New here. Chance? Will try to chance back.

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>New here and interested in what anybody has to say.</p>

<p>Current junior, with senior year approaching, definitely worried about prospective schools.</p>

<p>GPA: Unweighted: 3.7, Weighted: 4.6
SAT: 2080
ACT: 32
(plan on bringing both of those up to a 2150+ and 33+ respectively)</p>

<p>Academic Achievements:</p>

<p>IB Diploma Candidate
AP Scholar (with distinction), have taken 4 exams, with three one 3 (World History ugh) and three 5's (Psych, Lit, Human Geo).
Honor Roll
President's Award
Foreign Language Fair Spanish Blue Ribbon (3), Visual, Oral, Written
National Honor Society
Spanish National Honor Society
Rho Kappa Social Studies National Honor Society
Hamilton Award Winner
Questbridge prep scholar
Nordstrom Finalist, Winner TBD
County 2nd place academic games</p>

<p>EC's:
4-year varsity Cross Country, 2 years captain
7 years of competitive/travel soccer, 4 years captain
People to People International, 4 years; 2 years secretary, 1 year president
Habitat for Humanity, 3 years; 1 year build day coordinator, 1 year treasurer
DECA, 2 years; 1 year secretary, 1 year president
Academic Games, 2 years; 1 year treasurer, 1 year secretary
Congressional Youth Cabinet Member, 1 year (with the congressman and everything)
Key Club, 2 years
Relay For Life, 2 years; 1 year captain</p>

<p>Community Service: Approx 200 hours total so far
1 summer spent volunteering in rural China
People to People
Habitat for Humanity
Weekly tutoring</p>

<p>Work:
2 years interning with the top real estate company. Moved up the ranks to full-time marketing assistant.</p>

<p>Colleges I'm interested in:
UCLA
Berkeley
UNC
UVA
Northwestern
Duke
Georgetown
Cornell
Brown
UPenn
Dartmouth
Williams
Amherst</p>

<p>(Of course I'd like to say Harvard, Yale, and the works, but those are just unrealistic for me, I think.)</p>

<p>Anything I can work on? Seeing as I have very limited time, I can't really change much, but still...</p>

<p>Thanks all :)</p>

2

<p>I may sound harsh in this response, but I just want to help you out. Please, don’t take it the wrong way!</p>

<p>From what I can see, you’re better at the ACT. Forget about the SAT, and take the ACT. A 33 is equivalent to about a 2220 on the SAT, which is just right. I’d aim for either a 33 or 34 to solidify your application.</p>

<p>I would take 2 subject tests in areas you’re comfortable with. Don’t stress too much about them. I’d aim for 750 on both of them for the schools you’ve mentioned!</p>

<p>Your GPA is a bit disconcerting. A few questions I have:

  1. Does your school differentiate between A and A-, and is that reflected in your GPA? (meaning, does A=4 and A-= 3.77 @ your school?)
  2. How many B’s have you received? Were they B+, B-, or B’s? Were they in AP classes? What grade were you in at the time?
    As a number, that GPA is low. However, if you answer these questions, I may be able to gauge how much of an issue this will be.</p>

<p>Your athletic involvement is wonderful. Being captain is even more of a perk! Your involvement in both community service and academic societies/organizations shows that you’re a fairly well-rounded person. I can even get a sense of the type of individual you are from these activities.
HOWEVER, there is nothing that stands out to me. Doing Relay for Life for 24 hours each year doesn’t really count as an activity. It’s a great thing to do, but it won’t differentiate you. Still, your activities are relatively solid.</p>

<p>What does stand out, however, is your internship. CAPITALIZE ON THAT. That will make a difference. </p>

<p>Once you answer the questions about the GPA, I can chance you! Also, are you a URM, white, asian, pacific islander, etc.?</p>

3

<p>@noel597‌ I completely understand where you’re coming from about the GPA, it actually doesn’t reflect my grades as of right now and it’ll change to around a 3.75 and 5.1 respectively by the end of this year just because a lot of grade changes I’m expecting haven’t been put into the system yet.
The few B’s I got, sadly, were 3 semester B’s freshman year, and 1 semester B in middle school, only one of which was an AP meaning the others were 3.0’s dragging my GPA down. Otherwise, I’ve gotten straight A’s since then.</p>

<p>As far as service goes, I’ve specified on past apps working in China, as well as from here through PTPI to help underprivileged children in Bangladesh, Lithuania, etc. for education or food/water.</p>

<p>Asian, female, first generation, neither parents went to college, financial bracket: under $20,000</p>

4

<p>Hold up girl! Middle school!?!? Get rid of that. Calculate your HIGH SCHOOL GPA! 9th, 10th, 11th, 12! Let me know.</p>

<p>I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but your financial bracket will help you; if a student of low income is achieving at a particularly high level (as you are), that’s a plus factor for that student.</p>

5

<p>Ok! With that new information…
Colleges I’m interested in:
UCLA: Match (They don’t look @ freshman GPA. I’d get the ACT up to a 33 to be a bit safer)
Berkeley: Same as above
UNC: Are you OOS? Low Reach, then.
UVA: Same as UNC
Northwestern: Low reach
Duke: Reach
Georgetown: high match
Cornell: Low reach
Brown: reach
UPenn: reach
Dartmouth: reach
Williams: reach
Amherst: low-mid reach</p>

6

<p>It was a high school credit course taken during middle school, so it’s shown under my cumulative gpa on my high school transcript. Regardless of that, it was one grade so I doubt it makes a substantial difference. My gpa will probably remain in that ballpark. With that in mind though, I go to an incredibly competitive school and I’m in the top 5%, but idk if that’ll actually mean anything.</p>

<p>And yeah, trying to capitalize on that for financial aid and such.</p>

7

<p>@noel597‌ oh wow, thanks for all your input tonight :)</p>

8

<p>Nothing stands out as outstanding, but you are overall a very strong candidate. So, I think most schools are in low-mid reach range considering that you aren’t applying to HYPSM. Keep up the good work.</p>

9

<p>For comparison, I had a 2330 SAT (equiv to a 35 or so) and was waitlisted at Penn. Can’t count on any selective schools. </p>

10

<p>If your scores move up a little, then my impressions might change, but I’d have to say that UNC, UCLA, and Berkeley are probably also reaches - many people fail to realize how tough UNC is for out-of-state applicants. They have a statutory requirement to admit at least 82% of their freshman class from within NC. The numbers approach Ivy League acceptance rates for non-residents. I have to call every school on your list a reach. Some might come down to the low-reach range if your final junior grades and test scores rise, but I recommend that you add more matches and a few safe schools. Will you seek financial aid? If so, the UCs, in particular, will not be very obliging. I’d scratch at least one or two of the extreme reaches (ie. Amherst, Dartmouth, Williams, Duke), and replace with, say, Tulane, Emory, George Washington, NYU, or some additional UCs (if the out-of-state costs aren’t too bad for you). As a point of reference, your stats are somewhat, but not infinitely, higher than my son’s final ones were. His SAT/ACT scores rose on second seatings during his senior year (2060/31), and a similar increase on your part would move you into a higher category. His weighted and unweighted GPAs were slightly lower, also. He did not have your athletic background, but had comparable community service experience and other strong leadership positions on his resume. He was rejected from Berkeley and UNC, which were two of his three reach colleges (along with Claremont-McKenna, where he was also rejected). He got into Tulane, but without any scholarship. He got into UC San Diego and Davis, which are the third and fourth most selective UCs (after UCLA and Berkeley). So, as of now, I would say you have a shot at the colleges that he did not get into, and for a scholarship where he didn’t receive one, but I do not think that any college on your list is anything other than a reach.</p>