What Are My Chances At These "Dream" Colleges Of Mine?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey everyone here are the top 6 most difficult schools on my list of schools:</p>

<p>Georgetown University
Middlebury College
New York University
Smith College
Swarthmore College
University of Chicago</p>

<p>My name is Rudy and I will be senior at Carl Sandburg High School. I will be a first generation Hispanic student who comes from a well off family (total household income is over 100k) and here is a summary of my High School record.</p>

<p>School Name: Carl Sandburg HS (Public)
Overall Weighted GPA: 3.1*
ACT Composite: 31 (retaking)
SAT: 2050 (retaking)
Number of AP Exams/Classes taken thus far: 5 (Exam scores 4's with two 3's)
Senior Year Schedule:
• Academic Math (Trig and College Algebra)
• AP Lit
• AP Biology
• AP World
• AP Psychology
• Electives (Business/History related) </p>

<p>Extracurricular:**
• Speech Team Member/Mentor (10th grade only)
-Earned many 1st and 2nd places in tournaments though was not allowed to partake in Regional’s due to limited spots saved for "senior members"</p>

<p>Hobbies:
• Have been playing guitar leisurely for about 3 years and I am a passable player.
• I enjoy writing, again for leisure, and with the suggestion of my English teacher I am planning to submit some of my short stories to the local literary magazine.</p>

<p>Work Experience:
• Private Tutor off and on since 10th grade
• Telemarketer, the summer of 2010 (was recently laid-off)</p>

<p>*My GPA is very low overall but if broken down by year it resembles this:
• Freshman Year GPA: 2.0
• Sophomore Year GPA: 3.5
• Junior Year GPA: 3.9
Hope this clears things up…</p>

<p>**Due to my low GPA I was prohibited from joining a majority of clubs available at my school since they require a minimum GPA of 3.0; this is my current circumstance. Joining Debate, Student Gov. and Mu Alpha Theta for myself and may or may not submit them in my application.</p>

<p>Will my Application even be considered at these schools or will it serve as a source of entertainment for an Admissions Officer making a "shot" for the waste basket?</p>

<p>Thanks again to everyone for replys!</p>

<p>PS- Have just over 50 CS hours, nothing special.</p>

2

<p>Most likely rejection at UChicago.</p>

3

<p>^ Thanks for the reply, same prediction for other colleges?</p>

4

<p>I think your best chances are at NYU, Smith and Swathmore.</p>

5

<p>Swarthmore is the most competitive of all the schools on the list – I know at least one student at Yale who didn’t get in there.</p>

<p>I think the only ones where you have a real shot are NYU and maybe Smith (but they are both reaches).</p>

6

<p>Is there any reason your GPA was so low in your earlier years of high school? Explaining that with a good reason (family death, illness etc.) and although I sincerely hope you did not encounter any of these tragedies, it may help the college admissions officers (and us!) understand why you are fit for such colleges with such a low GPA.</p>

7

<p>Georgetown has a small acceptance rate, I think you should go for the other schools (excluding Uchicago).</p>

<p>How are you planning on retaking all those before you apply?</p>

8

<p>Swarthmore accepts only 16%.- that’s a lower rate than any of the others on the list.</p>

9

<p>^^ Yes however Swarthmore (around 6,000) doesn’t get near as many apps as NYU (almost 40,000) or Georgetown (almost 20,000). As to the OP, your best chances are at Smith and NYU, the other schools are reaches, and you would probably receive a recejection letter from the other schools (sorry to be so blunt). Also, if you get A’s during your first semester during your senior year, this could increase your chances a little. Especially considering that your gpa has risen substantially over your four years in high school. What exactly do you want to major, or in what field? That could help you find another great school that you have a better chance at getting in.</p>

10

<p>Amount of apps has nothing to do with it! It’s still a highly selective school with brilliant applicants to choose from. Moreover, Swarthmore stresses ECs and involvement in bettering your community. Moreover, his GPA is too low. Swarthmore is the highest reach on the list. Georgetown is a reach too. The other schools are slight reaches. I’d say NYU is your only match and even that’s a stretch. Your test scores are great for NYU but that GPA is murdering you, man.</p>

11

<p>Elbeeen;</p>

<p>OP is a female. Lol</p>

<p>OP;
Being a URM will definitely help you, in all cases. Your GPA is the only thing that is really hurting you. If you score around a 2100+ second time around with the SATs, you would be highly considered at any of those schools. Not really diggin’ the whole lack of ECs though. I agree with the other posters - why did you have such a low freshman GPA? </p>

<p>Georgetown University - Mid/High Reach
Middlebury College - In
New York University - In
Smith College -Match/ Low Reach
Swarthmore College - Mid/High Reach
University of Chicago - High Reach</p>

<p>Write kick ass essays, and best of luck!</p>

12

<p>To recapitulate my thoughts, your chances are low for all of these schools. Both your standardized test scores and GPA are far from stellar.</p>

13

<p>abindley: WHAT?
Acceptance rates are expressed as percents.
Out of every 100 applicants, Swat takes 16. Out of every 100 applicants, NYU takes 24. Out of every 100 apps, Gtown accepts 19.</p>

14

<p>I don’t know very much about Georgetown, Swarthmore, or UChicago. (I haven’t looked into them; I’ve known since freshman year that I wouldn’t get in.) However, your GPA is weak for the other three. Granted, I don’t know how much freshman year counts compared to sophomore and junior years. Still, you need to bump your GPA up to have a comfortable chance. Likewise, I’d reccommend retaking the SAT and ACT; they’re also a little low. Granted, your scores do make the middle 50% for all of them, but I’d still take the tests again. I haven’t found much information on the average GPA of incoming freshmen for those schools. For the two I found information on (Smith and NYU), your GPA could use some help if you want a decent shot.</p>

<p>Don’t take my word for it, since I myself am not sure if I’m right, but all of these schools are reaches, at the very least.</p>

15

<p>Thank you everyone for your advice. I have taken everything everybody is said into account, and this created my new list of schools including one or two from this list. </p>

<p>I put them in a new thread since I thought this thread had died. Found here <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/974534-chance-me-my-final-list-colleges.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/974534-chance-me-my-final-list-colleges.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Sorry to everyone for making another thread so quickly but I have changed a few things (I hate that I can’t edit my posts) in the last few hours and for any future chances please see the aforementioned thread. Thanks again to everyone.</p>