Hi I just applied last week but I was crazy enough to apply to ivy’s with no safeties… (I know, I’m stupid)
So I would like to know if I have ANY chance at the schools I applied to. (ivy’s, JHU, CMU, NYU, WUTSL, Stanford, Penn state)
GPA: 3.7 (Didn’t get my senior year 1st semester grades, but they will be really bad)
Rank until 11th grade: 5% (will probably go down once 1st semester 12th grade grades are out)
SAT1: 2400
SAT2: US History: 800, Math2: 800, Physics: 800
Course load: Full IB
EC:
- 4 years of Varsity and club soccer.(Captain for 2 years)
- 10 years of Band/ local orchestra (Trombone, Violin, have one international award)
- MUN for three years
- President of Debate club
- NHS for 2 years
- Math team 4 years
- President of Amnesty Club
- Internship at an embassy for 1 year
- Founded a non-profit organizations (probably they don’t even care about this)
- Volunteered in South Africa
- Peer tutoring for 3 years
Awards:one state award, but nothing major…
Recs:
Teacher 1: good
Teacher 2: only known me for 2 months
Counselor: Okay I guess
Essays:
Commonapp: GC said they were amazing
Supplements: showed it to few teachers and they said they were good
Additional info
- I am an Asian male which significantly decreases my chances.
- My final GPA (with the 12th grade grades) will be really bad since I had to change school this year.(I moved to India)
- I wrote an essay on the "Additional information section" about my circumstances (changed highschool 5 times) and bad GPA. GC said it was better than my commonapp essay lol.
So what are my chances? and I will chance back.
Your scores are amazing, your. If that GPA is explainable, you would’ve been set.
However, your first semester grades will likely hurt you. Quite badly.
My guess is that you’ll still be accepted into AT LEAST 1 of them.You should still apply to a safety. There are plenty of colleges that have deadlines that haven’t passed yet. I’d suggest Rochester and USC.
Edit: Wait a second. If you only applied to the Ivies, what’s with the schools in the second line of your post?
No one can give you an accurate chance at highly selective schools. There are too many factors.
With that said, you seem to have a better shot than most applicants.
I’ll add Fordham, Tulane, Stonybrook, and Temple to the list of possible safety schools.
Your scores are… well, perfect, and your EC’s are solid.
The main concern with your application, especially for the upper-tier Ivies, is presented in this line: “GPA: 3.7 (Didn’t get my senior year 1st semester grades, but they will be really bad).” I do see you getting into one of these universities though. Yeah, people with 2400’s are rejected every year, but a perfect SAT with perfect SAT II’s should be enough to get you into one of your selected universities at the very least, as long as you didn’t completely mess up anywhere else (like in your first semester grades or your essays). Applying to some safeties in the meantime can’t hurt.
Chance me?: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1726127-chance-me-at-top-schools-for-a-chance-back.html#latest
The only thing thing that stands out in your app are your test scores… Great scores tho. Your course load is good, but you’re about as stereo typical as asians come… Great at tests but not stellar at anything else. Because of grades and over representation I’d say all ivies and Stanford are a reach. JHU, WUSTL, and CMU are matches, and NYU and Penn State are safeties.
oh I meant that non of the schools I’m applying to are actually safeties. NYU, Pennstate can be matches. but definitely not safeties. 
As long as your essays are decent, you’ll probably get into one of the ivies. No guarantees, because you’re a typical “Asian” student to admissions… 2400, math team, band, etc…
Regardless, I’m pretty confident one will accept you
@JasonLIE They’re as close as your gonna get… Penn State’s average SAT is around 1800 and GPA is around 3.75. Your GPA is about average and your SAT scores boost you waaay up, and considering the fact they’re not very competitive, you have a VERY good shot.
@reddr0p Thanks!! do u think the AO’s will take take in to consideration my “unusual” circumstances (eg. changing highschool 5 times) and be a bit generous to my low gpa?
@JasonLIE - If 3.7 is your unweighted GPA, it’s very low for an unhooked applicant to the top schools. If that’s your weighted GPA, it’s exceptionally low. Great test scores will not offset poor grades. You will likely be seen as a high risk candidate - someone who can achieve 2400 SAT + 800 on SAT IIs should be able to get good grades, even after switching schools. The only valid excuse I can think of - if you had to switch mid-semester and were tested on material you did not know, and your poor grades were the direct result of this switch, then it’s possible that colleges will overlook the grades for the semester you switched.
How have you managed to do the full IB while switching schools 5 times? Have you been switching between IB schools?
I agree with @Coolboy1997 - however I would think HYPS are likely out of reach. The remaining Ivies would be high reach. At CMU, SCS would also be out of reach but you might have a chance at some of the other schools there.
@BldrDad Yes the 3.7 GPA is my unweighted.
And yes, I only went to international schools that had IB program.
And for drop in my grades, it was mainly because I was tested on materials that I didn’t learn in my previous school. For example, my History class covered a completely different topic since the topics are chosen by teachers.
Plus, my current school doesn’t have teachers for two of the IB classes that I took in my previous school so I basically have to self study those and take the exam.
With an essay explaining all my circumstances, do you think the ivy’s will at least consider me?
Your test scores are phenomenal. Your GPA is subpar and lacking. This is what you may expect:
HYP: High Reach
Dartmouth: Low Reach
Brown: Low Reach
UPenn: Reach
Columbia: Reach
Cornell: High Match
JHU: High Match
Wash U: Low Reach
Stanford: Reach
NYU: Low Match
chance me back?
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/17949766#Comment_17949766
@JasonLIE - I have no idea if your essay will help - maybe it will, or maybe it will appear that you are making excuses for less than stellar results. Why should these colleges accept you when they are turning down others with 2400 SATs, comparable ECs, and 4.0 GPAs? You will need to convince them you are the better candidate.
Having to self-study for future IB exams does show commitment, but I don’t see how it is relevant to college admission decisions that will occur long before you take them. Only if you ace the IB and apply during a gap year would this be relevant.
Well Stanford is so unpredictable, my friend has legacy (through his older brother), all perfect SATs (I and II) and was 2ND at my school (1st scool Texas), had amazing ECs and applied for early action and was denied, not even waitlisted.
His older brother had 3.8 UW and 750 ish for all SAT II and I subjects, and was top half of his class. BUT, he was similar to you in that he switched schools a lot he moved to China with his dad and then came back to the US with his mom, then dad moved to Malaysia and he enenrolled in a private academy there. He had insane EC’S he had an international exchange student program by virtue of talking to the high schools he attended, he mad high awards in track and field among different countries.
So, I think with your fluxuating situation and SAT scores will earn you an above average chance to the ivies. I’d say around 20 to 30% chance.
Many of the people on this thread are lying to you.
HYP: High Reach
Dartmouth: High Reach
Brown: High Reach
UPenn: High Reach
Columbia: High Reach
Cornell: High Reach
JHU: Low Reach
Wash U: Low Reach
Stanford: Stratosphere
NYU: High Match/ Low Reach (NYU will never be a safety)
Your test scores are perfect, but they are one component of an application. Saying that you are guaranteed to get into one ivy is a down right lie. And having a 20-30% chance is a completely arbitrary number. I’m sorry, but ivy admissions aren’t guaranteed for anyone and getting into an Ivy League school isn’t an entitlement. Your GPA is okay for these schools, but it’s low for Harvard and Yale especially. Harvard’s average GPA is 3.98 and Yale has said that high test scores will never make up for a low- average GPA.
@CaliCash thx for the honest comment! 