<p>What do I think of your last post? Bumparooni? Not much. ;)</p>
<p>As for your essay, I’m sure that it will help your cause for admissions people to know the circumstances around your GPA. You have a very good profile, schools that take a more holistic approach (basically all your schools except GT and maybe CMU) will take the time to consider your situation. Factor in your URM status and I think you have a good shot at many of your choices. </p>
<p>Chance threads are nearly worthless to begin with, but getting “advice” that ‘Stanford is a match’ or input that completely contradicts easily findable facts (admit rates & test score %-tiles), only proves that old saying that “free advice is worth twice what you pay for it”. </p>
<p>My take on your situation is, when schools reject over 90 out of 100 candidates (Stanford and Chicago), it’s just smart to think of them as lottery ticket Reaches. I suspect you’ll get into at least two out of NU, JHU, USC and Cornell and both CMU & GT. Good luck.</p>