Mixed grades, confused chances. Yale, NYU, UC's, etc.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I am definitely not one of the cliche CC overachieving students looking to reassure myself. I am legitimately unsure because of how extenuating circumstances and the amount of extracurriculars and jobs which I have. </p>

<p>Class of 2010
Female - Russian & Mongolian
Location: San Francisco, CA
School: Well-known art based high school which is audition based. I major in Visual Art (painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, etc.) </p>

<p>Freshman Year GPA: 3.83
Sophmore GPA** this is the confusing year**: In december my doctors found an ovarian cyst after I had some stomach pain. A week later it burst and ruptured some inner-lining, obviously had to have surgery. I was out of school, because of pain and recovery, for a month. I did as much schoolwork as possible and had the choice to either get a C is most of my classes or retake the year- I chose the first. So by the second semester most of my classes were B's and I had one C because I was still in and out of school regularly.
Junior GPA: UW 4.0
Senior GPA: First Quarter is UW 4.0</p>

<p>AP's: (Junior year)Art History, APES, APUSH
(Currently) English Lit, Euro, Psych. Studio Art
(honors taken Sophomore year but I doubt that would count due to middling grades)</p>

<p>SAT: Math 650
Reading 720
Writing 700</p>

<p>SAT2: US History 700, French 680
APs: Art history=5, APES=4, APUSH=5</p>

<p>ACTUAL JOBS!:
-SFMOMA (Museum of Modern Art) Internship (working with art restoration specialists curator) during Junior year
-SF Chronicle Junior-Now
-Nordstrom Junior - Now </p>

<p>EC's
- Mock Trial, JSA, Volunteer art teacher for Pediatric dept. in hospital, Abroad volunteer work with my church group in Kenya. 3 hours EVERYDAY of straight of studio art, I also take outside classes on Wednesday and Saturdays. It is REQUIRED at my school to have a minimum of at least 2 hours everyday of in class studio art but because it is AP it is usually around 3 hours. </p>

<p>I intend to double major in Art and Psychology or Art History/Art & Psychology depending on what program's the college offers. My main choice is Brown because they offer an amazing double degree program with RISDI (one of the top art schools) which allows me to go to both schools and get a degree within 5 years in both subjects. </p>

<p>I have great recommendations and an extremely strong portfolio which, obviously, I have been building since freshman year.</p>

<p>Schools (reaches!) I may apply to: (all have great art department and I could submit a visual art portfolio.)
Yale
NYU
Stanford
UCLA
UC Berkeley
Brown
Columbia</p>

2

<p>Yale: forget it pal
NYU: pretty much in; i can’t imagine you being rejected
Stanford: like i said on yale forget it
UCLA: match/low reach
UC Berkeley: reach
Brown: reach
Columbia: reach</p>

<p>dude, those ECs are pretty bad, and your test scores are far from stellar.</p>

3

<p>I don’t think you should necessarily rule out Yale and Stanford if you’re really interested in those schools. You’re talented and you’ve had some unique experiences - plus there’s no harm in going for it. It’s a crapshoot even for “perfect” kids. :)</p>

4

<p>yale and stanford are a toss up as always. my school didnt even get a yale or stanford admit this year and we had a VERY TALENTED AND SMART class.</p>

<p>your stats are very similar to mine, numbers wise at least. You have a shot, at the rest, I believe most colleges would overlook grades etc seeing as you endured some medical difficulties. its not your fault you had a stressful time during your high school years. just prepare a good application and hope for the best. :)</p>

<p>good luck!</p>

5

<p>dude, don’t listen to all those people saying you have no shot at yale or stanford.</p>

<p>Yale: you might as well try! writing good essays might get you in!
NYU: great school, you have a pretty decent shot here. however, you need SAT subj. tests
Stanford: same as yale</p>

<p>and the rest…just apply! you are a fantastic candidate (in my opinion) and i think you could write really good essays that will make the adcoms stop and think and give you a fighting chance.</p>

<p>good luck! =)</p>

6

<p>I think that you should try for Yale because you do have unique ECs, and you should never wonder what if? That being said, I would use the adage hope for the best, expect the worst</p>

<p>Your grades are great, SATs are low. Charlie is right, write an amazing essay and that could ease the fears of the admissions to take a chance on you.</p>

<p>Good luck</p>

7

<p>Thank’s guys, I understand what you’re saying. </p>

<p>As far as EC’s go, I’m sure I could have included frivolous volunteer and community service work which means nothing to me, nor has shaped me as a person, as well as including every sport I dabbled in since the 9th grade which that has nothing to do with my art focus, or even mentioned that I was the student body “secretary”. However, I am on the Mock Trial team which went the farthest any public school in S.F has last year and received honorable mention in the Chronicle for one of my debates. </p>

<p>The only reason why I mentioned Yale/Stanford is because they have great art programs and love my school.</p>

8

<p>One of my majors at UCB is Art History. I deal a lot with some of the Studio Art/Fine Art majors here because we all intern at galleries together in Berkeley. First and foremost, I commend you for applying for Art History (and not just because I am in the program :slight_smile: ) </p>

<p>Now, UCB does not formally accept portfolios because, unlike a school such as NYU, there is no department which just specializes in the arts such as Steinhardt or Tisch. However, if you can arrange a meeting with one of the art residence or professors in the field to either show your portfolio or just send some slides I think you can only aid your endeavor. I would not completely rule out Berkeley because of your SAT. I’ve seen students with both much lower and higher. It all depends on how you can write because the essay is huge so don’t linger on writing it. I think UCLA is more of a match because their art department is a bit stronger. As far as NYU, I know that your application is weighed on two ways: how strong you are academically and how strong your are artistically. The formal app. is sent to the admissions officer for your area and the portfolio is reviewed by the art dep. If your SAT’s are somewhat low but your portfolio is outstanding you have a greater chance of getting in. Especially because of your art background, I think they will be far more lenient on you than any other student coming from a school without formal art lessons.</p>