Low GPA, high test scores, chances at UofM, Texas Austin, and Illinois UC?

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>Hi everyone I'm new to the forum. I'm just really worried about my chances so I wondered what some other people think.</p>

<p>I am a junior right now. I have a GPA of 3.4UW but it will be about 3.5 at the least (hopefully 3.6) after this year. I'm in all IB classes except for a required nutrition class and pre-calc(it's a senior course at my school, I'm just not in honors or IB)</p>

<p>Next year I will be in </p>

<p>-IB Physics 2 (HL)
-IB Math Studies/Intro to Calculus, Calculus IB or AP calculus (pending teacher recommendation)
-AP Euro History
-AP English Lit
-Spanish 4 IB (SL)
-Engineering and Design
-a required finance class
-and I might take AP psychology</p>

<p>I will be taking both the ACT and the SAT this spring, but I don't have any test scores now. I scored an 1850 on the PSATs (93rd percentile), but I honestly did not study so that I could get an idea of what I need to study for the SATs and ACTs. I do expect to get high test scores but I am not taking anything for granted right now.</p>

<p>For extra curriculars I have:</p>

<p>-NHS
-jazz band guitarist (3 years so far and probably senior year)
-2 seasons of sports for all 3 years so far (if it matters)
-Music Columnist for school paper
-various service projects (40 to 50+ hours)
-Kiwanis Club</p>

<p>-I'm joining Robotics next year, but I was too late to join this year.</p>

<p>I want to major in electrical engineering and I've been looking at schools like UofM, Texas-Austin, Illinois Urbana Champaign, and Purdue. I consider all of the previously mentioned schools to be reaches, and I'm going to apply but I don't think I'll get into any of them. I'm also looking at some other schools like MSU, and UMass Amherst as safety schools. I am in NH so I'd be out of state in all of the schools listed.</p>

<p>A few other things that might be taken into consideration:</p>

<p>-I might be a legacy at Michigan (my grandparents went there)
-I moved at the end of my freshman year, my new school is extremely difficult and it's been detrimental to my GPA, adjusting to a new state and school during my sophmore year was hard on my grades, I plan to include this in my essay in some way.
-I used to live in Michigan, and though I wouldn't be in state, would being from Michigan do anything for my application there?
-I know that many people will say this about their schools, but my high school is extremely difficult. High test scores with a low GPA is a common problem among seniors this year.
-Also my school is very new, the class of 2010 will be the first class to graduate (and of course the first class applying to college). I am worried that colleges will not see the difficulty of this school because it is so new.</p>

<p>I am pretty realistic about things, and I know it doesn't look too good. I am trying desperately to get my GPA up. Any feedback is appreciated.</p>

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<p>I’ll chance back!!</p>

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<p>gpa isn’t that low and test scores aren’t that high…</p>

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<p>Thanks for the reply. I appreciate it. </p>

<p>The only test score listed is my PSAT score, and as I said, I purposely did not study to see what I needed to work on. I literally walked in without studying a single minute. I should have attempted to make National Merit Scholar, but I did not know about it because I did not even read through any of the prep materials that were given to me. :P</p>

<p>I talked with my guidance counselor about my scores, and based on that and my previous standardized test scores, she predicted I will get about a 31 on my ACTs and a 2100 on my SATs. Those numbers don’t mean anything to me though, because I have not taken either test yet. I cannot base everything on that prediction, all I can say is that I will get a high score on both tests, I hope this is understood.</p>

<p>-I also just joined a humanitarian service group at my school</p>

<p>I’ve also been looking at Penn State</p>

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<p>I’d also like to add that I don’t think my PSAT score is an indicator of what I will get on the SAT. I was very dissapointed with my score,however I can’t complain since I did not prepare, and therefore I wasn’t very surpsrised. I also plan to take the ACT. I took the ACT as a 7th grader and recieved a composite score of 25. I feel that I can do well on the ACT since I have had 4 more years to prepare.</p>