Low GPA: Do I even have a chance at the Ivy-caliber schools? #dreamchaser

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>School Context:
I go to one of the top 50 public high schools in the nation, situated in Texas. *School only sends weighted GPA, no ranks </p>

<p>4.43 GPA (Roughly 3.64 – 3.73 Unweighted)
SAT 2230 (730 CR, 790 M, 710 W)
SAT II’s: 800 Math II, 800 Physics, 760 Biology, 760 Literature </p>

<p>AP Testing: 5’s and 4’s, will have taken nine tests by the end of my junior year
Rigor: Hardest course load in school’s academic history. </p>

<p>Extracurricular (Position/Awards in parenthesis)
1) Four Paid Science Related-Internship (Juggling this with school)
2) FTC Robotics Team (Captain x2, Treasurer, Over ten awards, FTC World Championships, Head Programmer x2, Electrical Engineer)
3) Astrophysics Team – (Captain x2, Telescopes every Friday Evening)
4) Varsity Debate Team (Captain, 1st Regional, 1st County, States)
5) Nationally Top 10 research institution (Assistant Researcher)
6) iPhone Development Organization (Founder, CEO, Head Programmer)
7) Science Institutions (Captain of Volunteer Program, 650 Hours)
8) Track - Spring (Captain, 4x100m, 200m, Regional Champion)
9) Wall Street Survivor Club (President x3, Doubled Equity value)
10) Dual Enrollment Student (37 Units Taken, 3.92 GPA) </p>

<p>11) USA Mathematical Talent Search
12) Basketball (Varsity, freshmen co-captain, JV Captain (Injured)
13) Cross Country (Varsity co-captain, JV co-captain)
14) Soccer (Defensive Captain, played for 12 years)
15) Future Business Leaders of America (Founder, President x2)
16) Engineering Club (President x2)
17) Chess Club (Grand tournament champion, Rating: 2134)
18) Mathematics Team & Philosophy Club & Fashion Club
19) USA Mathematical Talent Search (Participant)
20) NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Summer 2013, EECS)</p>

<p>Honors/Awards
FTC World Championship
All-USA Community College Academic Team (Nomination, pending)
Presidential Service Award Gold Medal
Discus Award Winner Scholarship (SAGE Scholar)
Baush + Lomb Honorary Science Award</p>

<p>Letter of Recommendations: Stellar
Essays: Amazing </p>

<p>Colleges:
University of Pennsylvania: Wharton (Early Decision)
MIT, Caltech, Stanford
Harvard, Yale, Princeton
Columbia, Cornell, Brown
UC Berkeley, UC Los Angeles, UCSD, UCD
Uchicago, Johns Hopkins, NYU </p>

<p>Intended Majors:
EECS & Financial Engineering </p>

<p>For UCs (College of Letters and Sciences)</p>

<p>What are the chances?
Thanks for reading, even if you don't respond!</p>

<p>If you respond, I will chance you back!</p>

2

<p>Shameless BUMPPP</p>

<p>Free imaginary cookies and hugs!</p>

3

<p>Absolutely; your profile looks fantastic. What’s up with your list of 20 extra-curricular activities, though? Either you’re a superhuman that never sleeps, or you’re making it look like you do a lot more than you actually do. The arithmetic simply doesn’t work.</p>

4

<p>For the elite schools your GPA and SAT is only average. Ec’s seem good maybe a little too good. Anyway maybe the holitic thing can save you. But then again maybe not.</p>

5

<p>There’s no way that they are real sosomenza. On top of that list, he claims to have taken a year and a half worth of college courses. </p>

<p>He would literally need 72 hour days to make it remotely possible.</p>

6

<p>Thanks guys! I don’t get a lot of sleep, but I am really passionate in everything I do outside of school! If interviewed, I could potentially talk about 15/20 of those ECs for at least a half an hour.</p>

7

<p>He also claims to be a master in chess, which I’m almost sure is a lie. I played chess for a few years, and a rating that high is no joke. I know professionals who have made a career out of chess for a decade and that is their rating.</p>

<p>It’s not true, Americano.</p>

8

<p>those 37 units include this summer’s online courses. I have taken the others mostly over the past summers. But one of them (Physics w/ Calculus) I took concurrently in the fall of my sophomore year.</p>

<p>I am not a ■■■■■. lol, as for the chess rating, that is not an official rating, but rather a one that I have accumulated via playing against computers and occasionally people on chess.com. haha</p>

9

<p>How did you come to attain an ELO rating of 2134 in chess? As I said, I played chess for a few years, and the people who I knew who had ratings such as those had played for at least seven years professionally.</p>

<p>Chess.com is not official. You wouldn’t be allowed to write that rating down on your college apps.</p>

10

<p>Anyway, the truthfulness of your EC list is not mine to judge. Perhaps you are a superhuman!</p>

<p>Regardless, I am sure that you are bound for an excellent college and future.</p>

11

<p>Look, as one can tell, I am obviously a new member at CC; however, falsely accusing me based on superficial circumstantial evidence is futile and pointless. There is no need to continuously bash my credibility. </p>

<p>Take it easy on me man, this is my first day on this website.</p>

<p>Edit*
haha, I will make sure not to put that on the common app, as it is very misleading. Thanks for the kind words gameofthrones1.</p>

12

<p>See my above post. Good luck!</p>

13

<p>Furthermore, I will be retaking the SAT in October in hopes of scoring an 800 in writing and in hopes of bumping up my critical reading score.</p>

<p>Aiming for a 2300+</p>

<p>I will also briefly study for the ACT and take it next Fall, as students at my HS perform better on average on the ACT than the SAT.</p>

14

<p>Wow 113 views and only two users commented. Keep it coming folks! Please be as blunt as a butter knife.</p>

15

<p>Wharton (ED): Low Reach
MIT, Caltech, Stanford: Raech, Reach, Reach
Harvard, Yale, Princeton: Reach, Reach, Reach
Columbia, Cornell, Brown: Reach, High Match/Low Reach, Low Reach
UC Berkeley, UC Los Angeles, UCSD, UCD: Match, Match, Low Match, Low Match
Uchicago, Johns Hopkins, NYU: Low Reach, High Match/Low Reach, Match</p>

16

<p>Nope, I don’t think so Nj. If his EC’s are real (which I don’t think they are; I think a lot of stuff is thrown in there like the chess rating that is deceptive), the top ones would be low reaches (such as MIT, Stanford, Columbia), and the rest high matches and matches.</p>

17

<p>@gameofthrones1 You are of course entitled to your opinion, but for the record, the chess rating was not meant in any way or form to be deceptive. It was a blunder that I failed to elaborate on b/c of my impression that these chances are fairly informally formatted. Of course, if I were to put that on the app, I would have stated that it is an informal rating given by chess.com</p>

<p>But I am very happy that you think very highly of my ECs (despite being suspicious, which of course is rational). </p>

<p>Needless to say, all of my ECs are not happening simultaneously (that would be beyond comprehensible and would need more than 72hours/day), but rather through the course of year. </p>

<p>For instance:</p>

<p>All year round: Internships = research at home/meetings on weekends
Astrophysics team = Saturday evenings
Wall Street Survivor = bimonthly meetings, stock simulator
iPhone Development Organization = free time/holidays
All clubs = not very frequent meetings, twice a month</p>

<p>Fall: XC & Debate
Winter: Basketball & Robotics
Spring: Track & Robotics
Summer: Dual Enrollment & Soccer </p>

<p>The rest, you can figure it out.</p>

18

<p>That makes more sense. I thought that these were ongoing activities.</p>

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<p>All comments are much appreciated! I won’t throw my shield (or in this case a coffee mug) at you…or will I? </p>

<p>To absolutely ensure your chances of safety, chance me! ;)</p>

20

<p>Shameless Bump!</p>