What are my chances?

Anyone?

Does anyone know if a really good essay for uchicago ea could give some chance?

I think your GPA is way below the line for EVERY school you mentioned. I think your GC is wrong about NYU and Brandeis as well. All those are reach schools for you. Some are totally out of reach (Brown in particular). Are you URM or have any other possible hook?

Yeah, I agree with @soze. Your GPA is just too low. I understand the struggles of freshman year, my GPA would be a 3.8 without it, but hey, it happens. Your ACT score is very impressive, but it isn’t in that 34-36 range which could potentially outweigh your low score. U Chicago, Brown, and NYU are all out of the question. Maybe look into a state school where you can get a lot of scholarship money for your high test scores.

Hi
what are my chances of getting into columbia or cornell heop?
Stats:
UW Gpa: 3.6 (in my school only like 2 ppl get a 4.0. I did not do well in freshman year coz of family issues but in soph and junior yr i did alot better. Also in context of my school the average accepted students for regular decision (not heop) into both columbia and cornell was a 93 and i have a 91.)
ACT: 31
SAT 2: US History: 720. Math Level 1: 700
2 APs (my school has very limited APs only 5)+ 4 Dual Enrollment Classes
Hooks: low income, First gen

*My ECs are not that impressive because I have many responsibilities at home so very little time for activities (family and financial hardships). I did volunteer like 500 hours though, debate team, did research with college professor and joined the Robotics team at a local community college, etc.

Your EC’s are definitely nice and contribute advantageously to your chances.
I would say that your grades may bring you down, but not so much as to completely ruin your chances; if anything, your upward trend and your EC"s would balance it out. 4
Then again, with top schools, much is left to chance for admissions. People with high scores get rejected and people with low scores get accepted.

Chance me? http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1864893-chance-me-ill-chance-you-back-ivys-and-ucs.html#latest