Needing some chan-ce!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Well, first off I'll put down what my transcript looks like so far:</p>

<p>Algebra I Honors: A
Health I/Life Management Skills: B
Language Arts Transfer: C
Personal Fitness: A
Individual and Dual Sports: B
Team Sports I: A
Business Systems and Technology: A
Art Transfer: A
Spanish Speaker I: A
English I: A
Algebra II Honors: A
Phys. Ed. Transfer: B
Biology I: A
Physical Sciences: B
World Culture Geography: A
Spanish Speaker II: B
English II: A
Geometry Honors: A
Biology II: A
Chemistry I: A
Physics I: A
World History: A</p>

<p>AP US History: B
American Gov't Honors: A
AP Chemistry: B
Pre-Calculus: A
AP Eng. Language: A
Economics Honors: A
Driver's Ed Class/Lab: A</p>

<p>GPA: 3.7381
HPA: 4.6428
Top 5% of Class (427 students)
Awards/EC:
- Outstanding Economics Honors Student (I took econ as a junior, usually awarded to seniors as it's a senior class - teacher made an exception as I was the best econ student she ever had)</p>

<ul>
<li>Founder and administrator of popular tech website, <a href="http://www.aeroxp.org%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.aeroxp.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li>
</ul>

<p>SAT
CR: 630
M: 570
W: 590 , Essay 7</p>

<p>Recs: I can get some pretty outstanding reccomendations, in the 1 semester I've been at my school, all my teachers pretty much love me. My econ teacher retired and said I was the best student she ever had. Awesome relationship with my counselor, too.</p>

<p>Now, there are a few factors to this. I did poorly on the SATs, and am still going to take the subjects as I didn't feel ready for them. I was abroad in Brazil for 4 years, so I had some transfer credits that ended up messed up but this was the best my counselor could do for me. Everything before AP US History was transferred credits, and the courses under it are what I took this year. I am going to be a senior starting in August, and this is what my curriculum is looking like so far:</p>

<p>Semester 1:
AP US History
AP Eng Language
AP Eng Literature
AP Environmental Sciences
AP Calculus AB
AP Psychology</p>

<p>Semester 2:
(Dual Enrollment) Statistics I
(Dual Enrollment) Microeconomics
AP Eng Literature
AP Environmental Sciences
AP Calculus AB
AP Psychology</p>

<p>Now, my first semester has English and US History again because I only did one semester of Junior year since I was in Brazil until January this year, hence I need the full credit.</p>

<p>Now, I am going to re-take the SATs. I hope to take my scores up to at least 700 on each section, and I'm hoping to take the Math II/Lit/US Hist subject tests and get at least a 700 in each of those, too.</p>

<p>My ECs and awards are not really up there because I had no chance of getting them - in the Brazilian school system there is no such thing as awards or EC opportunities, I've only been in the U.S. for high school this last junior semester and one semester of freshman year. My traveling kind of got in the way of my school curriculum, unfortunately I couldn't to much about it.</p>

<p>I'd like to know my chances for Business Schools, more specifically I'd like to major in International Business. I'm looking for maybe a carreer in i-banking or management involving multi-nationals, but I'm open to wherever my carreer takes me in the business world. A few schools that interest me:</p>

<ul>
<li>U. South Carolina (apparently was rated the best int'l business program)</li>
<li>Georgetown (don't know how their business program works)</li>
<li>Columbia (for econ) </li>
<li>NYU</li>
<li>UCLA</li>
<li>U. of Miami</li>
</ul>

<p>I'm not really sure where else to look for unis. Anyone have any suggestions of what kind of unis I should be looking at? Maybe some good safeties? I'm a first generation college student, and come from a pretty low income household (< 20k/year). I'm an American born citizen but my parents were naturally born Brazilian and are now naturalized Americans.</p>

2

<p>Buumpy (was on the second page :/)</p>

3

<p>Columbia and Georgetown are huge reaches those SAT scores. Georgetown especially if you're apply to SFS.</p>

<p>Your SAT scores also make merit aid at UMiami a near impossibility, which could be a concern because oos tuition is very high.</p>

<p>NYU is also a reach.</p>

4

<p>what ses said.</p>

5

<p>Well I plan on bringing up my scores significantly, to at least a 2100 total. Also, for UMiami I'm in-state. I live in Florida =) I appreciate the help but I explain my background a bit more further down, and the fact I plan on improving my scores. I'd like to know in the context of better scores.</p>

6

<p>Unfortunately, your excuses, though I'm sure legitimate, are not going to excuse your scores at schools like Columbia and Georgetown, who see applications from kids ESL kids and others in situations that challenged them but that have managed to succeed.</p>

7

<p>
[quote]
Unfortunately, your excuses, though I'm sure legitimate, are not going to excuse your scores at schools like Columbia and Georgetown, who see applications from kids ESL kids and others in situations that challenged them but that have managed to succeed.

[/quote]

I realize my SAT scores are low. I'm not using my learning outside the country as an excuse, instead I'm saying I'm going to retake them and get much better scores. </p>

<p>The only contextualization I use my foreign study for is the fact that Brazilian schools DO NOT offer AP, they DO NOT offer honors, they DO NOT have ANY extra-curricular activities available. There is no such thing in the Brazilian school system, which I spent most of my secondary school life in. There you take the classes everyone else takes, and get grades.</p>

<p>My ONLY "C" is because I spent one semester (second) of my Freshman year at a U.S. High school, and in one of my nine-week grades I got an F as I got in only a week before the nine weeks was over, the teacher gave me a test, which I aced, but since I didn't have the other work and wasn't given the chance to make it up, hence I was given an F for the nine-weeks. I got an A the second nine weeks, but it still boiled down to a 0 + 4 / 2 = C. </p>

<p>I think my background is only important because I didn't have access to the same classes, activities, and ec's that students in the American school system have. Unless, ofcourse, I could pay a $24,000/year tuition for an American International School, which I couldn't.</p>

8

<p>I'm not criticizing your lack of APs, ECs, or honors courses. </p>

<p>I am simply noting that a realistically, a score jump from 1790 to 2100+ is a little unlikely. Columbia and Georgetown are reaches for the vast majority of kids, even kids with SAT scores significantly higher than yours.</p>

<p>Your achievements in your US school are incredible. You've done very well, gotten excellent grades (aside from the one C) and are ranked very well.</p>

<p>The SAT score, which is independent of how many ECs you do or whether or not you were given time to make up work for a class, is the problem.</p>

<p>Best of luck with raising your scores.</p>

9

<p>ses -
Sorry I guess I overreacted. Anyhow, I think I can make the jump. I've been prepping all summer and taking 'em in october, hopefully I can make the cut for atleast 2100 =).</p>

<p>Anyhow, I understand the SAT scores. Realistically, if I'm only able to get my scores up to 1900-ish, what good undergrad b-schools can I be looking at? I always had pretty high aspirations, but as application time gets closer and closer, I guess I have to face reality.</p>

<p>Any opinions/suggestions are appreciated =)</p>

10

<p>Bump, I'd really like a few more opinions and some suggestions =)</p>

11

<p>Bump one more time I guess :/</p>

12

<p>last bump! (10char)</p>