Rank =(

<p>I found out my rank today.</p>

<p>To make things terse:
- I royally screwed up my freshman year.
- I have an extreme upward trend.
- My 9-12 GPA is 3.69
- My 10-12 GPA is 4.15</p>

<p>My 9-12 rank is 172/489 (65th percentile)
My 10-12 rank, which is unfortunately not reported, is about the 91st percentile (top 10%)</p>

<p>This will destroy my admission chances by how much? Additional Info:
- I have undistinguished ECs.
- 2100 on SAT and an average of 760 on 3 SAT II tests.
- No rigorous courses fresh and soph years. 1 AP/2 H classes + 9 more AP tests Junior year. 5 AP classes Senior year.
- Asian, 1st gen.</p>

<p>I'm applying to the following schools:
Mega Reach (actually almost impossible): Cornell
Reach: UC Berkeley, UCLA, Tufts, Carnegie Mellon, Colgate
Others: UCSD, UMichigan, UWisMad, UC Santa Cruz, Boston U</p>

<p>If you are reading this, respond. Now.</p>

<p>“If you are reading this, respond. Now.”
Well then, someone’s a bit irritated. Take a chill pill; no matter what we say on here, reality is reality. I doubt we’ll change your mind.</p>

<p>Well, your rank invalidates you for Cornell. I can pretty much guarantee that, as at best, they will put light consideration onto your Freshman year, but they won’t ignore you completely. I completely understand where you’re coming from, though, as I have also had to pull myself up from a weak Freshman year. Your test scores are mediocre for your other reaches. Do list your ECs–whatever you believe is undistinguished may not be so to others. Being Asian also hurts you, but not that much badly.</p>

<p>Honestly, I think you are going to be wasting money on Cornell. I’m not saying not to apply; if you are ever going to regret not having done so, then don’t let me or anyone stop you. But it’s a far stretch, as you yourself noted. Overall, I think you chanced yourself pretty well. Then again, I’m not nearly as well-qualified or well-informed as many chancers on here, so I’d wait for others opinions.</p>

<p>That being said, I do want to apologize in advance if my thread seemed demeaning. I promise you I have no such intentions, and if at any time I seem crude or malicious, then ignore me; it could be that I’m having a bad day (sometimes I know, sometimes I don’t). I hope it helps a little, but as aforementioned, you already have realistic opinion of how things are going for you.</p>

<p>How important are the rankings? The counselors at my school told me that they’re pretty insignificant. I want to believe that, but something tells me that I shouldn’t.</p>

<p>Are there any personal reason that may have destroyed your freshman grades because you might be able to ask your guidance counselor to put a note into the counselor rec</p>

<p>You shouldn’t [believe that rankings don’t matter, I mean].</p>

<p>Quicktip: since you show such an extreme upward trend, ask the counselor who is doing the counselor rec for you to mention how your 10-12 rank would put you among the highest-achieving students. But I think colleges will be able to tell anyway (just from your transcript) what a dramatic improvement and huge effort you’ve made.</p>

<p>I guess I will ask my counselor to do that.</p>

<p>Can I also get a chance for all the UCs? I’m worried that my rank won’t get me in any of the UCs…</p>

<p>Cornell: High Reach/Reach (Are you doing Early Decision by any chance? If you are, I would say its a Reach)
UC Berkeley: Reach
UCLA: Low Reach
Tufts: Low Reach/High Match
Carnegie Mellon: Low Reach
Colgate: High Match
UCSD: High Match/Match
UMichigan (Ann Arbor?): Match
UC Santa Cruz: Match
University of Wisconsin: Match
Boston University: Match</p>

<p>Frankly, I think the colleges will look at your course load and 10-12 grades much more than your 9-12 rank. In fact, many colleges often disregard the 9th grade grades simply because it does not reflect who the person is now. Not to say it doesnt matter, but I think that with a good essay you are certainly still a strong candidate for both Cornell, UC Berkeley, and UCLA. Just wondering, what are you considering to be “undistinguished ECs”? Unless its just one club your entire four years, I seriously don’t think your chances are as bleak as you make them seem. As previous posts have mentioned, just go talk to your counselor about this. A W GPA of 4.15 is definitely eligible for the UCs. </p>

<p>Best of luck! </p>

<p>Chance me back? : ) Thanks in advance!
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1004303-chance-me-chocolate-chip-cookie.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1004303-chance-me-chocolate-chip-cookie.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Wow, that is the most lenient response I have ever got. I do plan to apply ED to Cornell. My strongest points for the UCs are probably my UC GPA (4.17) and my SAT scores. I’m afraid that my rank and ECs won’t cut it though. I participate in several clubs this year and last year and have 2 [not-so-important] officer positions this year. I do have ECs, but it’s not anything distinguishable from what anyone else got.</p>

<p>EDIT: You’re applying to Cornell ED too? Lol, then you should know what type of people I’m competing against.</p>

<p>@ryanxing: Saying that Cornell is a High Reach for you is lenient? haha </p>

<p>I think that when applying to Cornell, they will look at the UW more so than the W UC GPA which is used mainly for…well UC schools. That being said, having a 3.69 GPA would certainly be a slight disadvantage. However, considering that you have taken 14 APs I would argue that a 3.69 is still relatively strong. You must keep in mind that Cornell will take your GPA based on the context of your course load and school. A 4.0 from one school may be a 2.0 from another school. It all depends on the competitiveness of your school and the difficulty of the courses you take on. </p>

<p>That being said, I would suggest you take the SAT again and get somewhere above 2200 because 2100 is very “average” for Cornell. However, I urge you to not downplay your ECs as “not so important” because anywhere you can show Cornell your interest and passion would be great. Write some amazing essays (some ideas would be to write about what happened freshmen year - if anything or an activity you enjoy doing) and we might see each other next year!</p>

<p>Best of luck again!</p>

<p>I think you’re mistaken; I will have taken lots of AP tests by the end of high school. I have, however, only taken 1 AP class in Junior year and 5 in Senior year. And my 3.69 GPA is weighted 9-12, lol. My unweighted is 3.55. Sigh… To be more precise:</p>

<p>9-11 UW: 3.55
9-11 W: 3.69
10-11 UW: 3.93
10-11 W: 4.17</p>

<p>I might end up applying normal decision because I want them to see the midyear report. Do you think this is a good idea? If I end up getting all A then these are my GPA after the midyear report:</p>

<p>9-12 UW: 3.60
9-12 W: 3.83
10-12 UW: 3.94
10-12 W: 4.25</p>

<p>oh sorry about that, I thought by tests you indirectly implied you took the class. Do you have the individual GPA for each year? I think schools on the east coast calculate GPA very differently from schools on the west coast. </p>

<p>In my honest opinion, you should NOT apply for regular decision because your GPA would only have gone up maybe .01-.05 UW. While you might argue that applicants for ED are much more self selective, the acceptance rate for ED is almost double that of RD. If Cornell is really the school you want to go to, then you should do ED. You will have no other changes to your application if you apply RD apart from your transcript. If they really care about that extra .05 on your 9-11 UW GPA, then they will simply defer you and you can try again RD (if that makes sense).</p>

<p>I have known many people who have gained admission to Cornell, and I do not feel mistaken about your chances. Although I will admit that the chances of you getting deferred/rejected is higher than being accepted, it does not seem as hopeless as you make it sound. A poor freshmen year can easily be overshadowed by the amount of AP tests you took and your 10-11 UW gpa of close to 4.0. Just remember to mention this huge difference in academic performance somewhere on your application (whether it is in your counselor’s recommendation or your essays) accompanied by a possible reason (which would explain what happened if something did happen).</p>

<p>In short while Cornell is definitely a reach for you, APPLY EARLY! If you do get wait listed for some reason during RD, you will probably regret it for the rest of your life. </p>

<p>If you have any more questions, please feel free to respond : )</p>