<p>Ouch… that is a rough answer.</p>
<p>Ignore RoughAnswer. He pulls the stats out of his intuition, with no feedback. It’s almost as useless as if he hadn’t posted, OneLove. Just know that you’re smart regardless of where you go, and that the top tier schools and Ivies are crapshoots =] We’re in the same boat.</p>
<p>Since Princeton & Stanford don’t look at freshman grades, my UW GPA would be more like a 3.9 UW. Soo why such low chances?</p>
<p>Thanks, synny :] I saw your PM. I’m actually majorly procrastinating on a Spanish project due tomorrow soo I need to get cracking on that. I’ll message you back later though!</p>
<p>RoughAnswer does not provide insight into his statistics.</p>
<p>1 question: I notice that in some ‘chances’ posts, people say that their UW GPA will change after the first semester of senior year. My school does not factor in any senior grades into our cummulative GPA. Will schools still look at my 1st semester senior grades & if I have straight A’s, will this work in my favor?</p>
<p>As you can see in my post, I went from a 3.4 to a 3.7 to a 4.0.</p>
<p>It depends. For admissions, if your school does not send your Senior grades, that could help or hurt depending on said grades (if theyre good itll hurt, and reverse). It wont affect your GPA, but schools will view it and it will most likely help. However, MOST accepted schools require midterm updates and final updates (failed courses and similar actions may result in a rescission of application).</p>
<p>I just can’t get over the ranking and the grades… they just don’t seem up to par for some of those upper tier schools. Princeton, Yale, and Stanford seem to be huge reaches for you, sorry. Penn is also a reach, but you do have a shot. UCLA and UCB are probably ok matches, though kind of high. I don’t know enough about Tufts to judge. Sorry if I was a little harsh, those are just my opinions.</p>
<p>Chance me back? <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/898730-chances-duke-penn-cornell.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/898730-chances-duke-penn-cornell.html</a></p>
<p>She’s in the top 3%. Rank matters ; not GPA. If shes in a difficult school, the valedictorian may have a 3.9 UW, in which case her GPA is looking very good. She knows best.</p>
<p>And Tufts seems to be about even with WashU In St Louis, if you happen to know that one.</p>
<p>Ah, I know WashU. Slight reach then probably. I realize she is in the top 3% but that is still 12/250, and unless she goes to an extremely competitive or prestigious school doesn’t seem to be that great for HYPS.</p>
<p>The valedictorian of my school has a 4.0. I know that I’m one of the very few who maintained a 4.0 this year, taking more AP’s than most.</p>
<p>I honestly do not know how my school ranks in terms of competitiveness. I go to a public school, as I said, which only sends some to top schools.</p>
<p>12/250?? I’m about 12 out of about 500.</p>
<p>Are Ivies truly that huge of a reach for me? I mean, my overall GPA is an A-, taking the most rigorous courses (with the exception of my freshman yr). My SAT’s are great, and I think that my EC’s are as well.</p>
<p>You probably have a better shot than I do, OneLove. It’s a crapshoot, and just opinions. You can never get a definite yes or no.</p>
<p>Not all Ivies, but HYPS seem almost out of reach, especially with scattered EC’s like that. Sorry about the wrong ranking there, I don’t know why I typed 250 instead of 500. The thing about these top universities is they often reject 2400’s and valedictorians. There really has to be something special about you that stands out. You might be ok with other colleges, but just understand that the best schools are almost impossible to predict.</p>
<p>I understand. Thanks. Would taking out theater and photography make my EC’s less scattered? </p>
<p>I know it’s a little late, but just curious, what kind of special thing would it take for someone with my GPA to have a real chance?</p>
<p>The special thing shouldn’t be something you pursue for colleges, it should come just from something you enjoy. My special thing for example, is being published for my original research into chemistry in the area of drug development.</p>
<p>Oh, I know… just looking for an example :] Wow, that’s fantastic.</p>
<p>About my scattered EC’s…any tips on cleaning them up? Thanks for replying.</p>
<p>Life doesn’t end with HYPS. It also doesn’t end if you end up going to a public state school or even a community college. Do what you are doing, and succeed, and enjoy that! </p>
<p>A thing I learnt quickly is that showing the college you want the most that you really want to go there is good. That’s why I got a part-time job with HarvardU and got a current HarvardU professor to write my rec. Check to see if any internships are available [given you live nearby somewhere. The closest to CT I can think of would be the MA schools and Brown?]</p>
<p>You’re absolutely right. As long as I work hard and do what I love, I’ll be successful in life. I’m always beating myself up for not getting straight A’s, when I know that I was capable of it but it’s the past…</p>
<p>That is a great idea, synny.
How did you manage to get that part time job? I could take a train to Yale :]</p>
<p>Don’t worry about cleaning up your EC’s, what you have done you have done and it is fine, some colleges will probably really like that kind of stuff (Swarthmore, maybe Brown). Just keep doing what you are doing and you will do ok.</p>
<p>Try to find a common thread in your more significant ECs; it’s hard to tell what you’re really interested in</p>