Upward trend???

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello all! So my grades were terrible freshman year because to be honest, I only cared about being social and didn’t care about school. Biggest mistake of my life. Anyways, I’m currently a junior and will be a senior this and have an upward trend. I did exceptionally well on all my final/regents (I live in NY so we have something called Regents which are very important state mandated examinations. I got all 90’s this year which I didn’t in the past. SUNY schools look @ them only.) Here are my stats:
UW GPA: 3.4
W GPA: 3.6
SAT: 1070 (500 M, 570E, 16/24 Essay)
ACT: 22 Essay = 9
I’m retaking it in September and my projected is a 26 to 28 only after much practice. I will get this up at a 30 hopefully in the September one.
EC’s:
Varsity Gymnastics - freshman year
JV Volleyball - sophomore year
Had to quit all sports because I had a terrible concussion from volleyball. (Impacted my grades as well.)
Key Club: Vice-President (Junior Year) President (Senior Year)
Students Against Destructive Decisions Club:
Chairperson of Fundrasing (Junior Year)
President (Senior Year)
Peer Drug Educator (Had to be accepted into this drug and alcohol educator program.)
Volunteered the summer after sophomore year at my schools summer academy. (112 hours.)
Tutored kids - some with ADD/ADHD (20 hours.)
Freshman Orientation Committee (9th grade)
I work after school everyday for 2 1/2 hours. (Tutor and babysit.)

I don’t really have much to say for awards besides the fact that I was a top 100 finalist in a video competition but that’s basically it.

I’m a very weak applicant I know, but I will try to get my ACT up to a 30 no matter what.

Also did my college essay as it was an AP English assignment. While a lot of people received 80’s and 90’s, I got a 100. My teacher even told my sister how much she loved my essay. So I think my essay is strong, but going to work on it a little more.

Took bunch of honors and about 4 AP’s including senior year. I think I got 3-5’s on the 2 this year (language comp and psychology.)

Letters of rec: Pre-Calculus teacher: 8/10 —> I participated everyday in class and got a 94 on my final. I had 80’s and 90’s as test grades, perfect homework. He even gave us a questionnare which is great and makes the rec more personal.
US History and Government Honors teacher 9/10 —> Had her freshman year and this year and she told me after the regents (final for NYS as I mentioned earlier) that she’s really proud of how I worked this year. Got a 98 on it btw.
Anecdotal: Business Essentials Teacher
I had a 100 in her class for the year and always stood out. Only a 2 or 3 other ppl had 100’s in assuming. We had mock interviews for this class and I was one of the two people who got a perfect score. I think she will have a lot to say about my work ethic. She’s really a great person.

Anyways, so what are my chances at these schools?

IDEK WHY I AM APPLYING TO SOME OF THESE EITHER LOL.
U of Michigan
USC (dream school ://)
UCLA
UC Berkeley
Penn State (sis goes here)
Binghamton
U of Arizona
UConn
Indiana U Bloomington
UMass Ahmerst
Delaware
Drexel
U of Maryland (got into their young scholars program but not going bc grandpa was just diagnosed with cancer :frowning: )
U of Miami
Lehigh University
James Madison University
University of Pittsburgh
Syracuse Univeristy
Ohio State
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University at Buffalo

2

Im not sure why it got formatted like this sorry!!!

3

So just as some formatting for future readers:

Weak freshman year, did not focus on grades
UW GPA: 3.4
W GPA: 3.6
SAT: 1070 (500 M, 560E, 16/24 Essay)
ACT: 22 Essay = 9 but retaking soon with a projected change to a score of 26-28

Solid ECs and solid sounding LOR. Not sure about rigor of coursework offered at OP’s school (maybe OP can clarify?) but it sounds like the number of APs is a bit on the lower end.

Schools:

U of Michigan
USC (Cali??)
U Bloomington
UMass Amherst
Penn State
Delaware
Drexel
U of Maryland
U of Miami
Lehigh Univ
James Madison
Univ Pittsburgh
Syracuse
Ohio State
Univ Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
Univ Buffalo

That being said, I would recommend you absolutely retake the ACT and perhaps the SAT as well unless you do not intend to use the SAT score.

Really high reaches:

USC
UMass Amherst (OOS acceptance rate is sub 20% and as the flagship, their stats are higher than other UMass schools)
U of Michigan

Reach:

U Bloomington (They do not consider ECs as high as grades/tests)

Low match:

Penn State Univ Park
Syracuse

Match:

Penn State satellite campuses

Cant really say for the other ones.

4

I would say definitely retake your SAT and ACT to boost those scores, but your GPA is fine. Honestly colleges LOVE to see upward trends. I had a horrible GPA my freshman year of high school, but I boosted it like crazy over the next 3 years and finished with a 4.0 GPA. I was accepted into every university I applied to, and was told in fact by the admissions officer of one university that she noted my trend. It shows that you mess up but you can persevere - colleges aren’t stupid, they know not everyone can be super perfect all the time. It’s especially forgiven if you mess up your freshman year because you’re young and not as mature as you are when you’re older. Everything else on your profile sounds solid. I’d say you have a decent chance for your universities. Apply to them all and see what happens. Remember applications are holistic and it’s not ALL about the GPA. Good luck!