Updated Chances Please - Crappy GPA, Decent Test Scores!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>How am I looking for these schools (undergrad)? </p>

<ul>
<li>Major: Bioengineering/Biomedical engineering</li>
<li>CA/Male/Asian</li>
<li>School: One of the most competitive schools in Cali (1H, 1Y, 1P, 2S this year, 6-7 to each UC, 1UPenn, 1JHU, 1Cornell)</li>
<li><p>Rank: 68/646 until 1st semes Junior year (10.5%).. awaiting 2nd semes. rank (will go up into or very very close to 10%)</p></li>
<li><p>GPA: UC GPA: 3.96. For the other schools - So many schools have different formulas so I'm not sure how to calculate it anymore >_> here are my grades:</p></li>
</ul>

<p>H = Honors</p>

<ul>
<li><p>9th (yea I really screwed up 9th grade... moved here from MN & the classes were wayy more advanced here in CA - I'll try to talk about that in my essay)
H Global Studies/Health A- / A-
Eng A / A
Bio A / B+
Span 1 A / B
Marching Band/Symphonic Band A / A
H Geometry B+ / B
PE A / A</p></li>
<li><p>Summer @ local CC
H Alg. II A</p></li>
<li><p>10th
Span 2 B+ / A-
Phys A / A
Marching Band/Wind Symphony A / A
H Eng B+ / B+
Chem A / A
H PreCalc A / A
AP World Hist. C+ / B-</p></li>
<li><p>Summer @ local CC
H US Hist. A</p></li>
<li><p>11th
AP Phys A / B
Marching Band/Wind Symphony A / A
AP Calc A / A
AP Eng Lang. & Comp. B- / B-
CS A+ / A
Span 3 A- / A</p></li>
<li><p>12th
AP Stat.
AP Bio
AP Eng Lit.
AP Gov. & MacroEcon
AP CS
Marching Band/Wind Ensemble II</p></li>
<li><p>SAT: Superscore 2140; 2100 (640CR, 720W, 740M), 2100 (600CR, 720W, 780M), retaking for 2250+</p></li>
<li><p>SAT II: MathIIc 800, Phys 750 (retaking), Bio (pending, say maybe 750 for chance purposes)</p></li>
<li><p>APs: Calc BC (5), Calc AB Subscore (5), Eng Lang. (3), Phys Mech (3), Phys E&M (3), World History (3)</p></li>
<li><p>ECs:</p></li>
<li><p>Piano: 7yrs, Marching Band - 4yrs (Instrument for 6yrs)</p></li>
<li><p>Bio-related Research Internship: current summer, Siemens/Intel - (pending), Local Science Fair - (pending)</p></li>
<li><p>Math Club: 4yrs, Riddle Club - 10th & 11th (Pres. & Founder)</p></li>
<li><p>Website Design both commercially & for non-profit organizations (ie. school band, ptsa, teachers, chinese school, etc.) - countless hours</p></li>
<li><p>Chinese school student council committee chair: 10th grade</p></li>
<li><p>Volunteer: local museum, thrift store - many hours during summer</p></li>
<li><p>Useless Rantings:
Pretty much increasing GPA trend from 10th - I'll be busting my ass of 1st semes. of 12th
Had an ugly cold on my 2nd SAT retake which explains for same score.. should do much better next time</p></li>
<li><p>Applying to:
UCB [Reach]
UCLA [Slight-Reach]
UCSD [Match]
UCD [Safe-Match]
UCI [Safe-Match]
Cal Poly SLO {Safety]
UIUC
UMich. Ann Arbor
Carnegie Mellon
USC
Cornell ED
Duke ED
Cornell w/o ED
Duke w/o ED</p></li>
</ul>

<p>^ still trying to decide between the 2 EDs</p>

<p>I think I've got my chances for the UC's figured out though it would be nice if someone could confirm them - just mainly need the OOS schools & USC.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>C+???? that wont bode well</p>

3

<p>Bump ~10char.</p>

4

<p>Bump ~10char.</p>

5

<p>Hmm, looks like AP World Hist really got you, man :(
If I remember correctly, it was a pretty hard class (if that's consolation)</p>

<p>Anyway, your SAT scores seem to be pretty decent (if you can get 2250+ that would be even better), and your ECs seem alright too. </p>

<p>I'm going to go out on a limb here and tell you that UCB is not as much of a reach as you expect it to be. One of my friends had a GPA that was in the 3.8 UW range (should be close to what you have) and an SAT score that wasn't too much higher than yours. She got into UCB on regular decision even though she last-minuted her essay :D</p>

<p>Duke and Cornell are going to be reaches, though. I don't know how much ED would help in your case, but personally I would ED to Duke over Cornell (Cornell has one of the HIGHEST suicide rates among the nation's colleges apparently, and student satisfaction is not very high from what I read and hear...one of my friends actually chose Purdue over Cornell since Cornell was the only Ivy he got into.)</p>

<p>Chance me back?
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=372096%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=372096&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

6

<p>I'm actually quite proud of APWH - had no clue what to expect so I started in the class with a 40% t.t - brought it up though :) - yea I know it still sucks</p>

<p>I don't think my UW is close to 3.8 if my UC is only 3.96 >_></p>

<p>Any specific reason for Cornell's high suicide rate? Courses too tough? Gorges?
I think Duke's much more of a reach than Cornell though so that's why I was debating</p>

<p>Are my other UC predictions about accurate? How am I looking for the other OOS schools on my list?</p>

<p>Other chances please? Thanks!</p>

7

<p>Cornell is Gorges... lol</p>

8

<p>Bump ~10char.</p>

9

<p>your UC is probably around a 3.6 UW, but your SAT is a 2100. UCLA's average is a 2006 on their SAT, but a 3.83 UW GPA. Your test score is above, but GPA below. Get that SAT up and you'll definitely have stronger chances.</p>

10

<p>Thanks - anyone have some chances for those OOS schools?</p>

11

<p>Reaches: Duke, Cornell, UMich</p>

<p>Because of your scores and rank. You think your school is competitive but 8 students to top schools from a class of 600 isn't competitive. My graduating class size was 118 and 7 kids went to Yale alone. That's competitive.</p>

<p>You've got a lot of threes on your AP tests, which isn't great. Engineering at Duke and Cornell are going to be big reaches for you.</p>

12

<p>7 kids went to Yale?</p>

<p>That's disgusting.</p>

13

<p>^Choate sent 20 kids to Brown JUST under early decision.</p>

<p>It could be much more disgusting.</p>

14

<p>haha</p>

<p>I would expect that from a private school.</p>