<p>HS stuff:
current GPA - dropped from 3.83 uw to 3.76 due to a D+ in theoretical linear algebra, will probably drop further since I'm going to f*** up some more college classes this semester. But the policy with my classes is that I can retake the onces I screwed up and the new grades will replace the old ones, which is exactly what I'm going to do to get my GPA up to where it was. (summer classes)</p>
<p>I took the most challenging courseload I could. By the end of this year (or at least by the end of the summer), I will be completed with all the college math courses that I will need to take for the rest of my life.</p>
<p>SATs: 1950 reasoning, 29 ACT (24 reading, 28 english... don't ask), 800 math II and 740 chem. I will be retaking my standardized tests and try to get the best possible score this time.</p>
<p>ECs:
mostly sports - 4 yrs of cross country (2 varsity letters); 2 yrs of soccer (varsity sophomore year); tennis junior year (JV... I sucked); and varsity track in senior year (coach says I have potential ^^)
science olympiad 9-12 (a **** load of gold metals from state competitions; team made state my 9-11 years) it's Iowa, so SO isn't competitive at all for that matter
Math circle, which includes a bunch of math practices and competitions in the great plains region. (individual state qualifier 9-12)
Ping pong club 10-12 (starter and leader) The club kinda died my senior year. Right now it's pretty much nonexistent
Some volunteering, tutoring and stuff. There maybe more, but I can't really remember.</p>
<p>I took like 8-9 APs and got 3 5's, 3 4's and 2-3 3's</p>
<p>That's about it.
I was rejected by all of my top schools because of green card and financial issue. Hopefully I'll be in a better position next year</p>
<p>Tell me what can I do from now up to my college freshmen year to make me appealing to the ad coms. I'm considering on making a fundraiser along with a part time job. All of this will come with a heavy courseload.</p>
<p>Based on my HS stats you see and assuming that I will do better on my standardized tests and get A's in retaking my college courses, which schools might be good for me?</p>
<p>My dream school is stanford, but their transfer rate is 1.5%</p>
<p>I’m not sure many schools of your desire accept (or at least see with significance) retaken classes. You should also check thier policies on taking standardized tests after highschool.</p>
<p>Another tip-try to have ec’s that coincide with your intended major. Fundraisers are nice, but not as nice as an application with ec’s that show your true interests.</p>
<p>Here is my take on the situation: I just got accepted to Vanderbilt University for my sophomore year with a 3.3 HS GPA (competitive private school with 4 AP classes and a few other Honors) coupled with 3.41 college GPA at Top 35 LAC. My SAT was decent, maybe not by college confidential standards(670 V 570 M 600 WR ), but respectable. </p>
<p>At my school, I joined a Bible Study group, tutored middle school special education kids, and played for my school’s varsity baseball team (D3, recruitment from HS helped me get into this school). I developed a good relationship with my academic adviser, decided that I was going to do extremely well in my political science course in order to get a good recommendation from the professor, and took interesting/challenging classes that I enjoyed (Philosophy and a 200-level Neuropsychology class) </p>
<p>Bottom line from my story: If you are positive on transferring, meet with your academic adviser and a professor from your intended major field in order to discuss your interests and the like so that you get a good recommendation. </p>
<p>Second piece of advice: Join one or two extracurricular activities that you enjoy. Not just for the transfer application, but to enrich your experience at the college. </p>
<p>Contrary to many people on these threads, a 3.4-3.7 GPA from a respectable school makes you a very competitive transfer applicant.</p>
<p>I do like to help people. I want to start a fundraiser because I have never done anything like that before. Plus, it would help me become more of an activist, which is what I want.</p>
<p>For my ECs, I’m thinking that I would just choose one or two that I really like and go with that.</p>
<p>Put everything together, I will be looking at work, heavy courseload, 2 major ECs, fundraiser, internship if available, and some volunteering if available. Is that too much? Again, my dream school is stanford.</p>
<p>gsweitzer, How did you just get accepted to Vanderbilt? I thought they weren’t notifying until mid-April? Did you get an email or official letter in the mail…?</p>
<p>The actual policy is that both grades (the good and the bad) show up on the transcript, but the second one gets counted into the GPA. I got a D+ in a really hard college class last semester, and I’m probably bound to f-up some more college classes this semester.</p>
<p>If I do retake them, the grades WILL be better, but the bad grades would still show up. Do I say good bye to Stanford? :(</p>
<p>on the contrary, my other thought is that retaking and scoring well is a good thing. picking myself up, even though I already learned everything once.</p>
<p>I don’t know specifically about Stanford’s policies, but I think a lot of schools would take into consideration that you retook the course and showed mastery of the material with a better grade. :)</p>
Yes, you should say good-bye to Stanford. For now; possibly forever, possibly not…</p>
<p>What you should do: 1) focus on doing well at your current school. 2) If you wish to re-take stdized tests, go ahead. 3) If you wish to re-take courses to get better grades, go ahead. 4) Participate only in those ECs which interest you, not ECs you think will impress the adcoms. An EC that a student has engaged in for one semester will have minimal, if any, effect on your admissions chances.</p>
<p>If, after first term next year you: 1) have, in fact, done better on standardized tests; 2) have a GPA competitive for the schools of interest to you (usually 3.5+ for a school like Stanford)… then go ahead and apply. But, if you really wish to transfer, you must also apply to schools with more realistic transfer acceptance rates.</p>
<p>btw, when are you going to re-take the 3 (or more) courses. Is that going to mean that you take fewer new courses in your regular terms than most students? I don’t think that will be an impressive approach for a school like Stanford.</p>