Low GPA, extremely difficult course work. Any chance for Ivy League???

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Gender: Female
Ethnicity: White
First generation college student
I come from a single parent household, with a history of abuse. Our income is <60,000 a year. My school is a public high school ranked #1 in the state, and #3 in the country by Newsweek rankings</p>

<p>SAT's:2200
CR:780
M:690
V:730, 11/12 on the Essay
took it twice, did better overall on the first time</p>

<p>SAT II
Literature:700
Spanish:700
Bio:730</p>

<p>IB Diploma Candidate, taking 5 IB classes my senior year, and AP statistics
Weighted GPA: 4.2
Unweighted:3.4
class rank: top 40% percent :/. My school is very competitive, and I live 45 minutes away from it. Full of [MODerator has removed an ethnic slur here] that don't have to work, and whose parents harass guidance if their darlings get anything less than an A, rather than my mother who could care less lol.</p>

<p>IB Classes:
Math Methods HL
Music SL
History of the Americas HL
English HL
Spanish A2 SL
Biology HL</p>

<p>AP Scores:
AP Lang:4
AP Lit:4
AP US Government:4
AP Music Theory:3
AP Macroeconomics:4</p>

<p>EC's
Over 500 volunteer hours-- Peer Leader at my church, and as a camp counselor over the summer. Also volunteer 8 hours a week at a hospital
Have had to hold part time jobs, and this probably attributes to my relatively low GPA. Worked as a waitress for 20 hours a week, in senior year, and junior year as a cashier at a local ice cream shop for 20 hours a week
Member of Key Club for four years, lots of volunteer experience there
Piano lessons/classical pianist. However I'm not going to apply for the arts
Wrote for the newspaper for 4 years, this year am the Entertainment editor. Won an award for the writing
Member of a local "student task force" that puts on various shows and art-related activities for young people in my area.</p>

<p>My essays are relatively strong, and I'm a very independent, self-driven person. I'm applying to
Reed
UF
FSU- Already accepted, offered a 10,000 dollar merit scholarship upfront
UNC- Chapel Hill
Duke
NYU
and my ivy league school--Brown.
Chance me?</p>

2

<p>I think you’re more than qualified for most of those schools, and you’d would still have a fair chance for Brown or Duke. Best of luck!</p>

3

<p>Full of
[quoted ethnic slur deleted]
that don’t have to work, and whose parents harass guidance if their darlings get anything less than an A, rather than my mother who could care less THIS STATEMENT IS ENOUGH TO KEEP YOU OUT. YOU ARE A Moderator note: personal insult removed hereAND WILL COME ACROSS THAT WAY ON YOUR APPS</p>

4

<p>Oh and your class rank will keep you out. It shows that in a competitive environment you can not compete</p>

5

<p>The OP is obviously upset over how some students get to work less in school, and have a lot handed to them where he has to work extremely hard for whatever he gets. Unless you’re in his situation, please don’t judge him. I had a similar situation at my old school, where many parents would just call teachers and ask them to “recheck” their kids papers, they always ended up getting at least 10-20 points higher… Yes, you can complain, but it usually brings only trouble at some schools.</p>

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<p>Please return to the central topic raised by the OP.</p>

7

<p>I’d say you have some pretty decent chances at all of the schools except for Brown. They definitely take into account rough life circumstances, but that won’t make up for everything. Your test scores definitely show that you’re intelligent and probably capable of handling the workload. </p>

<p>Reed - safety
UF - safety
FSU- Already accepted, offered a 10,000 dollar merit scholarship upfront
UNC- Chapel Hill - match
Duke - low reach
NYU - match
and my ivy league school–Brown - reach</p>

8

<p>Reed is a safety for NO ONE. It’s a “fit” school where essay and interview are important. Your numbers indicate a fair match.</p>

9

<p>Your high school is full of #$@%&'s and you resent them. Do you want to experience an Ivy where the #$@%&'s are actually smarter and harder working than yourself? I really doubt that any public school can match the sheer rigor, intensity, and focus of the private schools that feed the Ivies.</p>

<p>Go to one of you great options, do well, and try for an Ivy graduate or professional school when you are more mature and certain of your intellectual prowess.</p>

<p>You are smart enough for Brown. You are near the median SAT for many of the Ivies.
Your academic record is problematic for places where people “related to buildings” are often (but not always) turned down because they did not work hard enough in prep school. </p>

<p>Do you want an education or do you want to beat people over the head with your Ivy acceptance/attendance? If you want to attend Brown for its academic excellence then more power to you.</p>

<p>God Bless you and help you.</p>

10

<p>I think you are a qualified candidate! You have braved a lot and dealt with stuff that few others can. Your essay should say this, and make sure you have no mistakes, and make perfect sense. That is all I will say.</p>

11

<p>Sorry, but having some problems in your life do not all offset the 3.4 UW GPA and only top 40% rank.</p>

<p>Reed–Slight Reach
UF–Match to Slight Reach (your chances are only this high because no one in your family went to college before)
FSU- Already accepted, offered a 10,000 dollar merit scholarship upfront
UNC- Chapel Hill–Slight Reach
Duke–Reach
NYU–possiblility here, but unlikely–Match to Slight Reach
Brown–Reach</p>

<p>P.S. I don’t understand at all how others can rate your chances so highly.</p>

12

<p>Some problems in my life?</p>

<p>An alcoholic abusive mother that would routinely drive me to tears and force me to take care of her dying father is more than a slight problem, lol.</p>

<p>And I know I’m in at UF, lol, there’s no way I wouldn’t get in with an SAT score that high.</p>

13

<p>I’m actually quite confident that the rigor of my education in on, or above, par of those private schools you hold in such high esteem.
In four years of education, I’ve had only one class–other than driver’s ed-- that was not “pre IB” (essentially honors), IB, or AP. There is no way that a non-IB private school student can remotely compete with that standard, especially when you take into account the college courses that I’ve taken over the summer (I didn’t mention them in the original post) and aced.</p>

<p>The problems with my GPA is a direct link to the depression that I had my sophomore and freshman years, when I had around a 3.0. First semester I pulled a 3.8, and with the weighting system makes that well over a 4.5.</p>

<p>It’s not that I couldn’t compete, I’m more than competent. It’s that I’m one of the only people I know that
a)has only one parent
b)actually had to hold a job</p>

14

<p>I feel bad for you, don’t get me wrong, but you do come off as a little arrogant. From they way you’re saying things, it sounds like you feel that no one else has as big, or bigger, problems than you. I would be shocked if the Ivy League schools didn’t get a bunch of bright students in bad home situations, so don’t act like it’s some crazy hook that’s better than URM+Legacy+a Building with your last name on it. Your scores and weighted GPA look great, but that rank will probably hurt you. Keep in mind that students from just as competitive schools in the top 10% will be applying too, so don’t use your school’s competitiveness as an excuse either.</p>

<p>Just a high school senior’s 2 cents.</p>

15

<p>

</p>

<p>No. UF doesn’t give a **** about your SAT scores if they don’t like you. A senior last year at my school was rejected with a 3.8 GPA and a 2200 SAT because, to reference my guidance counselor, they didn’t like his personality as conveyed by his essay. You better watch yourself. </p>

<p>Reed - low reach/high match
UF - high match
UNC- Chapel Hill - mid-reach
Duke - reach
NYU - low reach/high match
Brown - reach</p>

16

<p>Reed - In
UF - In
UNC- Chapel Hill - in I think
Duke - 50%?
NYU - should be in
Brown - 30%?</p>

17

<p>your class percentile is pretty low, especially for Brown, NYU, UNC, but your excellent test scores definitely compensate for this.</p>

<p>And don’t expect to be admitted because of family troubles. I went through a family tragedy and it didn’t help much in terms of admissions, particularly in the Ivies. However, I’m happily attending one of the other two schools above ;)</p>

18

<p>I want to make this quite clear: The purest of pity will not get you into college. </p>

<ol>
<li><p>I’m sorry for the difficulty of your life. But colleges don’t accept people based on how how well they would’ve done in perfect circumstances; rather how they DID.</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t be arrogant on this site. If you want an answer free of criticism/negative determinations, ask someone who knows you and loves you.We’re just trying to give you a real answer.</p></li>
<li><p>Colleges don’t want an SAT score. They want a person. this may be your downfall.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I’m sorry for the harshness, but I feel that you need it.</p>