowledge of mySQL, python, django, html, CSS, photoshop(design purposes), took months to build.

Debate: 3 years (four by senior year) Captain, State forensics voting member, national forensics merit, qualfiied to states all three years, and this year as captain I’ve tripled the number of novice debaters going to states. I’ve also made my own curriculum/have implemented it at our school. Plenty of regional/state awards + a state finalist. This is honestly one of the least unique EC’s out there, but I’ve put a ton of time into it and I hope it shows, especially since it means a lot to me. I suffered from medium-severity stuttering, and being successful in debate in spite of that really means quite a but to me.

Built and maintain a website for debate instruction based on my curriculum. Have gotten thank you’s from coaches all over the country.

DECA: District 2nd and 3rd in separate years, states 3rd and 4th, nationals have placed top 10, one of the nations highest scorers in the categories of marketing and finance.

Track and Field: did it freshman and sophomore year. Will do it again senior year. Varsity, qualified to states, nowhere near recruitable, especially since an injury put me out this year.

Programming Club: was never super serious into the competing aspect, so I don’t have any awards to show for it. It was solely for my own enjoyment each week.

Model UN: Attended a few conferences. One best delegate, not a huge part of the app.

Junior States of America: Not much here.

NHS: pretty much everyone's a part of this.

College List: Still deciding where to ED, I’ve been on quite a few college visits, and I honestly never felt the “connection” to any of them, as opposed to just liking/disliking)

. Chance me accepted/rejected, if it’s not too much trouble

  1. Johns Hopkins (Chance me both for ED and RD)
  2. UChicago(EA)
  3. Brown(ED and RD)
  4. Vanderbilt(ED and RD)
  5. Tufts(RD)
  6. Boston College(EA)
  7. William and Mary(ED and RD)
  8. UMASS Amherst (EA)
  9. UCONN (EA)
  10. UMinnesota (EA)
  11. Duke (ED and RD)
  12. Columbia (I can dream, right?)
  13. UIUC
  14. Dartmouth (ED and RD)

Do my EC’s and SAT make up for my GPA?

2

man you’re just like me. high test scores, asian, low gpa

jhu ed: high match/low reach, RD: reach
Uchicago Ea: i got deferred with a 3.61, i had pretty good essays, i had legacy. ACE ESSAYS. SHOW THAT U CAN THINK
Brown: ED and RD are reaches
Vandy: ED low reach RD: reach
Tufts: low reach
BC: high match
William and Mary: ED high match RD: hm/low reach
u mn: you should be in. i got in COE and science with a scholarship
duke: ed: low reach rd: reach
uiuc: match
columbia: reach
dartmouth: ed low reach, RD: Reach

the sat partially offsets the gpa, not completely. your ecs are excellent
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1737489-chance-for-berkeley-and-ucla-please-oos-will-chance-back.html#latest

3

Thanks! Chancing you back.

4

your gpa is below average for the schools you will apply to but the rest of your application will offset that. you have excellent test scores and a good variety of EC’s. if your essays and interviews go well, i think you will get into a few of the schools you listed. the ivies are a reach with your gpa. uchicago, william&mary. and tufts will depend alot on your essays. the others are probably low reaches. good luck next year with your applications! chance back? http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1718582-chances-of-getting-into-upenn.html#latest

5

Lol I’m a junior and my application will be similar to yours with an amazing upward trend, and amazing EC’s. I’m glad that you are looking at top schools because so am I even with a low gpa.
If you apply EA and ED to almost all of the top schools on your list, and you have amazing essays, I would say low reach (yes even Uchicago, duke, dartmouth,etc) - except maybe reach for columbia.

Don’t let others put you down with them saying you have no chance for any of the schools. One always has to remember that grades are, at least for some classes in my school, the teacher’s opinion of you - nothing else. Your scores blow some other applicants with 4.0 gpa’s. Good Luck!

6

Thanks to both of you.

7

So, are there any 'C’s in that mix?
Is it only the 'B’s in math that have pulled that GPA down?
Why is that?

8

There aren’t any C’s, but there is an 80 in sophomore year. The main reason was that I never really knew how to study for math as opposed to other subjects. I’ve gotten that straightened out by now, but it’s still my weakest subject. For every other subject I’ve averaged a B+ or higher.

9

I have an even lower gpa (junior as well) but i think you have a good chance for all them except Columbia which would be a reach.

I’m applying to a good number of schools here in California and I want to major in Computer Science.

I wish you the best of luck on your application. Maybe we could both possibly get in with essays and a good personal statement :slight_smile:

10

Thanks ItsHydro. But you think I’ve got a decent shot at schools like Duke and Brown still?

11

Elaborate your business, make it sound important like a F500 company in your essays.

12

@Asiankid1‌ I think you do as long as you have good essays & a great personal statement.

13

qpqpqp, I plan too.

ItsHydro, thanks for the vote of confidence, man.

14

Yeah, with the GPA improvement over four years, you’ll get looked at pretty hard, but it’s still dicey. You really need to just get 'A’s though. You’re making the admissions officers work too hard.
You’re one of the few examples of students who should probably make a lot of applications because it will increase your overall chances.
You’re going to have to make your essays clear, concise and likable.

15

The Ivy’s/vandi/UChicago all seem a little out of reach because of your GPA. You tend to need around a 4.0 to get into those places, but the rest seem close to a match. Also, your amazing EC’s could offset the GPA, but who knows, and your upward trend will help a lot! chance me back please and make sure to read all of my comments with it http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/18054541/#Comment_18054541

16

Thanks to both of you.

17

Johns Hopkins (Chance me both for ED and RD)
UChicago(EA)
Brown(ED and RD)
Vanderbilt(ED and RD)
Duke (ED and RD)
Columbia (I can dream, right?)
Dartmouth (ED and RD)

These are reach to high reach because of your GPA.
And, you are an Asian!