Weird Academic Record: Chances at Elite Schools

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi!

Thank you in advanced for the help. I am very out of touch with the college system in the United States and don’t have a reliable guidance counselor, so this forum gives me a lot of great advice!

So feel free to skip down to my record and school list, but I thought I’d give some background first, as I believe schools are interested in the person just as much as their activities. I should also note that I am just going to write this fast and messy-- straight to the point.

I am a 17-year-old in grade 11, I spent the first three years of my high school career depressed and only finished one grade level (9) in those years. I was only doing pass/fail classes through a really poor online school. Fast forward to summer 2017, I found a great elite online accredited school with classes I was really interested in, so I thought I would enroll. I didn’t have many expectations, but within a few months I realized that I was pretty good at school. I finished Grade 10 with a 4.0 GPA, but I didn’t take any tough courses. This year, grade 11, I took all the most challenging courses I could (find below) excluding Chemistry, which I hate. I have a near 5.0 weighted GPA and a near 4.0 unweighted GPA. I don’t mean to boast, as many have gone through far worse situations than I have, but I am really pleased that I was able to do a complete 180 with my life, going from a near drop out to a good (?) candidate for a good school. I did nearly all my school in a poor environment: traveling, busy/loud rooms of people, in a car, poor internet. The school that I did in a good environment was normally too good of an environment, I would need to stay in and do school while all my friends were outside on the beach, surfing, playing hockey, or any other of my favorite activities. The point is, I learned a lot of valuable life skills such as discipline while doing online school.

GPA Weighted- 5.0 (currently, expected to be 4.8-5.0)

GPA Unweighted- 4.0 (currently, expected to be 3.9-4.0)

SAT- Likely around the 50th percentile, I’m bad under pressure.

Major- Computer Science or Robotic Engineering (depending on the school and how I like AP Physics)

ECs-

Investing,
Filing a PPA (provisional patent application)
Attempting to license a product to a well-known company (including business meetings, prototyping, budgeting, etc.)
Learning a new coding language in my spare time
National Society of High School Students nomination and submission
Nation Honor Society nomination (denied due to my internet inconsistencies and inability to participate because of this)
JFK Essay Contest nomination and submission
I made an AlgoInvesting robot which tells me when to sell or buy stocks
National Youth Leadership Forum in Washington DC nomination (didn’t participate because of the time it is going on, family events are on at that time).

More to come! (any ideas in the comments?)

College List:

Dream-

Stanford
Harvard
Yale
CalTech
MIT
UChicago

Reach:
Vanderbilt
?? I need more reach schools
UWashington (CS)

Probable:
Cal State Long Beach
SDSU
Pepperdine
Santa Clara University
Chapman

Safety:

Oregon State University (robotics)
Oregon State University (Bend campus)
University of Oregon

Some Canadian colleges.

** The truth is, unless my financial situation changes in the next two years, I will likely go to a Canadian school unless I get into a reach/dream school. Tuition isn’t too big of a worry as long as it isn’t crazy expensive. As I said, I probably won’t go to a school like Chapman even if I was accepted because the cost isn’t worth the education (from a Canadian perspective).

** Feel free to suggest colleges below! This list is still in early development as I realized online science classes are not UC-Approved, so I had to remove all of those schools and add new ones.

Courses:

Grade 10-
Geometry
World History
World Lit
Computer Science and Coding
Biology
Entrepreneurship
Business

Grade 11-
AP Psych
AP English Lang and Comp
Honors Alg. 2
AP Computer Science Principles
French 1
Chemistry

Summer-

French 2
Honors Pre-Calc

Grade 12-

AP Calc (not sure which yet)
AP English Lit and Comp
AP Physics
AP Computer Science
French 3
American History (maybe honors, I hate history though).
Media Arts

Maybe Game Design and/or AP Stats, I have an interest in both.
** Feel free to suggest any changes/additions!

Okay now onto the good stuff. I have a really good GPA, good ECs, a decent background, but I expect to do poorly on the SATs (50th percentile is likely). As I struggle with anxiety, stuff like tests are really hard for me. I often stress and worry which heavily affects my performance. This is fine with me, as long as I do the SATs I will be proud of myself. I’m not trying to become the perfect student, I’m just trying to evaluate my options! I don’t really know if I have a chance at Ivy leagues. I don’t really know if my safeties are too low/high. I don’t really know anything about where I stand with my college list.

Could you guys let me where I stand and what colleges I will be looking at? It’d be ideal to have someone list an example of a dream, reach, and probable school for me-- just so I can get an idea. Am I screwed with a bad SAT score?

Thank you!!

2

The 50th percentile of the SAT is about 1000. That will exclude you from all top schools that require SAT/ACT scores. Caltech, MIT and many other top schools are known to put most students under a lot of pressure.

You are also a Canadian so many colleges will not give you any financial aid.

3

@TomSrOfBoston Thanks for the info.

I just did some more research and I think I kind of underestimated myself with the 50th percentile…

What would be a good score that-- paired with my gpa and ecs-- can land me at one of these schools?

I definitely think I would do above average. I’ll edit my post.

4

As with your old very similar post, not having standardized test scores makes it hard for anyone to comment.

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/2086261-college-chances-frame-of-reference.html#latest

5

As an international student these colleges will not give you any financial aid. Can you afford to pay US$50,000-$70,000/year?
UWashington (CS)
Cal State Long Beach
SDSU
Pepperdine
Santa Clara University
Chapman
Oregon State University (robotics)
Oregon State University (Bend campus)
University of Oregon

For top 20 schools an SAT of 1450 would be a minimum for consideration given your academic record.

6

Based on your thread,

I honestly think you need to restrategize a lot. Although the depression caused you to make slow progress and you made a great comeback, colleges will not likely want to take you because they don’t want you to become depressed again and get held back. Without and SAT score, as aforementioned, it’s kinda hard for us to help. At this point, given that you want to do CS which is THE TOUGHEST field to get into besides premed, you have to adjust your aim. I would highly recommend aiming for either CSUs or UCR and UCM or even community college and then transfer into better schools.

7

@TomSrOfBoston

My family and I have a really unknown budget right now because a lot could change for us in the coming years. Like I mentioned in the thread, I would likely only go to school in the US if I got into one of my top schools. I wouldn’t want to go to a school like Chapman, receive a mediocre education and pay hundreds of thousands of dollars-- that would be idiotic imo.

I should also note that “bad under pressure” was a poor use of words. I meant more like “social anxiety” which is also a problem for schools, but something that I am getting better at.

@GoBears2023

That’s not exactly how depression works. I was just going through a tough time and my life and am completely fine now, no issues. Can you elaborate, no offense but I don’t really think anything you said was credible. I have a near perfect GPA, I take rigorous classes, and have decent ECs, why would you suggest I apply to a community college? Ignore the depression… Why would you say this based solely on the fact I haven’t given my SAT scores?

It’s not a great comment to just say “you need to restrategize a lot. Apply to community colleges,” without any background information.

Thank you for explaining that CS is the hardest field to get into! I actually had no clue. I am just as content going into robotics, some other engineering, or business if that is the case.

Do you have to state a major when applying?

@happy1 @GoBears2013

As for the SAT, I understand that it is difficult, but I gave you a number that I am looking at. Imagine my SAT score was ~1500. What schools would I be looking at?

I just have no information on what schools I would be applying to. Am I a candidate for Yale? Would I even be considered at MIT? Would I be a great candidate at the University of Washington? I know I won’t do extremely well on my SATs; given the SAT scores I have provided (around ~1500), and my other achievements, can you guys give me anything regarding what schools I have a chance with?

Thanks everyone!

8

Don’t “imagine” your SAT score – take the exam and repost when you have scores (at least for a PSAT). Otherwise it is just a theoretical exercise. And FWIW a 1500 puts you in the top 1% – a score not many people attain.

9

Just to put things into perspective, even if you had a perfect 1600, it would STILL be difficult to get into the top schools. These schools have so many applicants than open seats. More than 75% of valedictorians and perfect scorers are turned away.

If your score is solidly within the middle of the accepted range, then it should be enough to put you in the running. The more competitive schools on your list (Stanford, Harvard, Yale, MIT, etc) all have very high scores. But they do take kids with lower scores. So if your story is compelling enough, they might take you.

10

@happy1

A theoretical exercise is exactly what I am looking for. I want to tour and research colleges that are in my range… I want the schools I research to be in line with my academic trajectory.

@sgopal2

Thanks! I didn’t really know that so I’m glad you brought it up.

Do you guys have any other advice as to where I should look to see my chances? Something like a site that has an overview of the Common Data Sets of colleges?

I think I might have come to the wrong place because some of the responses aren’t exactly what I am looking for. I am wondering what schools I will be looking at if I have a mediocre SAT score with a great GPA. I don’t need specific percentages for different schools with my exact academic record; I just want to know what schools I will likely end up at if I continue my academic record and get a slightly above average SAT score.

It’s kind of a state of mind thing. Worst case scenario-- I do mediocre on the SATs and continue my near 5.0 and ECs-- where do I end up? A school like USC? A school like CSULB? A School like University of Oregon? Where would I stand with this record?

I understand that “imagining” an SAT score is bad and could lead to some problems… I’m just wanting to set a ground rule on what would happen if I got this SAT score. It’s painful not knowing where I stand, especially considering if I can’t make it into a top-50 or so school, then I probably won’t be moving to the states. Just trying to clear up some uncertainties!

Thanks for the help everyone.

11

Most CC’ers are not into giving “what if?” advice. Come back when you have a real test score.

As for common data sets you will have to research each university’s website. And unlike Canadian universities the top 50 US schools look far beyond GPA and SAT scored.

12

@TomSrOfBoston

That’s kind of dumb. I’ll just make another thread with the exact same stats but I will just say I scored a1450 on my SATs… It’s not like I’m asking “oh what if I had a 5.0 GPA maxed out classes and perfect ECs… Would I get into Harvard and make my parents proud?”

13

@FakeName1332 We are just trying to help you and give you advice. If you don’t like what we are saying, then just ignore it and move on. You have given us relatively limited info and you expect full fledged chances.

14

IPEDS is where much of the Common Data Set information is aggregated.
https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/

If I were advising my own kid in your situation, I’d suggest that schools where their test scores were in the 25th-75th range would be a good place to start. A year of pass-fail followed by a year of easy As followed by whatever may come this year, all in online courses, is not going to get you into the most selective US schools. Depending on the rest of your application, it may not keep you out. But it’s not what most successful applicants will have, and it’s not going to counterbalance low test scores.

15

As for the depression point, I’m just saying that because you essentially got held back for 2 years (just based on the fact that it took 3 years for one grade), colleges may be hesitant to accept you since they wont know if this will happen again if you become depressed again (family emergency, grades, breakups, etc.)

16

@GoBears2023

4.8-5.0 Weighted GPA
3.9-4.0 Unweighted
1400-1500 SAT Score

Courses included

College List

Extracurriculars

Is there anything more I should include? I’m not sure what else I can include. Feel free to suggest something and I can tell you.

Regarding the depression, that makes a lot more sense. I totally understand that! Thanks for the comment.

@allyphoe

Wow. That’s a great site! Thanks for the help. I can definitely understand why having three bad years (one school grade) is a deterrent for most colleges. Just to clarify, I am taking two grades of the hardest work, I just want to make sure that is known as your phrasing seems a little confusing. I’ll definitely take all of this into consideration. I didn’t really think I had a competitive chance at my dream schools, but I thought that I’d make sure. I’ll still definitely apply to all! You never know who they might be looking for!

Thank you again!

17

MODERATOR’S NOTE:

You can say that you “hope” to score a 1450, but starting a thread stating that you scored a 1450 would violate ToS since users cannot misrepresent themselves.And starting any new thread now would also be against the rules if the thread is a repeat of the info provided here.

As suggested, if you don’t like a user’s advice, feel free to ignore. But please don’t argue every response because you on’t like the answer.

18

Volunteers come to CC to help people through the application process. Asking these volunteers to spend time seekng out and suggesting colleges based on hypothetical/hoped for standardized test scores and an unknown budget does not respect the time and energy people put into their replies.

It is great that you have improved your academics so much but you need to get all your facts together before people can give you meaningful college suggestions. If you want to explore college options now I recommend that you get your hands on some good college guide books (ex. Fiske, Princeton Review) and start reading.

19

Few thoughts.

  1. You’ll need to report (on your application) all classes taken including the pass/no pass or any failed classes courses. You don’t get to pick and choose.
  1. Try looking at the results threads from last year for your target schools. You’ll quickly see it’s impossible to “chance”. So many outstanding students get rejected.
  2. CS and Engineering is very competitive at many schools. The “average” stats won’t reflect this. For example. UC Berkeley has an over all acceptance rate of about 12% while EECS has about 7-6%.
  3. Try taking a practice SAT exam using test like conditions. One sitting, timed.
  4. The Oregon schools you have listed are less competitive. My kids who had top grades & test scores did get in and rejected at schools with <10% acceptance rates.
  5. Cal State and SDSU are also Californian state schools. You will get zero financial assistance and may run into the same a-g issues as UCs.
20

I typically don’t respond to these chance me posts. You seem to be demanding an honest response that most people including myself are disinclined to deliver in a direct manner. Your aggresive tone however merits a full throated response that if internalized may help to avoid later disappointment, so here you go.

Your background has numerous red flags. Inconsistent academics, aspirational test scores , fairly pedestrian extra curriculars, unrealistic target schools, a history of emotional issues that has led to fluctuations in both results and rigor, ambiguity around financial need and an inflated sense of entitlement as evidenced by the following;

“That’s kind of dumb”.
Or
“I don’t really think anything you said was credible”.

In my opinion both your dream and reach school’s are not attainable. At all of those schools you would be competing against kids that have 4+ GPA, 1500/34 sat/act, meaningful leadership GC, and a sense of continuity, rigor and consistency across all of the above. Unfortunately you don’t meet the minimum standard for consideration based on these standards. I would recalibrate both my expectations and attitude.

You are correct that few of us understand depression but AOs don’t view a depression diagnosis as a free pass and move on to your essays. To the the contrary their mandate is to identify students that will thrive and contribute to the academic and social community.

I wish you nothing but continued academic improvement and good mental health. You appear to be extremely smart and motivated so you should not question your capacity to succeed, but please work on your self awareness.

I hope this “reality check” gives you the capacity to pursue school’s in which you will excel.