Please help! Are my chances ruined?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Okay, so I have been freaking out a little bit. My dream schools are mostly Ivy Leagues and other schools like Duke. I want to major in Biomedical engineering (or engineering in general). I am currently a junior in high school going onto senior year. I have taken 4 APs: World History, Environmental Science, Calculus (AB), and U.S. History. Along with those, I have taken 14 honors classes. I have had As in all of them except AP Calculus (I got an 81) (My GPA is 3.944 unweighted). I also took the AP exams for the AP courses, and I got a 4 on World History back in my sophomore year, but I got a 2 on AP US History this year. I thought US History was my easiest subject, but I guess not, and now I am nervous about what my other AP scores (in Environmental Science and Calculus) are.

Other info, I am planning on retaking the SAT (currently using the PrepScholar program to increase my score from 1360), and I am also planning to take two SAT Subject Tests (Biology (M) and Math I, which I am studying for using the Princeton Review books). I am also a varsity athlete (I have a bunch of awards playing Varsity soccer since freshman year). I am in a bunch of clubs and honor societies (MUN club, Women’s Rights club, NHS, Math Honors Society) and I hold leadership positions, such as VP of Model UN and VP of NHS (I also have leadership positions outside of school that are high up on the state level). I also have some volunteering experience (approximately 120 hrs altogether) and I have done two full summer research internships.

Okay so my questions are:

  1. Based on my low AP Calc grade, (and possibly failing 3 out of my 4 APs) so far, will that ruin my chances of Ivy league schools and other similar schools? I have always had A's in all of my other classes (including other APs) but I am really nervous about this B.
  2. Concerning my AP scores, am I allowed to choose which ones to send? Or do I have to choose between sending them or not sending them at all? At what time of the year am I to send them, and when does it look suspicious?
  3. If worse comes to worst, will the extracurriculars, leadership positions, and volunteering experience make up for it? (There is still so much more stuff for me to put down here, these activities are just the biggest things that I do.)
2

Congratulations on your hard work and success! You are doing great. You are on the opposite of being ruined. Nobody’s perfect, even if it looks like it sometimes, and, really, we could never be our best selves if we never had setbacks, even perceived ones, which forced us to learn how to do better and be diligent persevering, something that is incredibly important, and that will be required of everyone at some point.

Funny story. I know an excellent, but not perfect, student a few years ago who made a 1 on an AP history test. They applied for a prestigious scholarship, and went for an interview for it, not knowing that the interviewer, a former history professor at an extremely prestigious university, had seen the score. First question, “You made a 1, they give you that for writing your name, what happened?” They answered with poise and got the scholarship. They went onto college and then grad school, finishing at the top of their class in the grad school program.

So work hard, do your best, figure who you are, what you enjoy, what motivates you, who makes you better, have some fun and things will work out. If you go to a school you list, and that might happen, then great, you’ll get a great education and meet great faculty, staff, and students. If you go to a somewhat lower-ranked school, well, you’ll get a great education and meet great faculty, staff, and students. Take Ohio State, just as a state flagship name pulled out of the air, an excellent state flagship, but not the highest rated one, or the University of Kansas, or Georgia, or Minnesota, the same. They attract many of the very best students from their states, and from OOS. They are world-class, major research institutions, with world-class faculty. A student who goes to them, works hard, takes advantage of opportunities, makes opportunities, makes connections, will be very far ahead of the game.

If someone goes to Harvard, great. Great school. But it truly is HOW you go to college, much more than WHERE you go that is most important. The wealthiest and most successful person (very, very much so) I know grew up in a straight-up middle-class family and attended a third-tier public university in a state with a pretty low reputation for higher education. (They worked hard, did well, and went to a top grad program.)

So you’ll do great. And good luck going to your top choices!

Oh, and APs, generally speaking, are not important to admissions, they are more used for placement/credits after you enroll at a school.

3

I doubt the AP scores are going to be a deciding factor either way. The problem is that although you have achieved a great deal, the schools you are targeting are nearly impossible to get into for everyone. Your GPA seems fine. The SAT is a bit on the low side for those schools. You have fine ECs. But you have to understand that you are competing with kids who have all that and more. You may very well get into one of the Ivies or similar schools, depending on the rest of your application, whether you have any “hooks.” Etc.

But you can definitely get into an excellent school — you may just have to widen your search away from the very top. The Ivies have admissions rates in the single digits. That means nearly 95% of kids who apply will be rejected at most of them. If you give us some more details - what you are looking for in a school, size, location, financial constraints, etc. We can help you develop a good list of reaches, matches and safeties. The safeties are MOST important of all. Many students each year find they are only admitted to their safeties so it pays to have good ones that you would be willing to attend.

4

The 81 in Calc is a bigger problem for engineering than your AP scores. Work hard in prepping for the SAT as it is low for the Ivies and cohorts and your needed SAT subject tests.

As posted above, you will get into some great schools but spend your time finding match and safeties,.

5

Thanks @TTG ! That makes me feel a lot better now!

6

@gallentjill Yeah, the Ivies are a bit of a stretch. I am trying to set my bar as high as I can in order to at least have a good shot at getting into other schools. I live in NC and I would also like to apply to schools like UNC CH or NC State for their Biomed-engineering programs. Definitely got to work hard in senior year if I want to reach the single digit admissions of the Ivies!!!

7

@momofsenior1 AP Calc was pretty rough. I imagine that making up for it in my SAT and SAT Subject tests would give me a little bit of wiggle room with that B-. But yeah, I think I definitely need to find myself some safety schools to feel good on.

8

You’re welcome! Just one more observation–I’ve gotten to know and have visited scores and scores of schools both in my work, and as a parent, and through family and friends, including about half the Ivies and probably close to half the Top 40 LACs and and Top 40 national universities on any ranking you could name, all across the country.

Guess which school’s students most impressed me, or at least impressed me as much as anywhere else? Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), a terrific STEM school with bioengineering, and a neat campus and a very unique hands-on, project-oriented approach. I’ve spent about 4 days there on tours, revisit days, etc. and know the school and city well otherwise. An average student there, I believe, has high school stats similar to your own excellent stats. Just across town, the College of the Holy Cross, an excellent LAC, has, I’d contend, as rigorous academics as any college/university. (I have no ties to either school.) These are schools that I know are not well known in NC, and just want to point out that there really are lots and lots of amazing schools out there.

9

Update: I just checked the rest of my AP scores and I got a 3 on Calc, buttttt not too good on Environmental Science
:frowning:

10

You don’t have to send scores. However the disconnect between As and low AP scores indicates grade inflation at your high school, which may be a problem.
The 81 in calc is going to be a big problem at all universities you listed - it may make Ivies a non starter but, once you’ve identified 2 affordable safeties be 4-5 matches you can add a few reaches, you never know. Just don’t focus on them and find good matches, good safeties you like and can afford - don’t bet the farm on a lottery ticket. (Look at the results threads to have an idea).
UNC Chapel Hill doesn’t have engineering so look at their majors of interest.
NCSU is a solid match and if you can bring your score to 1400 you’ll likely get merit.
WPI is an excellent suggestion.
You may want to look into Clarkson for a safety and another UNC for your other safety.
Case is a great suggestion. Perhaps add Trinity college in CT, Lafayette, Union.
Run the net price calculator on all these colleges and bring the results to your parents. Make sure you know what budget range they have in mind for your college costs.

11

@MYOS1634 UNC has a joint biomedical engineering program with NCSU, but yeah, it been pretty difficult for me to find safeties (thanks for your suggestions!). Also, what do you mean when grade inflation may be a problem? Is that bad for applying?