poor grades, good SATs--chances?

<p>3.1 weighted HS GPA
3.1 college GPA (at SJC, MD)
SAT: 800 CR, 710 M, 740 W
AP US History: 4
HS ECs: wrestling (captain), soccer, lax</p>

<p>i was accepted to college directly out of my junior year in HS, not because i had good grades but because i had superlative recs and essays. my grades in college havent been good but this semester i will have straight As. i can get absolutely stellar recs from any of my profs each of which would marginalize my poor grades (or 'put them in perspective'). last month i taught myself latin, and am now teaching mysefl german. so does the self-taught, intellectually independent hook go over well with many top schools? im thinking of applying to Reed and Cornell--assuming i had excellent recs/essays would i have a shot? thanks.</p>

<p>university of chicago too</p>

<p>I can believe that you've learned some latin. But if you're going to claim on a college application to have taught yourself a very complicated language in a month, you'd better have some test results to prove that you're fluent.</p>

<p>You can't teach yourself an entire language in a month even with extremely rigorous study and living in a country where it is spoken. Claim that you taught yourself a language no longer spoken in a month. You will be laughed at. 3.1 is too low, much more emphasis is placed on grades than SAT. Your chances are extremely low. Good luck anyway.</p>

<p>SATs dont matter a whole lot to Cornell if you're a transfer. Go ahead and apply, but i wouldnt expect to get in.</p>

<p>These people are right - whatever you do, do not claim that you learned Latin last month and hope to complete your studies of German this month.</p>

<p>Thing Big State U not ivy league</p>