<p>I am A senior in Highschool in California and i really want to go to these schools but i think i have no chance. </p>
<p>I have taken the SAT twice. The first time i got a 1950, and the 2nd time i got 2160(760M690CR710W). I plan to take it again in october and score 2200+(hopefully 2300).
Unfortunately though i only have a 3.33 uc gpa and 3.41 weighted total gpa.</p>
<p>But i did have an upward swing with a 4.2 weighted Gpa my 2nd semester junior year.</p>
<p>I have taken hard classes and got a 4 in my AP calc test as well as my AP Euro test.
Also, i was born an orphan in one of the poorest parts of the world(if that helps... i will mention it in my essay). I have pretty average ECs, i played sports for 2 years, i was in a few clubs, nothing special though.</p>
<p>So anyways, should i even bother to apply to these colleges? if not, where should i apply</p>
<p>Of course you should apply! If you apply, you definitely have a chance of getting in. If you don’t even apply, then there is absolutely no way you will get in.</p>
<p>Yes, you should apply. My GPA is even lower than yours and I’m applying to Stanford. Not saying I have any chance of getting in, but why not try? You never know if something in your college app will catch attention.</p>
<p>Also, would it be smart to try and do early action at Stanford, because that is probably the only way i’d get in there, and i’d go there for sure if they accepted me.</p>
<p>I wonder about that myself. Based on a guess here, but I think early action for Stanford would be useless because really, who DOESN’T have Stanford as their #1 school?</p>
<p>hell to the yes apply, you never know what will happen. the admissions guy could be having an awesome day when your application comes, you never know and even if you got good stats.</p>
<p>Sorry for asking, and feel completely free not to respond, but are you in a position to attend these schools without major financial aid (full ride) based on your background. For sure, your background definitely will help out how you look as a candidate because it will show colleges how you’ve overcome adversity in your life and you may be able to explain your lower GPA than other applicants (still not too bad btw). If that has been a huge part of your life, it should be reflected in your essay. This is only my limited and humble opinion. </p>
<p>Also @ AndrewNoNumbers, there are some great books in most library circulations about college admissions that show EA applicants, although loaded legacies, sports recruits and extremely advantaged applicants who have much higher rates of acceptance (some sports players already have guarentees from coaches as an example), there is a much higher acceptance rate early admission for most top tier schools even though admission counselors and reps are required to say there is no bias towards either RD or EA applicants. So consider, if you’re not applying anywhere else, applying to Stanford EA. </p>
<p>tl;dr–> apply Stanford EA if you don’t want to apply to another college that is high match-reach for security, you’ll have a better chance</p>
<p>@hopeful23 no, im not in any position for free rides(atleast i think). because i was adopted by someone there and brought to america. But i visit the place i was born every few years… also would it help to say that everybody in my family tree was an illiterate goat herder(even though i got adopted to another family?)</p>
<p>^ The idea about applying SCEA to Stanford increasing admissions chances is simply not true and this is the case with Yale and likely will be the case at Harvard and Princeton now that they are restarting their respective programs. What is this “nonsense” about the admissions counselors being “required” to say their is no bias [for admissions] RD or EA? These schools turn down so many obviously qualified candidates that there is no need for them to give a boost to less qualified applicants in the SCEA round. No doubt Yale has a higher SCEA admit rate but the applicant pool is much stronger. Some say Stanford SCEA disadvantages applicants since they tend to reject borderline students rather than defer them to the RD round for additional consideration.</p>
<p>Yes because I can guarantee that that number of adopted children coming from underprivileged parts of the world who apply to these schools are far fewer than the number of regular people . Just being from that part of the world. If you don’t mind me asking, what race are you, what is your nationality (US citizen), when were you brought here. Adjusting to a new country and lifestyle and parents is a unique challenge in itself and something that will help distinguish yourself. I really recommend the books I listed above, very cheap on amazon and you could probably find them at many libraries. </p>
<p>Also your SAT score (which is pretty good) helps justify your ability a bit more since its usually taken later and GPA accumulate over early years when you’re adjusting.
Also, if you’re not too busy, can you chance me back?</p>
<p>but does it count as the first in my family to go to college if my biological parents couldn’t even read, but my adopted parents both went to college?</p>
You won’t know if you don’t try; but keep in mind the UC schools you mentioned are highly competitive and these are very low scores for these schools.</p>
<p>There are differing opinions on this subject just like any other controversial topic. What sources are you quoting? </p>
<p>-Early Decision: College Admission’s Secret Handshake
-Surrender to Early Admissions
The Early Admissions game- Joining the Elite </p>
<p>are a few of the things I have read. I have a few other books by established writers on the topic but I left them somewhere else and cannot find their names right now
Schools generally try to avoid giving EA/ED an advantage in public statements because it gives the air of giving certain people unfair advantages over other similar to how affirmative action works. It is not a blanket, however, and some counselors do give accurate statistics of they’re being little difference in ED/EA and RD admission rates. Nonetheless it is still a factor that they have to think about. –> that is the bit of data I was quoting from one of above listed sources.
Also, the way colleges reject SCEA is by simply taking a look at some baseline stats after they decide not to accept people. They really don’t want to miss out on potential students and lose them to other schools. Futurestudent is by no means beneath the cutoff line. Thus, for his purposes, I thought if would be advantageous for him to apply SCEA rather not bother with it than as it is his #1 school. I did also, in my above post, give him the warning that he could apply to a less selective but still moderately-hard school to get into so that he can be assured of a nice college.
I also addressed the fact that ED/EA applicant pools are much stronger in my above post. Statistics still point towards a higher acceptance rate for people of similar merit.</p>
<p>Also, I just want to say don’t try to get too caught up with when to apply for higher statistics because you should really only apply early to the school that matches you, you love for its programs, environment and culture as opposed to name-hunting. People will do best the more comfortable they are and many colleges outside the name brands have excellent resources and programs for you to excel in.</p>
<p>Thanks for the different perspective though, I have heard opinions in that light as well. </p>
<p>This is all in my own limited, humble opinion of course being a rising senior myself.</p>
<p>Thats also a good question to ask admission officers, your case is an interesting one because they use that to find out if the student is motivated themselves or if they were pushed by they college graduate parents. Shoot them an email or call to find out.</p>
<p>One source I am using do discount the admissions advantage at these super selective schools is the current Yale Dean of Amissions Jeff Brenzel. He is quoted as follows in 2008 regarding SCEA:</p>
<p>“Our applicants continue to be an exceptionally talented, highly diverse group of students,” Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Jeff Brenzel said in an e-mail. “As always, we only accepted students that we were certain we would also accept in the spring, meaning that a significant number of the deferred students have equally strong chances of admission as the regular decision applicants.”</p>
<p>In other words, they don’t even take all the admittable students in the SCEA round. The bar for early admission is set as high or higher than in the RD round. This is most often not the case for ED schools and any admissions advantage there should not be connected to HYPS SCEA.</p>