Low Sat+High GPA please help me consider my options!!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Ok, i am a chinese girl in suburbia california and im fustrated because my SAT scores are low and i am in a highly concentrated asian school (therefore its competetive) People in my school range about 1600-2380, those that are actively trying for college</p>

<p>But this is my transcript and record so far so bear with me here</p>

<p>GPA: 4.0 unweighted ( i have no clue what it is weighted)
Class rank: 1/512 </p>

<p>Freshmen year classes took:
Bio H
Chinese I
English I CP
Geometry
World History/MUN H
Athletics/ JVSoccer</p>

<p>Sophmore:
Chem H
Chinese II
English II H
Alg2/trig H
MUN/Modern History
Athletics/JVSoccer+Frosh/soph (JV) cross country</p>

<p>Junior
AP BIO
Chinese III
AP English Lang
Math Anal/Calc A H
MUN/AP USH
Contemporary Media (my fine art class)
Athletics/JVSoccer+Vcrosscountry+V track</p>

<p>Senior year: AP Chem, Chinese IV, AP Lit, AP Calc BC, MUN/AP comp government, and Civics/Econ CP, with seventh period athletics</p>

<p>ok heres the rest my extracurriculars+test scores</p>

<p>Extra Curriculars
Red Cross Club Treasurer (2 years), Vice president (1 year)
Common Ground Rep (1 year)
NHS President (1 year)
Varsity Cross Country 2 years
JV soccer 3 years
Varsity Soccer 1 year (this senior year)
Varsity track (1 or 2 years, i havent considered if i should senior year)
Dragonboat Team (2 years)
Hospital Volunteering-70ish or 80ish hours</p>

<p>WorK experience (well i know this wont do anything, but this is where my time went too)
Tapioca Express 2004-2006
Disneyland: summer 06
Bio tutoring</p>

<p>Now the part i hate...</p>

<p>SAT I - 1870 (CR:580, Math:660, W:630) very crappy for my everything else.
SATII: USH: 700 M2C:720 BIO E: 670
AP Scores: Bio-5 US-5 Eng-4</p>

<p>This is what im looking into:
UCB, UCLA, USC, UCI, UCSD, Stanford, Washington University in St. Louis (their med program), Cornell, Cal Tech, UCR/UCLA med program, and any chances for any ivy leage? </p>

<p>im just looking into it.. i want to know chances with such a high GPA, and what i feel is great extracurriculars, and mostly good test scores except SATS (which i could go on FOREVER about how i hate them)</p>

<p>Stanford, UCLA, UCI, UCB are my top choices (in order)</p>

<p>Im doing early decision for Stanford, do i even have a chance?</p>

<p>Will having an interview help me acheive admission into schools?</p>

<p>Does where i go to undergrad even MATTER because i am going to grad school, and i care about getting into grad school more.</p>

<p>Im looking to major in biology, i dont know what happened to my bio sat2 im usually really good, i think i didnt prepare well enough..</p>

<p>but im looking to become an optometrist or a doctor..
I want to know chances, i worked so hard in high school and i feel like my SATs are too crappy that its pulling down all my hard work.. </p>

<p>please please please, email or get back to me PLEASE. Thank you for reading those WHOLE THING!!</p>

2

<p>i guess i dont know, i post this alot, and i get a few responses, but it feels so inaccurate cause theyre telling UCSD is a reach and most of the people that i know that got into UCSD class of 2006 had worse stats than mine, except for the SAT, but it wasnt SIGNIFICANTLY better..</p>

<p>anyone know the UC systems equation??</p>

3

<p>You're in for all of the UC's. I know plenty who have lower gpa and lower sat's (by 100-120) and still got into la/b. Raise those sat's to 2000 if you can if you want to aim for other schools.</p>

4

<p>Its hard to say whether the SATs will kill you or not. From the outside looking in, it may appear that your GPA is inflated by your school or that you are simply a hardworker. I'm not saying this is the case, just that it may appear that way.</p>

<p>I feel that undergrad does matter even if you go to grad school. If nothing else, going to a good school makes it easier to get into a good grad school. You don't have to be perfect at Stanford, but you may have to have near perfect grades at a no name school to get into the top grad schools.</p>

<p>See if you can raise your SAT score, as having scores in the low 600s/500s raises a big red flag. If you can't, think about how you can explain the poor standardized test score through an essay or interview.</p>

5

<p>i am a hardworker, and my grades are not inflated by my school, at least i dont think so, i worked so hard for everything i have, so much harder than all the other kids obviously thats why my SAT sucks so much, i keep falling for their tricks however much i study, im just one of those kids that cant do it.</p>

6

<p>Tinaaw,
My D was in a similar situation as yours. 4.75 weighted gpa, 3.9 unweighted, toughest classes, ranked 4/487 and she did not get into Stanford early action. I do feel it was because of her SAT scores being so low. She had stellar extra curriculars and even had a Harvard interviewer say she was a shoe-in (for Harvard of course.) She did not get into Harvard either. Good news for her is she got into both UCLA, and CAL as well as USC. She is happily going to attend USC. She is a hard worker as I am sure you are. I can't predict the outcome for you; but I can tell you she is ecstatic with the choices she was given and got over the Stanford rejection thingy very quickly (knew it was their loss and not hers.) Just keep working hard and if you want to raise those scores, get some study guides. Good luck!</p>

7

<p>tinaaaw:</p>

<p>UCB/UCLA: Match
UCSD: Safe Match
UCI: Safety</p>

8

<p>have you tried the ACT? if you are smart, but just cant seem to do the SAT the ACT is perfect for you (i think, i havnt looked at it much though).</p>

9

<p>OP: You can't do early decision at Stanford by the way.</p>

<p>Stanford, CalTech, WashU, and Cornell are all big reaches.</p>

<p>Your SAT scores are lowish for Cal and UCLA, but you still have a good shot at both. Other UCs shouldn't be too hard for you.</p>

10

<p>You are a least a 4.2 UC GPA based upon your posting, and your SATs are only around 150 to 180 points below the SAT averages for UC Berkeley and UCLA. Your ECs are good, but not outstanding.</p>

<p>I agree that you need to take the ACT--you obviously can't take the SAT Is well compared to your hard work ethic. But then your SAT IIs are stellar for the UCs, so like flopsy said, you should be a match for UC Berkeley and UCLA anyway (you may not get into both, but you will get into one or the other in my opinion). You will also get into UCSD and UCI.</p>

<p>Your chances at CalTech and Stanford are poor with the SATs, and only fair without them. I wouldn't count on acceptances at these schools coming through.</p>

<p>WUSL and Cornell are another story. You have chances at these--especially WUSL, though I don't know about their med program (obviously you mean pre-med--which usually means going into the biology major--nobody but nobody is accepted to medical school without first taking college courses in the sciences--check out their page on pre-medical advising here).
<a href="http://admissions.wustl.edu/admissions/ua.nsf/3rd%20Level%20Pages_Academics_Academic%20Sheets_PreMed.htm?OpenPage&charset=iso-8859-1%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://admissions.wustl.edu/admissions/ua.nsf/3rd%20Level%20Pages_Academics_Academic%20Sheets_PreMed.htm?OpenPage&charset=iso-8859-1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Cornell is a bit of a reach, but look--only one of your SAT Is is really poor--meaning your AI (academic index) is around 213. Cutoff for acceptances at Cornell were at around 211 to 215 last year--so even with the poor CR score you still have a shot. Just go take the ACT and get a good score, then you have a really good chance here.</p>

<p>USC is a match.</p>

<p>UCR is a safety for you (like I said, pre-med is just taking a regular major in the sciences--then you re-apply for the medical program--you don't get accepted into any medical school as a freshman).</p>

11

<p>The fact you're a Valedictorian should get you into most UC's. You should be alright for UCSD, but I think you can aim higher.</p>

<p>Big suggestion: try the ACT. Sometimes, people do a lot better on that...if you can get a 31 or higher on it, you'll be in at UCB and UCLA, and private schools will consider you much more.</p>

<p>I'd then retake the SAT Reasoning on October test date (as some schools do prefer to see SATs and ACTs that match) and try the SATII's one last time on the November date. That will put you ready to apply just before the UC deadline, and will give you plenty of time to get apps done for a bunch of privates.</p>

12

<p>wow, thank you everyone for responding! but im seriously just thinking about kicking it and going to uci.... how about how much does it matter to go to a good undergrad? cause im more worried about graduate school.</p>

13

<p>do early decision only if you can get your SAT up by the time you apply. If not, give yourself a few more months to study and another try at it and apply as regular review. The acceptance rate is higher for early decisions according to stanford is because the pile of applicants for early decision is more qualified not because they applied earlier. Don't think of just going to uci, and be whatever with everything else at this point. You still have time to retake the sat, but most importantly you don't want to regret settling for uci without honestly giving the other schools on your list a try. Even if you do choose uci in the end, it's nice to keep your options open.</p>