Meh GPA-High ACT: Chances for Tulane, GWU, Pepperdine, Trinity (plus some longshots)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey all, as the title suggests, I’m writing to ask about my chances for colleges despite my rough performance in the first year of high school. Before I start listing stats, here are the schools I’m applying to:

Reach/Dream:

Notre Dame (very very very reach)
William and Mary
Tulane (legacy)

Match(?):

George Washington University
Pepperdine University
Trinity College
Fordham University

Safety:

LSU
University of Alabama

Without further ado,

------Stats:

ACT: 33 (36e/30m/36r/29s) will take one more time

PSAT: 1490/1520 (NMSC Index is 224)

GPA (buckle up): 3.3 unweighted, 4.29 weighted (all honors/ap classes, one 8th grade C) (STRONG upward trend, 3.75 last semester and probably a 4.0 this semester)

APs: US Gov’t (4), European History (3, retaking), US History (pending, this year), World History (pending, next year), Psychology (pending, this year), English Literature (pending, next year)

Class Rank: Top 35% percent, class of 117, magnet public school

-------Extracurriculars (I’m told CommonApp lets you put 7, so here are the top 7)

  1. National History Bee and Bowl (since sophomore year, President and Founder [competitive statewide, maybe nationally this year])
  2. Mock Trial (since freshman year, President [competitive regionally])
  3. Student Ministry (since freshman year, President)
  4. Marching Band (since freshman year, Section Leader) <-would it be better to put symphonic band here? Same position
  5. Model UN/Youth Legislature (since sophomore year, awarded one of four "outstanding delegate" titles statewide)
  6. Varsity Cross Country (since freshman year)
  7. Quiz Bowl (since this year, hopefully nationally competitive?)

alt. Chess Team (since last year, will put in if we win state this year)

-------Work

  1. Maintenance at the building where my dad works. It was kind of a natural progression because I had always went with him to work at nights. Now I take more of the workload while he can focus on other things.
  2. I'm a party pianist. My parents tried to get me to play classical when I was younger, but then I discovered the wonders of music written within the last hundred years. We came to something of a compromise and now I play Billy Joel, Hall and Oates, et al. at parties where the demographic is old enough to appreciate it.
  3. Phone banked for a (somewhat almost sort of) successful 2016 presidential candidate
  4. Campaigned for one of my state's senators
  5. For most of last year, I was a contributor to a small news website where I could publish my writing with very little editing on their end. After school got rough and I couldn't keep up with their requirements, I started blogging under a pen name with some friends. It's actually unpaid at the moment but it's a) sharpened my writing skills and b) opened up an opportunity for ad revenue later?

-------Honors/Awards

Selected to attend a debate conference over the summer with 24 other in-state applicants out of a large selection pool

Awarded “outstanding delegate” title at statewide Youth Legislature conference

“Best in State,” Verizon Innovative Learning App Challenge

Recipient of 2016 NOAA “Taking the Pulse of the Planet” Award (regional)

Guest Speaker at local Kiwanis group on behalf of school (I thought it was really honorable, and I got free food)

-------Recs/Essays

My essays should be fine, since I've had a lot of practice writing. I think my recs will be solid as well (somehow, my teachers somewhat like me).

Thanks for getting this far! Any suggestions help (be they school recommendations, or things to focus on in the next year and a half).

2

bump? Is it okay to do this? Are there rules against it?

also bump

edits were for spelling/grammar

3

Ayyeee act up to a 34 (state mandated one)

4

No doubt you will get in LSU and U Alabama with a big fat merit scholarship. I would recommend you to apply for honors college because it’s an easy process and honors college will give you many interesting opportunities.

Fordham and pepperdine should be a good shot, but are you religious enough? Pepperdine is very religious(Christian school) and IIRC requires you to attend a mass. If you are not devoted enough you might want to reconsider. For GWU, your unweighted GPA is worrisome but your upper trend may compensate for that. I dont know much about Trinity College.

As for your reaches, your ECs and award are little all over the place, though it looks like you are interested in politics. Your ACT is fine, but retaking wont necessarily hurt. ND will def. be a reach. I can’t speak for W&M and Tulane because I am not familiar with them.

Good luck!

5

Thank you for reading! I plan to concentrate the ECs on my applications to just the politics/debate ones, but I can’t get over chess; I’ve really come to love it lol (we’ll see what happens at state!). I’m fine with the religious environment, although assuming I hit gold and get into a school like Notre Dame, I’m not sure whether the Roman Catholic ethos is so strong that it would affect a Protestant student. Either way, I’m fine with having my views challenged. One of my good friends is actually starting seminary to become a priest after he graduates this year. Thanks again for the input.

6

Notre Dame isn’t super religious, so I think you will be just fine. I know a few non-Christian high school friends who went there and are happy.

Before anything, though, how much can you parents pay? Every year there are students who are heartbroken because they cannot afford to go to school they are accepted to. You need to discuss with your parents to see how much they can support you without breaking their bank accounts.

Good luck. And know that no school is worth getting 120k+ debt.

7

You’re right. I’ll crunch some financial aid numbers and whittle down my list accordingly.

8

You have great credentials. Your ECs are excellent and your standardized test scores put you right in the middle of the pack at Notre Dame, Tulane and William and Mary. For Tulane, the legacy factor will help you. Just remember to demonstrate interest. Also for Tulane, talking about your interest in community service in New Orleans as well as any interest you might have in undergraduate research will boost your case as well. Tulane has really been emphasizing undergraduate research as part of the student experience in recent years. Finally, play up the international focus and the Model UN. Language and area studies are big at Tulane as well, both as historically strong departments and because they are consistent with the interdisciplinary approach that is heavily encouraged by the current Tulane administration. Best of luck to you!