Hey all, I recently applied EA to CWRU (interviewed) and Kalamazoo (interviewed). I am planning on applying to:
In order of importance to me
- Swarthmore (interviewed)
- Claremont McKenna (interviewed, visited)
- Occidental (interviewed, visited)
- Barnard (interviewed)
- URochester (interviewed)
as well.
INTENDED MAJOR: Applied Mathematics/Mathematics w/ minor in Economics
Strengths: SAT, Essay, Recommendations, Interviews
Weaknesses: GPA, AP scores, EC’s
BIO:
-Citizenship: US
-State of residence: CA (SF Bay Area)
-Income: >$250,000
-Race: South Asian (Indian)
-Gender: Female
HIGH SCHOOL:
9th - 10th:
- Type: public, suburban, large (2,500 students, ~660 in my grade), one of best in state
- Graduates: ~20 to UC Berkeley per year, ~15
- AP’s Offered: A LOT, I took 2 in 10th grade (can’t take AP’s in 9th)
10th - 11th:
- Type: public, suburban, large (2,500 students, ~660 in my grade), one of best in state
- Graduates: Transfers after 1y of Community College to CSU’s (if relevant: I am only person in my grade applying to college straight out of HS, and am part of the 2nd graduating class)
- AP’s Offered: None, college classes not weighted
Academic Profile:
-Unweighted GPA: 3.50
-Weighted GPA: 3.60
-AP’s: 10th grade - Bio (4), Chem (4); 11th grade - Calc AB (4), Microeconomics (4) (Self-studied); 12th grade - Calc BC, Stats (Self-studied)
-ACT: not submitting
-SAT: 1530 (750 CRW 780 M) (one sitting)
-Rank: N/A / 33
-Course Rigor: hardest at my program; no one else has the same course rigor as I do
-Current Courses: Multivariable Calculus, Linear Algebra, Discrete Mathematics, Statistics, College Physics, Jazz in American Culture, College Prep English, College Prep Civics/
EC (In order of importance/commitment):
Explained in Additional Information section that my extracurricular involvement has been affected in certain ways beyond my control, and that for the extracurriculars I did I put as much effort into them as I could. Have participated in around thirteen extracurriculars total, but the seven I listed are my most important ones.
- High School Mock Trial Team (9, 10, 11, 12)
- Secretary (11)
- Best Witness in County (9)
- Classical Piano: (2007 - Present) (9, 10, 11, 12)
- 2015 (4th place)
- 2016 (1st place)
- 2017 (2nd place)
- Invited to play at Carnegie Hall
- Teen Improvisation Troupe (11, 12)
- Improvised horror show (3 shows)
- Improvised puppet musical (2 shows)
- Improvised Teen Soap Opera (4 shows)
- Tutor (12)
- Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth Scholar (9, 11)
- Biomedical Sciences
- Probability and Game Theory
- Neuroscience
- Member of Mu Alpha Theta (11, 12)
- Seasonal Sales Associate (11)
- Ethics Club (9, 10)
- Secretary (9)
- Co-founder (9)
- Vice President (10)
- Volunteer at soup kitchen (12)
Honors:
- Honor Roll (9)
- Attended National Individual Mock Trial Competition
- 4 National Piano Awards
- Invited to play at Carnegie Hall
I’m not expecting to get in to most of these colleges, but I still want an objective look at my chances, if that’s all right. Also, I’d like to preemptively thank whoever responds to this!
So, if your unweighted GPA is a 3.5 and your weighted is a 3.6, does that mean you have a lot of Bs in your hard classes? You seem to have a lot of classes that would be weighted but your weighted GPA isn’t much higher than your unweighted.
Your UW GPA is a little low for these schools, but the difficulty of your course load and your SAT score will probably work in your favor. Also, your ECs are great. I could see you getting into half of these schools
@homerdog yeah, my I took a total of 2 weighted classes my entire HS career, A, B in first semester, 2 B’s in second semester, which is why it barely affected my W GPA.
Thanks, @doorrealthe ! Yeah, my GPA leaves a LOT to be desired, but I’m hoping the SAT, EC’s, essays, and Rec’s will make up for some of the colleges.
I’m confused because you took a bunch of APs. Aren’t they weighted?
@homerdog No, like I said, I didn’t take the AP class, just self-studied, so it wasn’t added to my GPA at all, as per my school’s policy.
Very weak academic record. Having a high SAT score will not offset poor high school career for most of the schools you mentioned.
Appreciate the feedback, “ @MaybeHarvard2022 “. As I take it, you didn’t take a hollistic look at the application, but thank you for telling me something I already mentioned knowing in the post. Good luck with Harvard!
I would expand your college list further. Most for the colleges you mentioned are not only competitive, but are small, including Case Western. If you’re interested in liberal arts colleges, I would add a few more like Occidental.
@fivesages I’m planning on transferring to UCLA or UCB if I don’t get into any of these, as my college GPA is a 4.0, and I have about 70 college units under my belt so far. As for Occidental, it is on my list (see above), and I have interviewed and visited there. Thank you so much!
@taxicab1729 One, I meant to say more colleges like Occidental. Two, what do you mean by “my college GPA is 4.0”?
@fivesages : I’ve taken about 24 community college classes, and I have received all A’s in those classes. My high school classes are the ones bringing my grade down. Also, thank you for the clarification about Oxy. :^)
That’s why I’m mainly applying to competitive schools, b/c I have a fallback of UCI, UCD, and best-case scenarios UCB or UCLA.
I read this profile and I’m getting the strange feeling I know you lol (not that I do, it’s just that I literally have the exact same basic profile as you: female, south asian, upper middle class SF bay area, suburban public school best in state, etc).
Dropped in here to say I like your username reference @taxicab1729 and best of luck! I can’t provide you with a fair chance because I haven’t gone through the process myself, but if you improve your GPA it might go a long way 
@rosaliefontaine haha, I WISH my old school was the best in CA, it’s just pretty high up there.
@VaporeonKid gotta love those ramanujan anecdotes! and for sure, my GPA is my main weakness (too bad it’s the most important part of the application 
)
bump x3 UPDATE: kalamazoo EA accepted w/ 124000 scholarship, cwru EA deferred
UPDATE: swarthmore/pitzer/scripps/u of rochester all rejected