Safety Schools, chances, and advice!

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>Hi! So this is going to be a multi-question post, so bear with me! </p>

<p>I'm currently a junior amidst the stress and anxiety of 11th grade and had a few questions about college.</p>

<p>Just to give you an idea of the type of student and human I am, here are just a few, non-specific statistics:
ACT: 32 (practice test taken a year ago, so not an accurate representation on two counts-- retaking in June!)
Academic GPA-- 5 core classes (9-11): UW 4.0, W 4.3 (The weighted doesn't include advanced/honors classes, just AP)
I would say that my extra curricular activities and volunteering are fairly good considering the opportunities and circumstances in my life, though others may have a different opinion.
I'm planning on majoring in biology with a minor in Italian.</p>

<p>My first question is: what kind of schools should I apply to as backup? I live in California, so I am wondering at which UC's I have high chances of being admitted. In addition, I was wondering if you could offer up some other back up schools. One that I am thinking about is the University of Washington-- do you agree that this school is an appropriate "backup" school?</p>

<p>My second question is: This is more of a worry, actually. My school doesn't give out any academic awards other than honor roll, and it is my understanding that the Common App requests a list of academic awards. What can I do about this?</p>

<p>My last question is: My dream school from my research thus far is Rice University. Any advice to achieve this goal? </p>

<p>Again, thank you very much for your help. If you need any supplemental information from me to effectively answer my questions, please reply on this "thread".</p>

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<p>bump</p>

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<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/16869659#Comment_16869659You’d"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/16869659#Comment_16869659You’d&lt;/a&gt; have a good chance to rice. I thonk irvine merced riverside and san diego are matches. Ucla is a high match and berkeley is a low reach.good luck and cud u chance me back</p>

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<p>I know that Merced and Riverside are not matches, but rather safeties. I also don’t think Berkeley is a low reach considering the fact that my unweighted gpa is perfect. I’m looking for realistic advice, not advice from an individual with an inflated sense of self. Thank you very much <em>sarcasm</em></p>

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<p>Woah he was just trying to help & I don’t think you can classify someone as having “an inflated sense of self” from just three sentences. But in order to answer your question completely, you need to give more information. Like what ECs are you doing, how much have you volunteered, etc. About the academic awards, you can join clubs like Academic Decathlon that offer awards. (Even if your school doesn’t offer Acadec, it is somewhat easy to start a team.) Also, while it is impressive to have an uw gpa of 4.0, are you taking the most challenging courses your school has? If so, then I think UCLA and UWashington would be good safeties.</p>

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<p>I didn’t mean to say that, I’ve just been so overwhelmed with a major loss in my family. I’m very sorry @showmestate700. I’m actually pretty nice and definitely should not have said that. I apologize :(</p>

<p>@hannegrazia I can post that in a moment, but to answer your question about the challenging courses, I am (kind of). Let me elaborate. There are kids in my class currently in an AP language or AP math, but not having been able to continue my middle school language (French) and not having skipped pre-algebra, there was no way I could be in either classes. My course load from freshman year:</p>

<p>9: Honors English, Honors Modern World History, Geometry, Biology Italian 1-2, Band, Health (no other honors, not AP)
10: AP European History, Honors English, Algebra II, Chemistry, Italian 3-4, Advanced Band (I could have taken an AP science had I taken a class over the summer, but I had already made other commitments to a very important extra curricular activity)
11: AP Language and Composition, AP Biology, AP US History, Precalculus, Italian 5-6, Advanced Band</p>

<p>I know a lot of kids have more AP classes, I think I have chosen to take more difficult ones not the typically easy classes (e.g., AP Environmental Science). My school doesn’t offer the APs that are on the easier side and could function as electives, or I would have taken them. I would have love AP Psych, AP world history, etc. </p>

<p>I also don’t know if this helps, but I’ve never had a minus HAHA. I probably sound insane, but it’s true and I take pride in it. I actually received A+'s in Italian 1-2, AP European History, Algebra II, and Italian 5-6. Does this help in the slightest bit?</p>

<p>After you respond I can let you know about extracurriculars. I really appreciate your reply.</p>

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<p>Wow, I’m so sorry for your loss.
Your classes are pretty good and if you ECs are too, you have a decent chance. :slight_smile:
And the “no minuses” part may or may not help depending on the college. I sincerely hope you are admitted. Good luck!</p>

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<p>Haha you’re too sweet thank you:)</p>