What are my chances(Really Unique Situation)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi,so Im in a bit of a weird situation and am really concerned for my future and what exactly my chances are to get into an ivy league or essentially any college. Im not sure exactly what I want to do in life but Im leaning towards forensics, business, or philosophy. So to start off I will organize every thing chronologically to give insight into my situation

Middle School
Started a success business at 13 years old, really basic import stuff resell stuff. Ended up selling out and just kept the money since as embarrassing as it is I got bored with the management side of things. Stupid I know but I was just a kid

High School
Freshman year around a 2.2 GPA, only EC was JROTC
Sophomore year first semester a 2.4 GPA, only EC was JROTC and the most notable thing I did was got invited into the Capstone program at our school which was the first class in the district and school to take place

This is where things get odd so bear with me, during my second semester of my sophomore essentially I had a sudden realization. Just what exactly am I doing with my life? Is this how I want to live? Essentially I realized I was a little immature kidand that I needed to change, it was a major character development arc in my life time. I ended up switching to an online academy to distance myself from everything and just work on myself and think. Essentially I became convicted to change myself and to grasp my future so I put in the effort to do so. I finished my sophomore year at a 3.8 GPA at the online academy and during summer I was able to successfully start a new business and begin studying philosophy/psychology in my own time to understand myself better and improve myself. That essentially consisted of reading through Freud multiple times, Aristotle’s works a couple times and pretty much a majority of the books in the Britannica collection. The business I started took off towards the end of my junior year and I ended up raking in close to 4,* and I am still running it today.

When my junior year started I went to the online academy again, skipped my junior year by taking the classes as quick as possible and made up a majority of my freshman/sophomore classes. This raised my GPA to around a 4.2. My “junior year” started in the 2nd quarter which was actually my senior year by credits so I was due to graduate a year early. I took all AP’s and scored fairly high on tests getting a 5 on all except AP chemistry which I got a 4 in. During the end my senior year I dual enrolled in a college to raise my GPA and graduated as the salutatorian and at 16 years old. Im planning to take a gap year to focus more on myself and do community service and possibly travel abroad because with my new found wealth I would like to see the world and learn from others. I was also planning to join some business competitions however Im not really sure yet which I will. So the biggest flaw with everything that happened was that I have very few EC which are very very essential to getting into a a top ranked college.During my senior year I participated in the following

Wresting(CIF)
Track and Field(CIF)
Community Service(Got an award for hours given)
Got a job at Barnes and Noble(Responsible for training new employees multiple times)
JROTC(Graduated as O-1, was in charge of flight)
Civil Air Patrol
Honors Society
Speech and Debate
Day Trading(Got caught up in the bitcoin uprising and profited from that, and later cashed out at a profit and switched to futures which I currently trade)

And as for my test scores

SAT: 1600
ACT: 34
ASVAB: 99 (3 tries, first was 86, second was 92, third was 99)
AP Cal AB:5
AP Lit:5
AP Human:5
AP Psych:5
AP Gov:5
AP WH:5
AP Chem:4
AP Macro:5

Self Studied:
AP Physics 1:5
AP Stat:5
AP Jap:5
AP Micro:5
AP Psych:5

Tutors Hired/Assisted Self Study
AP Lang:5

Instruments
Violin(1 year)
Bass(1 year)

Languages
N2 Japanese(1.5 years)
Spanish(Understand but can barely speak it)
French(2 years, could never get over the way it was spoken so never really retained any knowledge)

Really into movies and anime but im not sure if I can use that so its more of a guilty pleasure

Offered internship by a well known banking service to shadow as a financial adviser however I declined due to my lack of interest in economics.

And that’s pretty much it, what else can I do to improve my academic profile since my EC’s are pretty terrible or is it already too late and Im stuck with what I got. I understand I have a very solid academic profile however im not if colleges with nit pick my utter lack of ECs. Im hoping I can join Speech and Debate again this academic year despite not being a student so I can compete this year however I have yet to discuss this with my school. So with that said, what are my chances?

EDIT
I completely forgot to specify a college. I want to possibly go to Cornell, Penn State and Stanford as my ideal situation college. My back ups would be UCR or the Air Force Academy or the University of San Diego

2

Yeesh! My head is spinning a little :slight_smile: From what I’m seeing, you graduated with a good GPA, but it was based on a lot of AP classes. The elite colleges are going to see through that when they look at the unweighted GPA. Virtually all the kids that go to those schools have a near perfect SAT and never had a B in their life. I see the AF Academy on the list, so I’m assuming you have an interest in a military career. I think you have a good shot at the AF Academy, but it’s going to be a bit of a reach. You’re eligible for an ROTC scholarship next year and your stats would be a great fit for Texas A&M. The A&M Corp of Cadets is considered the best ROTC program in the country. Either way, going to an elite school won’t make you any more a Second Lieutenant.

3

Do you mean Penn State or University of Pennsylvania? No offense to Nittany Lions but U Penn is mote consistent with Cornell and Stanford. Just making sure you don’t apply to the wrong school.

4

Consider state school honors colleges as you may qualify for automatic scholarships based on your outstanding test scores & you may be able to get a years worth of course credit due to your 13 AP tests with a score of 5 & one 4.

This will enable you to get to grad school quicker & cheaper once you determine what you want to study & to become.

Seems like you prefer online courses to in class discussions. If so, be prepared for a difficult transition.

Arizona State University Barret Honors College may be a good starting point for you as many classes are available online–although I am not sure about specific honors courses which may require that you attend class. But, should be a helpful starting point. Try to contact ASU Barret Honors College for more information.

5

Well, first of all, why do you want to go to an elite school? The ones you’ve chosen are all over the place…not saying that’s wrong but I would concentrate on going to a good college that’s also affordable for you (and what is your financial situation…will you need aid?). I’ll toss out one offbeat idea – St John’s College in Annapolis. and they offer forensics.

6

My immediate thought for you was, this guy (gal?) should look into schools with a focus on entrepeneurialship because it would help him/her jump to the next level.

Seems like you didn’t do so great in a traditional public school, and that you really excelled in the on-line program. I know this corresponded with your epiphany about the importance of doing well, but I think there is probably also something about the on-line program that appealed to you over the public school. Think about why the on-line program is a better fit for you, and then think about how this would apply at the college level I’m wondering whether you need a school that would have a lot of internships and practical experience, rather than a more traditional university. And a top ranked school actually might not be where you would get the best kind of experience for you. For you, I think it’s all going to be about fit, so I’d spend a lot of time thinking about what you want your college experience to look like and what you want out of it, and a lot of time researching the various schools. All I’m saying is, for you in particular, really keep your eyes open and don’t pre-judge based on rankings.

And if you do want to get into a top ranked program, although you’ll have to deal with your low grades from before, I don’t think you will be automatically tossed in the reject pile because of the business you started, and because of your upward trajectory. While true for everyone, you will be an underdog, so you will have to write very compelling essays to show how their education will enable you to springboard onto the next level, and how you could contribute to their community.

I’d also focus on business rather than forensics or philosophy, since the more unusual aspect of your application is the business you started. You can always change majors once you are in school, unless you go to a university where you get accepted into the business division and that particular university doesn’t allow you to transfer between its colleges.

7

No way anyone can project what your chances are. For those who have top notch grades and test scores the admit rates are in the single digits. For someone with a non-traditional academic background, even more uncertainty.

All the colleges you mention are taught in a mostly traditional way. You seem to have a track record of not doing well in that type of environment. So, why are you looking to go to such a college? The colleges would certainly be thinking that. You need to answer that question and the answer would probably have a lot to do with whether you are considered for admittance.