So I’ve been fairly solid academically. Mostly A’s, seven AP’s (six 5’s and one 4), got a 1490 on my SAT, and 790 on SAT II US History (will take Bio and Lit in August).
The thing I’m worried about is, I screwed up pretty badly 2nd semester of sophomore year and ended with a 3.0 GPA with an F in PreCalculus. But I have valid explanations for that --involving parental abuse and severe depression. I moved to China to live with relatives after that semester and repeated the 10th grade, but I took a bunch of AP classes and I’ve gotten all A’s since.
My extracurriculars are kind of all over the place. In 9th grade my only extracurricular was ASB, but I poured my heart into it. I was Executive Board Member and I led committees, managed clubs, and wrote the ASB Constitution because we were the “inaugural class”.
In China I made a hospital volunteering program for students at my school and created a school newspaper in 10th grade; I know this isn’t anything new in America but hospital volunteering programs are rare in China and school newspapers too because of Communist ideology and censorship. I also did a Chinese medicine internship at another hospital over winter break. And I co-founded a Khan Academy-like website for underprivileged kids in China. I do art and piano on the side.
I want to major in sociology with a focus on stigma and education in China, but have no idea if my extracurriculars will help me. My AP Lit teacher was a sociology professor though and he wrote me a great rec letter, and he says he’ll involve me in some sort of sociological research starting in the fall. I’m also taking a college-level sociology course taught by a Northwestern professor right now.
I’m a Chinese-American female and California resident. I’m thinking of applying to Berkeley, Northwestern, Cornell, and other schools in the UC system. Has my sophomore year GPA ruined my chances?
AP Tests Taken (before senior year):
AP Physics1 4
AP US History 5
AP Calculus AB 5
AP Biology 5
AP Psychology 5
AP English Language 5
AP English Literature 5