Currently, I am a junior at a fairly competitive school in Florida. I have a 4.5 weighted GPA and an unweighted of a 3.4 which should go up to a 3.5. I am the founder and president of model UN, the ICC representative for debate, the president of JSA (Jewish student association), and an editor for my school’s newspaper. I am in the top 10 % of my class which has 650 students. I have 200 service hours. I have not yet taken the SAT or ACT but when I do I will post the grades, however, I am aiming for somewhere between a 29-31 for the ACT and 1210-1300 on the new SAT.
I want to major in political science and minor in English. Ideally, I would prefer NOT to stay local and would like to go out of state because the schools in Florida do not offer a great law program. I know my unweighted and weighted gpa will likely be the death of me when it comes to whether or not I received acceptance but what schools are my safeties, what schools am I a match for, and what schools are reaches for me and please explain why. I have NO problem going across the country for school and payment options are steady so college fees is not an issue because I am expecting to get scholarships as well.
By the way, my grades in freshmen year were on the average side because of extreme medical concerns my father was/is experiencing that took a significant toll on all of us as he was medically labeled as schizophrenic, this isn’t to justify my mediocrity but it’s just to let you guys know. :). I am also a minority, just a BTW.
My list of schools:
University of Miami
Emory
George Washington University (Test Optional)
Baylor
New York University
Florida State University
University of Florida
Boston College
Boston University
Notre Dame
Wake Forest (Test Optional)
Duke and UNC Chapel Hill
Please tell me my safe schools, match schools, and reach schools and why. Also, feel free to list colleges you feel will be good for me.
University of Miami Low reach
Emory Reach
George Washington University (Test Optional) Reach
Baylor ???
New York University Low reach
Florida State University ???
University of Florida ???
Boston College Reach
Boston University Reach unless you choose CGS option then match
Notre Dame High reach
Wake Forest (Test Optional) Reach
Duke and UNC Chapel Hill high reach or out of reach
I think you could write your essays on your dad’s medical problem because I believe that could make a huge impact compared to other applications. Of course, some other applicants could have it worse but compared to ones who just have to take care of siblings and whatnot, having a dad as schizophrenic is a different family situation.
I do not know which schools are reaching/out of reach/low reach because I do not want to assume anything. Anything is possible. If you are wondering about just your academics itself, look up “(college name) common data set” on google and compare your academics. You could also maybe see what some universities consider the essays as the most, and then just really go full throttle on them about your dad and how that affected your family, grades, social life, etc.
Your academics surely aren’t stellar, but they are not bad either. If you probably go more in-depth as to what your service hours are, that could depend on too. Some schools do not even consider ranks, so the top 10% would not even matter.
Maybe if you can explain in detail as why you don’t want to stay in your town in your other essays, and why you like that university (the one your writing your essay for) better, then could improve your chance.
These are just my recommendations.
@TomSrOfBoston , is there a school that you know at the top of your head that would be safeties for me?
@bloxJacket , thanks man I really appreciate it
Bro, I got 32 ACT and 3.48 GPA UW. I got into Boston U. If you get 30 above, I’m sure you can get in.
what were your extra curriculars ? and if you don’t mind me asking, what was your weighted GPA?
what were your extra curriculars ? and if you don’t mind me asking, what was your weighted GPA?
@deathcrusher13
I didn’t do #$%^.
Extracurriculars:
Tennis Team member for 3 years
Debate Team member for 1 year
Volunteer for 150 hours+
@deathcrusher13 there is absolutely no way that you got into BU with a 3.9 W GPA, no strong EC’s, and the strongest part of your application being your 32 ACT score. What other colleges were you accepted to and where are you going to school
Prospect. I think you overrate the requirements to get into Boston U. Good school, sure, but crusher’s stats are right in line with who gets in. You do not need to be in the top 10% of applicants to get in.
Also, weighted GPAs are not all weighted the same by each college. (many calculate the gpa themselves throwing out courses that they don’t care about) They are typically more interested in the rigor of the school than how the school measures success. The most likely know about many schools and how common grade inflation occurs and how many opportunities there are for honors/AP/IB classes.
@Torveaux oh true. Can you chanceme then for the schools I listed?
I ended up going to LUC since they were giving me a scholarship.
Then why would I post on this thread in the first place?
@prospect_15 give the man some respect why don’t you. You can ask him about the application process and supplements and notwhat.
@Pokeman1 lol don’t worry about it, the OP is probably stressing over the admissions, I mean I was in the same situation as well. Anyway, I also forgot to mention that I was in NHS.
@pokemon1 @deathcrusher13 no insult intended dude. I apologies if i came off a bit disrespectful, I’m just really nervous and anxious about this entire process.What other schools did you get accepted to deathcrusher if you don’t mind me asking?
@prospect_15 I applied to UIC, LUC, UIUC, Northwestern U. In end I got into everything except NU.