Top schools, low stats, great extracurriculars??

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey everyone! Please don't be mean... :-)</p>

<p>I'm a junior from California and I go to a decent but non-competitive public school in a poor city often compared to Detroit. I'm a female, half Mexican. </p>

<p>I'm interested in Urban Studies, Public Policy, Sociology, Political Science, etc. I've also considered Media or Television/Radio.</p>

<p>I have a 3.4 unweighted GPA, but no upward trend. I've taken 8 AP classes, 3 classes that my particular school classifies as honors, and 3 UC-approved weighted honors classes. I've taken the hardest possible schedule offered at my school these past three years, plus I'm taking two classes over the summer for enrichment. I am in the top 10% of my class. I went from straight A's to A/B/C because of constantly missing school for illness, death of a loved one, diagnosed depression, and school functions. My GPA will probably remain in this range.</p>

<p>My SAT score is a 1900, with writing being my strongest and reading my weakest. However, this is with no prep or class. I have just signed up for a class to help, and I've been studying for the US History, Lit, and Math 2 Subject Tests in June. I am confident I can improve my score tremendously. </p>

<p>I was on varsity tennis for two years and JV badminton for one. In addition, I've taken fencing and belly dancing classes. I've held 16 positions (5 in a Korean club, 4 in student council, 7 on a student-run and prestigious statewide organization related to my interest in public policy). I've been to 45 camps and conferences related to this organization, at most of which I was a presenter/organizer/intern/counselor. I will have around 1000 hours of community service by the end of high school! I'm also an intern for my city councilman.</p>

<p>No extra-curricular I've done was with the intention of putting it on my college application. I've accumulated an array of interesting experiences including open-mic nights, glassblowing classes, lessons in French horn, piano, and clarinet, bee keeping classes, etc. "Yes, I want to look back and know that I was terrible at a variety of things."</p>

<p>My counselors and teachers have written glowing recommendations before, so I'm confident my college recs will be pleasing. I've gotten much praise on my quirky, witty, and interesting essays! I hope I can write something that's really reflective of my personality!</p>

<p>Let me know what you think about my chances for the following schools:
-NYU
-UCLA
-Georgetown
-Rice
-University of Chicago
-UC Irvine
-Brown</p>

<p>I know these are reaches, but I want to cushion the blow a bit... Will any of these schools look past my GPA? I didn't cure cancer, but I have proven in my extracurriculars how hard I can work if I'm passionate about something. I don't know anyone more sacrificial or committed to any activity. I don't want to spend all my money on 10 reaches crossing my fingers and end up disappointed. Thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>What is your UC weighted GPA? With the AP and Honors classes, it should be significantly higher than 3.4, but it is the number you will need to work from within the UC system. I think that UC Irvine should be a solid fit for you; UCLA is a definite reach unless your courses are weighted very generously and/or your test scores go way up. Would you qualify under the “local context” admission consideration (ie. top 9% of your class)? The private colleges on your list are all extreme reaches, with possible exception of NYU. You are obviously interested in good, urban colleges. You have a disadvantaged background, multicultural heritage, and - for some Eastern or midwestern colleges - some geographic diversity working in your favor, along with a decent academic record and respectable scores. You can get into a good college, and so I suggest that you don’t set your heart on the most selective schools. Think about Fordham, DePaul, Butler, Emory, Rhodes, et al. I would also advise you to work within the UC and CSU systems - students all over the world envy Californians for their public colleges. </p>

3

<p>Thank you @woogzmama ! My UC GPA is 3.84. I am surely interested in the other UC’s and a couple CSUs, so I’ll definitely take advantage, but NYU is my #1 if I look past the finances ahhh! Thanks for the recommendations…I’ll check out those colleges! </p>

4

<p>Reasonable chance at NYU if you apply early decision. Irvine is a probable. The rest are reaches. Look in Boston at BU and Northeastern for a sort of NYU feel. </p>

5

<p>Have you run the net price calculators on each college’s web site? NYU has a reputation of giving poor financial aid, so you may want to drop it from your application list if it is out-of-reach financially.</p>

<p>You should start your list with safeties first.</p>

6

<p>@ucbalumnus I am also considering
U of San Fran
UC Santa Cruz
Syracuse
UC Davis
Chapman
U of the Pacific
U of Texas @ Austin</p>

7

<p>And I still need to discuss financial aid with my parents :-/ </p>

8

<p>You don’t have great extracurriculars, you just have a lot. Try to avoid putting things you only did for one year. So yeah, no badminton. Try putting only the most competitive and unique extracurriculars on. </p>

9

<p>Also, be careful with the UC schools. A lot of them are looking to increase campus diversity and thus, aren’t looking for California residents. Just keep that in mind when applying to California schools. You have a better chance at public schools in different states.</p>