I am stressed. BU has been my dream school since 7th grade, but looking at others’ stats compared to mine has me nervous, and the school I’m applying to is allegedly in the top 3 of the hardest to get into at BU. Can y’all please tell me if I have a chance? BE HONEST!! PLEASE!!
Applying ED1 to College of Communications
GPA UW: 3.55 W: 3.9
I only have a “low” gpa because I was handling personal issues (my mother was falsely arrested—later proven innocent btw) in 9th grade, causing me to get a 3.0 uw that year. However, I’ve improved ever since in an upward trend. I got 3.4 uw sophomore year and 4.0 uw junior year. I plan on talking about my extenuating circumstances on the “additional info” section of the common app. In addition, my guidance counselor will also mention it along with the stuff listed in **others at the bottom of this thread.
SAT/ACT: I signed up for the SAT four times, but each got cancelled due to corona. I have no choice but to apply test optional now and I am worried because I spent the entire summer studying.
APs:
Psychology (4), Lang (5), Lit, Gov, Environmental
—I have taken mostly Honors classes, however I have taken 2 CP Sciences and 2 CP Maths. The CP sciences were not by choice, as one class there was no “Honors” level for it in 9th grade and in 11th grade I had to take CP Chem due to scheduling conflicts. I took Honors Bio the year before and had a B as my overall grade.
Internship senior year for a freshman English class
Job
—Part-time (sometimes full-time because I work 25-45hr weeks) year round job for the past THREE years. It is at a fast food restaurant and I have been training incoming employees for the last two years. I have also received a raise twice.
ECs:
—Community service club from 9th to 12th grade: Vice President (11th grade), Co President (12th grade). I have led numerous events by myself through this club, and have a total volunteer hours of 300+
—Journalism from 10th to 12th grade: News Editor (11th grade), Editor In Chief (12th grade)
—Drama club from 8th to end of 10th grade: Cast as LEAD ROLE in school play for sophomore year
—Founder of an online platform via Instagram that helps teach ESL students English vocabulary, grammar, etc (started May 2020). I currently have 1,500 followers and in the process of creating a YouTube channel.
—Boy Scouts of America from 5th grade to beginning of 11th grade: I eventually became the “leader” of Cub Scouts for 3 years, the only minor to be a volunteer for Boy Scouts at this location. I washed tables, helped the scouts with projects, helped them earn their badges, etc. My total hours for this are 345+. I included 6th-8th in that because on naviance it let me do that as an option.
**Earned several trophies throughout the years doing Boy Scouts, especially 1st place in the Pinewood Derby for most creative design two years in a row.
—Social Media Manager for a Climate Change initiative led by students across 30 different schools in Massachusetts (started in March 2020)
—French Honors Society (10th, 11th) my French class was cancelled this year due to Coronavirus so FHS was cancelled in the process; I was supposed to take AP French.
—National Honors Society (12th grade but we haven’t done anything)
—Have participated in Poetry Out Loud from 8th to 11th, and was a school finalist in 11th grade. I’m not putting this in my extracurriculars on common app but one of my teachers is gonna mention it in their rec letter.
**Also in the process of having a poem I wrote myself being published into a poetry book. Don’t know much about it tbh so don’t count it.
—The rec letters haven’t been written soon, but they are coming from my Journalism teacher who I’ve had for three years (and the major I want to go into) and my AP Lang teacher, who both love me. I am a very energetic student and participate in class discussions.
**ALSO: MY JOURNALISM TEACHER IS A BU ALUMNI WHO HAD THE SAME MAJOR AND MINOR AS I WANT!
Essay: I am writing my college letter surrounding my mother’s mental illness affecting me growing up, but I did not let it have a negative impact on me. Instead, I rose from it and advocated for change (I am the Co-President of Human Rights Club)
Demonstrated Interest: Have attended two zoom calls, thats about it. Due to COVID BU is not having any tours. I did sign up for the virtual tour and received an email; however, I could not attend because I was still in school. I am also on BU’s mailing list if that counts for anything, and have listed them as my top school on numerous scholarship websites!
Others:
—Caucasian Male
—First Generation College Student
—Massachusetts native
—Previously in foster care 2 different times (I am now with my biological mom again and have been since 4th grade)
—Low income family & grew up with government assistance
—Mother is mentally disabled
—Both of my parents struggle with alcohol and drug addictions, although my mom has been sober for 7 years and my dad for nearly 2 years. I don’t know if that’s worth mentioning since I’ve never done any drugs or drank.