Low GPA High Scores Chances--Will Chance Back!!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>So I have a really low GPA, but pretty good test scores and decent ECs. I am applying to a wide variety of schools (LOTS of high reach schools--just in case I get in by a miracle). I am worried that schools will see my GPA and my test scores and assume that I don't work hard in school, since I am obviously smart. I am hoping though that they will see that my GPA is low because I'm taking so many difficult classes. I am also worried about my class rank. I am only in the top 20% of my class, even though my SAT scores are in the top 1% for my school. This is because, since we're on a weighted scale, there are a lot of people who will get As in regular core classes and then get GPA boosts from Honors Art, Honors Earth Science, etc. Unfortunately, that doesn't show in my application or in my school's profile. And now I'm just rambling! Anyway, please let me know what you think!</p>

<p>"Safeties": Lehigh, Boston University, Case Western Reserve, Villanova (legacy)
Matches: Michigan, Notre Dame (legacy), Emory, Tufts (high match)
Reaches: WashU, Penn, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, Cornell (legacy), Yale (no chance, I know, but Mom wants me to apply anyway...), Vanderbilt, University of Virginia, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, MIT, CalTech</p>

<p>Half white/half asian from a Connecticut public school
applying as a chemical engineering major
school is very competetive (ranked 8th best high school in CT) last year, 10% of the graduating class went to Ivy League Schools, and about a quarter to top 30 ranked schools
GPA: 3.7 (but my grades from first quarter this year are very good (4.1 if they were semester grades)--if I maintain them through the semester, my cumulative GPA will go up to a 3.84)
AP Classes:
Junior Year
AP Calc AB (5)
AP Chem (5)
AP US (4)
Senior Year
AP Language and Comp.
AP Spanish
AP Statistics</p>

<p>Honors Classes:
Freshman Year
Honors Biology, Honors Algebra II, Accelerated English, Accelerated Spanish
Sophomore Year
Honors English, Honors Chemistry, Honors Precalculus, Honors Spanish
Junior Year
Honors American Literature, Honors Spanish
Senior Year
Honors Physics</p>

<p>Test Scores:
SAT I
Math: 770
CR: 720
Writing: 780
SAT II
Math 2: 740
Biology-M: 710
Chemistry: 780
ACT
33</p>

<p>Awards:
National Merit Commended Scholar (2011), Tri-M Music Honor Society (2010, 2011), Spanish Honor Society (2010, 2011), AP Scholar (2011), CTY Scholar (2007), Music for Youth Scholarship (2011), National Spanish Exam Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medals (2009, 2010, and 2011, respectively)</p>

<p>College Programs:
Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (2007)
Notre Dame Summer Scholars (2011)
Michigan Math and Science Scholars (2011)</p>

<p>Extra-Curriculars:
Odyssey of the Mind (20 hrs/wk): team founder, team captain (10, 11, 12), assistant coach to middle school team (9), participated grades 7-12
Darien Library Teen Advisory Board: secretary (9,10), vice president (11), president (12), basically we organize reading hours for kids, book drives, read-a-thons, etc. as well as plan events for teenagers to raise awareness about our new library
Debate Team (10-12)
Quidditch Team (11, 12)
Kids in Crisis Youth Corps (9-12): we organize events for children who are abused or underprivileged
St. Thomas More Youth Group (6-12): my church youth group--we help the elderly and/or underprivileged with a variety of weekly events
Tennis (7-12): I play on the JV team, as well as on the Solaris Tennis Academy team, and at USTA tournaments--about 12 hours per week
EMT training: 15 hours/wk--I am taking classes to get my EMT-B license
Babysit
volunteer at various animal hospitals and shelters</p>

<p>essays: I am a very good essay writer--all of my essays (so far) have been called creative, interesting, and intellectual</p>

<p>recs: my teacher recs are both fairly generic, though one is better than the other; my counselor rec I have not seen, but I assume it is very very good, since I have a close relationship with my GC; I also have a rec written by a mathematics professor at University of Michigan which is stellar</p>

<p>Any other questions just ask me--thanks so much!!</p>

2

<p>There are, unfortunately, no college miracles.</p>

<p>Coming from a good school, I’m surprised this list got past your counselor. </p>

<p>You will be wasting a lot of time on supplements for your reach schools while not giving adequate attention to your realistic reaches. What you call reaches I would call unrealistic reaches and what you call matches are reaches for you.</p>

<p>Take a look at the common data sets for your schools and look closely at the percent of students admitted who were not top 10%. when that
number is small (under 10% at Tufts for example) and it is for all of your matches not to mention reaches, those schools are tremendous reaches for you. And while your scores are excellent, an under 1500 M plus CR is not stand at your matches.</p>

<p>They not make exceptions because your classes were hard, they make exceptions for athletes and diversity candidates.</p>

<p>So talk to your counselor and take a hard look at where you should focus your efforts to get the best outcome.</p>

3

<p>Yes, I know that class rank is a huge problem for me. I think my GC approved my list just because of my school’s history. Usually, the top quarter of a class will go to top 30 schools, so I suppose she thinks that I stand a chance since I’m in that top quarter, at least. Last year, an unhooked student with a 3.4 weighted GPA went to Yale. In last year’s class, we had 3 go to Harvard, 5 to Yale, 4 to UPenn, 4 to Cornell, 3 to Columbia, 3 to Brown, 12 to Michigan, 1 to Tufts, 2 to Notre Dame, 3 to Dartmouth, 1 to WashU, 2 to Emory, 3 to Northwestern, 1 to Vanderbilt, 3 to Virginia, 1 to MIT, 2 to Johns Hopkins, and 1 to UNC-Chapel Hill. And if you add all that up, I believe that 54 students (from a smaller class than mine) went to those top schools.</p>

<p>So that’s why my GC approved my list, probably. At any rate, I am fully aware that I am overreaching, but, given my school’s history, are my goals 100% unrealistic? The way I’m thinking, if I even have a 1% chance of getting into a top school, I’m going to apply, since this might be my last chance to get into the very best school possible. Also, I don’t worry about the essays, because I’ve been working on my essays since last April, and so at this point, I only have one or two more schools to write for.</p>

<p>My GC is hoping that my well-roundedness will give me a slight “advantage” at MIT, since I won’t be applying there as an engineering major, while my “advantage” at Penn is my being a female engineer. At Cornell, I’ll be applying to Human Ecology (and I’m a legacy). For Johns Hopkins, also, I’m applying not as an engineering major, and I also did a JHU summer program. WashU I applied to ED, which is really my only advantage, other than coming from the east coast.
My EMT license (which I’ve already passed the test for, and just need to wait for my licensing) might also help me? I know most colleges treat EMTs differently because not only is it a strong EC, but they are valuable to college communities. I had classes for 15 hrs/week in addition to 12 hrs/week of hospital rotations. Right now, I am working at a hospital 25 hrs/week and will soon add 10 hrs/week of ambulance duty once I receive my license.</p>

<p>I realize that these “advantages” amount to almost nothing, but I guess I’m just trying to be optimistic at this point.</p>

<p>So after all of what may seem like my futile attempt to defend myself but really is just rambling…
basically what I’m asking is if I have even the smallest chance of getting into any of my “reach” schools (other than Yale, which I know I have no chance of getting into, but am applying to only in order to appease my mother).</p>

4

<p>Ginger, I spent many years as a college counselor at a school sending over 30% to ivies, another 30% to top LACs and the majority of the rest to top 30 schools. </p>

<p>We counselors get to know quite a bit, so I’m very surprised yours would encourage you to apply to ivies and their peers. One thing we know for sure is that colleges care A TON about their US News rankings. A significant part of the overall ranking is how many of their students were top 10%. So they make very few exceptions from sticking to students in the top 10% at top colleges. They need a quarterback and other key athletes, they have to take a few rich not so bright legacies, they have diversity candidates they need too.</p>

<p>So this is who they make the exceptions for, not affluent kids from top CT schools. And note: Penn has 2% that were not top 10%!!! Again, I’m SHOCKED your counselor would encourage you there. Further, I’m astounded she didn’t tell you that you would have needed to apply ED to Cornell to get any real legacy boost.</p>

<p>So of your reach schools, I’d say you have a chance at UVA and UNC. I understand you might need to try at some of them, but if i were your counselor I’d have encouraged you to put great effort into your match list.</p>

<p>And about the 3.4 who went to Yale, trust me, he had a hook. They’re not always apparent.</p>

5

<p>The only other matches I’ve really been able to find are GW, Wake Forest, Bucknell, and Connecticut College, none of which appeal to me at all. My mom (also a seasoned private college adviser) calls the 3.7 range “GPA hell” because there are tons of schools looking for 3.8+ students, and tons that will take in the 3.4-3.6 range. Any suggestions?</p>

<p>I also have an honest question–how did the all of the students at your school get into top colleges if those schools are only looking for top 10% students? Surely 90% of your students didn’t have huge hooks…did they?</p>

6

<p>Also–I applied ED to WashU. Was that a waste, or do you think I have even a little bit of a chance (not that it matters at this point)?</p>

7

<p>You’re into your safeties, and your matches are probably pretty good as well. I don’t think you should be disappointed with any of the matches. </p>

<p>WashU (they want east-coasters), Northwestern, Cornell, Hopkins, Vanderbilt, UVA, UNC- attainable/decent shot
Penn, Yale, MIT, CalTech- very unlikely (but don’t let that stop you!)</p>

<p>Unfortunately, your applicant pool is so competitive (CT), so you’re going to be at a disadvantage because of that. </p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1219836-chance-me-uchicago-columbia-yale-georgetown-more-will-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1219836-chance-me-uchicago-columbia-yale-georgetown-more-will-chance-back.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

8

<p>Youre saying Yale is hard to get into. What about MIT and Caltech… Caltech has an undergrad class of only about 1k students. You’d have to be 1/250ish each year. The salutatorian of my brother’s high school class with a GPA of 3.9 UW was defered from caltech and rejected MIT even though she got siemens semi finals and is from the #6 HS in new york, a much bigger educational system than CT.</p>

<p>Caltech and MIT look for students who have research or are going into engineering/science majors. You should not bother applying to those.</p>

<p>As for WashU, you have a chance. Your SAT’s are at the middle 50-75% but your class rank and GPA might hurt you a bit.</p>

<p>Coming from an outstanding high school in NY, which is way larger than the educational system in CT, i know that just being in a school doesnt change much towards ivies if youre not in the top 10% of the class</p>

9

<p>I worked at one of the very top high schools in the country. The necessities to get in are very similar to that of an ivy-top grades, high SSAT, great recs, interviews, etc. The resulting student body is ivyesque. The school also didn’t rank which let the colleges go deeper into the ranks without hurting their rankings. But the key, even after all of that, is that schools like that are chock full of hooked students. We had lots of recruited athletes, top URMs and legacies.</p>

10

<p>I was accepted to both Deerfield and Exeter. Is your school comparable to one of those?</p>

<p>At any rate, in case any of you are curious, I got into WashU ED and can’t wait to go in the fall. I was also accepted to Notre Dame, Michigan engineering, Virginia (oos), Chapel Hill (oos), case western, villanova, and, though I applied last minute without a hope of getting in, UChicago. No deferrals and no rejections.</p>

<p>Thanks for chancing me, guys.</p>

11

<p>Was this a weighted 3.7?</p>

12

<p>And congratulations on our acceptances. I’m not surprised. I was shocked at how harsh everyone was being.</p>