Very weak applicant and I am a bit scared. Chance me please?!

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 have an upward trend. Here are my stats:
UW GPA: 85
W GPA: 88
SAT: 1070 (500 M, 560E, 16/24 Essay)
ACT: 21 Essay = 9 (didn’t study for this exam because I was focusing mainly on the SAT at first.)
I’m retaking it this month and my projected is a 24 or 25 only after much practice. I will get this up at a 30 hopefully in the September one with intense prep.

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 educating 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.

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 (spending my summer here doing mock trial bc I got accept into their young scholars program. won’t go if I don’t do well on the ACT.)
U of Miami
Lehigh
James Madison University
University of Pittsburgh
Syracuse Univeristy
Ohio State
U of Vermont
Tulane

2

What is your home state? As you know, you have little to no chance at most on your list. You need to look at state universities in your state and may need to consider routes that start at a community college. Going from a 21 to 30 is huge leap as a junior.

3

Your GPA and EC’s aren’t bad, but as you already know, a 21 ACT and 1070 is extremely low for all of those schools. Even if you get your ACT up to a 30, it is still too low for schools like UMich, UCLA, Berkeley, and USC. If you want any shot at any of these top universities,you will need to at least get a 33, probably higher since your GPA isn’t up to par. If you can improve your ACT to at least a 29, I think you will have a shot at state schools like Bing, Umass, maryland, etc.

Going from a 21 to a 30 is a pretty big leap, but it isn’t impossible. If your projected score is a 25 after studying, then you can certainly at least get it to a 28/29 with intense prep. Best of luck.

4

Why not consider some of the many test optional schools?

5

If your SAT is 1070 and your ACT is 21, don’t waste your money applying to places like Berkeley or UCLA.

6

You have a good shot at the following prestigious universities:
California State University Long Beach
Texas A&M University- Kingsville
California State University Northridge
California State University Bakersfield
Kean University
Cal State LA (frequently confused with UCLA)
Hampton University
Washington State University (frequently confused with UW)
University of Texas at Arlington
University of Texas at San Antonio
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
Montclair State University
Indiana University of Pennsylvania (employers frequently get this one confused with UPenn)
Pace University

High reach: Seton Hall, Temple, Syracuse, University of Arizona

7

^errr… the universities above aren’t “prestigious”. Seton Hall would be a match, not a high reach for this student.

What’s your parents’ budget for your college? Can they afford their EFC?
What state do you live in?

Most students, with intense studying, add +1, occasionally +2 to their original score. Let’s say you blow them out of the water and add +3, that’s a 24. You should aim for schools where a 3.1/24 is the average.

U of Michigan
USC (dream school /)
UCLA
UC Berkeley
UConn
Indiana U Bloomington
UMass Ahmerst
Binghamton
U of Maryland
U of Miami
Lehigh
Tulane
Syracuse Univeristy
====> completely out of reach either due to their process/emphasis on scores or because you’re not even within the bottom 25% range.

Penn State => branch campus choose Altoona1 and another one for 2 + apply in September DUS/Summer session to have a shot
University of Pittsburgh => same thing, list Pitt Johnstown first and Greebsburg second + apply undecided
Ohio State => same thing, except the branches for tOSU aren’t as well set up.

Some state universities you have a shot at:
in the mid Atlantic: SUNY Cortland, SUNY Plattsburgh, Mansfield University, Bloomsburg, Millersville (all three in Pennsylvania), UMBC (reach); in the Midwest: IUPUI,UMinnesota Duluth, Iowa State; in New England: UMaine Farmington, U Southern Maine, UMass Lowell; ; Radford, Longwood, UMW, ODU (last four in Virginia); if you really want a flagship, WVU, UWyoming, Ole Miss, UAlabama; in the South, add USouthern Mississippi, USC Aiken,Kennesaw State, Appalachian State, UNC Charlotte, ECU (all three in North Carolina); in California, Sonoma State, Cal State San Marcos, Chico State, LaVerne, URedlands, St Mary’s of CA.
You should apply to test optional schools.
For instance, if you like UVermont and Burlington (who wouldn’t), apply to St Michael’s, which allows for cross registration and is test-optional.
Other test-optional schools you should look into: Ithaca (same town as Cornell; you can also do SUNY TC3), Elmhurst (outside Chicago), Washington&Jefferson (outside Pittsburgh), Millsaps (in capital of Mississippi so plenty to do), Eckerd (on the beach in Florida), St Mary’s of California…
At test optional schools, your curriculum rigor, grades (especially 10-11 + 1st semester 12th), and EC’s are the main criteria, test scores aren’t used to determine admission.
For all of these though, RUN THE NPC and bring the results to your parents - ALL the results (they’ll be all over the place). Then start a discussion about what they can afford from their college savings and their current income.

8

Looking at your list, I agree with the poster above me. It wouldn’t hurt to apply to test optional schools and some state schools. However, if you’re still into the big-name schools like USC, UC Berkeley, and UCLA when you enroll at some school, I encourage you to try your very best so that you can apply for a transfer. To make this work, apply to either your local CC or a state school where you know you can do incredibly well. If you think you qualify for these schools by then, go for it!

For right now, stick with the local CC and state schools. It’s nice that you’re aspiring for these big-name schools, but come back to reality: there’s really no way you can get into them.

Don’t give up on your dreams, try your very best in senior year and college and one day, you might just be able to transfer to USC :slight_smile:

I hope this helped and best of luck!

9

There are other paths to great schools. You may attend a CC and try your best there, then transfer to a better college. The transfer application looks mostly on your college GPA rather than test score and high school GPA.

10

What do you want to study? I think a great strategy for those stats is to find an excellent program in a more average overall school.

If you don’t know why you are applying to a particular school, don’t apply there. College is too expensive and four years is to long to go to a school for no particular reason.