I’d like to start off by thanking everyone for taking a look at this. Please tell me what you feel are my chances of being admitted to the University of Colorado-Boulder will be.
I am a junior at a high school in Colorado.
I am planning on applying EA this November 2017 for admission of Fall 2018.
First Choice: University of Colorado-Boulder
Unweighted GPA from 5 semesters: 2.765
Weighted GPA from 5 semesters: 3.088
AP Human Geography (Freshman Year), AP Chemistry (Sophomore Year), AP World History (Sophomore Year), AP Lang (Junior Year), AP Biology (Junior Year), AP Government (Senior Year), AP Statistics (Senior Year)
Class Rank: 300 out of 600, approximately
SAT: First One
1290 (M:630) (E:660)
Perfect score on essay
Second One: Results TBA
Most important ECs
Team Leader at a museum in Denver (2014-Present)
Work in a lab in that museum (2015- Present)
Paid Intern at University of Colorado Anschutz (2017- Present)
FBLA President (2017-2018)
Mock Trial President (2016-2017)
Personal care provider for a healthcare company in Denver
DECA State Qualifier and Finalist
FBLA Three Year State Qualifier and National Finalist
Swim and Tennis (2014-2016)
Hooks
Foreign born
First generation college student
3 languages spoken
I am hoping that my leadership positions within the school, a goal of at least a 1400 on the SAT, my leadership position at the museum, lab experience at a museum and medical school, and the fact that I’ve taken challenging AP classes will offset my low GPA.
While the GPA is low, your sat score is pretty high for boulder. Also, Boulder has an acceptance rate of 80%. With this being said, as long as you work to increase that gpa, I think you should be ok.
A key to your situation is your intended major. You have to declare that (or say undeclared) as part of the application process. You are not likely to be directly admitted into engineering or the Leeds business school, but you have a pretty good shot at admission into the Arts & Sciences (and then you can try to transfer into engineering or business, but that can be difficult). And based on your GPA, it is perhaps likely that CU will ask you for your first semester senior grades and will not admit you until after reviewing them.
I received a perfect score on the SAT essay portion, all 8’s. Even though CU “doesn’t recommend, nor suggest” taking the essay, would they see the score if I submit it? Would it help me in admissions?
I’m not saying that you have to go with “undeclared”, but you should probably consider that, or perhaps picking a major that is in the Arts & Sciences college. I think about 80% of CU students are in the college of Arts & Sciences, and there are a ton of majors (e.g., Environmental Studies) that are not “competitive entry” majors. Also note that even if you put one of the more competitive majors on your application (e.g., engineering or business), CU can still decide to deny you that major but accept you instead into the college of Arts & Sciences (as opposed to an outright rejection). This is what happened with my son, who had a 3.2 GPA but slightly lower test scores than you. But with your GPA, I would suggest that you pick a major in Arts & Sciences that interests you (or either “undeclared”), and go with that for the application, and then try to transfer into something else after your first semester or two if you find something else you prefer to study. Good luck.
And be sure to have your application ready like the first day or so that the application portal opens. (Son used the Common Application.) Being very early in the process will help your chances of admission at CU.
What mathematics classes are you taking in high school? It really important that you have four years of math but maybe three years may be OK, depends on exactly what math you took.
That matters a lot to any college admissions process but
may be scrutinized by CU Boulder. Taking AP Chem as a sophomore is early, and very difficult to take that class if you did not have any chemistry in freshman year.
I think these or Arts and Sciences should work out. Study all the GPAs at each college and try hard to improve your GPA. Study this summer to prepare for your senior year classes. AP stats is not the math that is preferred, you need to have Algebra 1 and 2 Geometry , Trigonometry, Analytic Geometry/precalculus. AP Stats is not really a college prep math class at all. Its a subject that is useful for social sciences and engineering, so its OK to take it as long as you have all the required mathematics ! If you do not have Trig and Precalculus DROP AP STATS and take an actual mathematics class and get a tutor.
Math is very important and this could be why your grades are low, if you are not getting the mathematics you need
to get good grades in the science classes you are taking.
Its not about which major, its about which college at CU Boulder and their requirements.
There is also a College of Music that requires an audition.
Engineering or Business may be more difficult for admissions, with that GPA, but it depends heavily on your math classes and grades in those classes. Physics is good to have if you want to major in any science or math or engineering.
Thank you all for your recommendations. I took pre algebra, algebra, and geometry in middle school. I’m tool algebra 2 honors in freshman year, precalc as a sophomore, and college algebra and college trig as a junior. I’m hoping to get A’s senior year and get my SAT into the 1300s but I’m hoping that my low GPA would disqualify me from CU admissions.