This is not a chances thread.. but something like it. :)

Parents Forum
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<p>Before I continue with my post, I'd like to state that I'm aware of the fact that there is no way to accurately predict ones chances of acceptance/rejection from any college. I've posted here before and have since altered my list to include the schools listed below. I feel that the parents on this forum are wonderful, informative and very educated when it comes to the college admissions process.. so please, bare with me and tell me what in your HONEST opinion, my "chances" are at the schools i listed. </p>

<p>White female from CA (but will decline to state my ethnicity on my applications)</p>

<p>Unweighted HS GPA: 3.36
Unweighted HS GPA + concurrent enrollment college courses: 3.42
Current course load: all honors/AP with exception to Folk Dance and Choir
Senior course load (tentative): Honors trig/pecal, AP statistics, Choir, AP Gov/econ, AP physics, Spanish 4 (junior college), English (junior college.. AP Lit won't fit with my schedule)</p>

<p>SAT II: Bio molecular- 710
Literature- 590
Spanish- 620
(retake Lit and Spanish)</p>

<p>SAT I (practice scores- SAT in june)
CR: 670
W: 720
M: 600</p>

<p>EC's: Lots of volunteer service, leadership in my youth volunteer group, advocacy for teen health, youth chair person for annual teen activist conference, hospital volunteering, choral music (choir ranked 5th in the state), musical theater (performed in 2 school musicals- Yeoman of the Guard and Les Miserables), California Scholarship Federation membership, recognized by the county health department for my work on teen health advocacy </p>

<p>Other: -Fluent in Russian and Proficient in Spanish
- Cancer survivor (plan to somehow incorporate this and my aspiration to become a doctor into an essay.. without the sob-story effect)<br>
- Probably will major in Political science and/or Biology with pre-med courses
- Russian immigrant at age 4
- GPA took a beating freshman year. Parents didn't place much emphasis or pressure on me to succeed and get good grades. Since my low point my GPA has continuously been rising (plateau at 4.60)</p>

<p>What do my chances look like for..</p>

<p>UC Berkeley
George Washington U
Pepperdine
Boston U
U Chicago
Johns Hopkins
Barnard
Northwestern
Reed
UCLA
William and Mary</p>

<p>(Note: the above schools are out the most selective colleges out of my list. I will probably only apply to 3-5 of them. I have a good list of safety's and what I believe to be matches. I would just like you to assess my chances at my reach schools) </p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

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<p>Your low GPA will hurt you at Northwestern, U Chicago, and Johns Hopkins the most. I had a 3.96 unweighted GPA (in mostly honors and AP courses) with lots of community service on the side (I love doing stuff like that) and still didn't get into Northwestern. I'd say those three (and maybe UCLA and Berkeley) are your biggest reaches. The others look more so like matches in my opinion. You really need to spend lots of time on your essays.</p>

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<p>thank you.. I know threads like this are bothersome, but does anyoen else care to comment?</p>

<p>Oh! and my college GPA is 3.86</p>

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<p>Berkeley and UCLA both weigh grades heavily in their admissions decisions, but only count 10th and 11th grades. I'm having a hard time correclating your unweighted GPA of 3.36 and plateau of 4.6. To assess your chances at the California schools your 10th and 11th grade academic GPA, with additional 1 point weighting for up to a maximum of 8 semesters during those two years, would be critical.</p>

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<p>I'm a fellow junior, and I also sing (soprano 2, #9 in state; what voice part do you sing?) =) The common thread running through your list seems to be a location in/ near a major metropolitan area. You should really give size some serious thought, though... your schools range in enrollment from 40,000+ to under 1,300. The number of kids at a school really does make a significant difference in campus atmosphere. FWIW, I personally think you would fare the best at LAC's in terms of admissions. Berkeley and UCLA base their admissions almost entirely off of GPA and test scores, so I'd apply to those with a grain of salt. Schools like Barnard and Reed who have less applicants and can therefore devote more time to your application will be more likely to be swayed by excellent and thoughtful essays, recs, and EC's. Based on what you've given here, I'd also take a look at Smith (not in a major city, but Northampton is one of the coolest places I've ever been to), Macalester, Wellesley, and Swarthmore (Pomona would also be great, but it sounds like you want a change of scene from the West Coast). Barnard sounds like a really good fit... I'd visit and consider ED. Good luck!</p>

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<p>I plateau at 4.60 refers to my current not cumalative GPA. It went from 2.67 2nd semester freshman year to 3.80, 4.00 and last semester it was 4.60 (looks like it will be 4.60 this semester too) </p>

<p>and to Lady, i'm a second sop as well! REPRESENT! lol. Are u in CA?</p>

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<p>Other coast... I'm from Jersey=) Yeah sopranos! Although most choral directors really hate sopranos, from my experience, haha. Colleges will definitely look favorably upon your upshot in GPA... have you visited any yet?</p>

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<p>I've visted some UC's (santa cruz, santa barbara, davis, berkeley) I've also seen W&M and i DROVE BY Pepperdine once lol</p>