What should I do to improve my chances? I appreciate the help!

Applying to College
1

<p>Hello everyone! </p>

<p>I live in Northern Virginia, just outside of DC. My family is moving to Washington state next summer. My school was ranked 216 in the country, and we have a difficult grading scale. An A is 94-100, B+ is 90-93, B is 84-89, C+ is 80-83 and so on. We do not rank students. </p>

<p>After my junior year, my cumulative GPA is a 3.587. I think on a 90-100 A Scale I would be at about a 3.8. (I am really hoping the schools I apply to take the scale into consideration) We receive .5 for every AP course, nothing for honors. Here's my transcript:</p>

<p>8th Grade:
Algebra 1 Honors - B+
French 1 - B+</p>

<p>9th Grade:
English 9 Honors- A
Journalism 1- A
World History 1 - A
Geometry- A
Bio 1 Honors- B+
French 2- B
Health/PE 9- A</p>

<p>10th Grade:
English 10 Honors- A
Journalism 2- A
AP World History- B
Algebra 2 - B
Chemistry 1 - B
French 3- C+
Health/PE 10- A</p>

<p>11th Grade:
AP English Lang/Comp- A
AP US History - B
AP Psych - B
Trig/Math Analysis- B
Physics 1 - B
French 4- B+
German 1 - A</p>

<p>And my classes for next year are
AP Lit
AP US/Comparative Gov
AP Stat
Photo 1
French 5
Geosystems
Journalism 3</p>

<p>I've done indoor and outdoor track all three years and played varsity tennis last year. I am president of our French Club, in National Honor Society, and an AP Scholar. I will be an editor of the school newspaper next year. I have worked both during the school year and summers for the past two years at an ice cream store.</p>

<p>My SAT's are 1960 (600 Math, 690 Reading, 670 Writing). I am taking the US History and Lit Subject Tests in October.
My AP's are:
5- World History
5- Psychology
5- Eng Lang/Comp
4- US History</p>

<p>Schools:
McGill
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Pitzer
U Michigan Ann Arbor
University of Washington (Seattle)</p>

<p>Right now McGill is my top choice, though I'm uncertain on my chances of getting in as admissions chances are so varried. My gameplan as of now is to apply to UW in September. As they offer rolling admission, I will hopefully hear from them fairly quickly. If I am accepted, I can relax and just focus on my applications to the others and McGill. If not, I can panic and apply to more safe schools. </p>

<p>Sorry for all the information, I just wanted to be as thorough as possible. I know my biggest flaw is my Math SAT but I really don't intend on majoring in anything that involves Math. Should I retake? I am taking the ACT for the first time in September. </p>

<p>Thanks for ALL your input and advice.</p>

2

<p>My friend got into McGill and his stats probably weren't as good as yours, so I think you have a good chance. I'm pretty sure the University of Washington doesn't have rolling admissions--I applied to the UW last year. Have you considered the Honors Program there?</p>

3

<p>Oh, right, I should clarify. I meant Wisconsin-Madison, not Washington for the rolling admissions. I am just now starting to look at UW-Seattle because my family is moving to Seattle next summer and the in state tuition would be nice. I am taking a tour in late August so we'll see how I like it.</p>

4

<p>I hope you like it--it's a gorgeous campus.</p>

5

<p>So I've heard...bump</p>

6

<p>So your family is moving to Wash between your senior year and freshman year of college? You won't be eligible for in-state your freshman year. You "generally" have to live in a state for a year to qualify for in-state tuition. Have you thought about Virginia schools? U Mich is a reach OOS.</p>

7

<p>I used to be pretty into JMU, but so many kids from my high school end up there and I really want to start somewhere new, preferably out of Virginia.</p>

8

<p>bump//////////</p>

9

<p>I agree with Erin's dad about both UDub (cost) and UM (reach), although I think your plan of applying to UWisconsin early makes UM less of a problem. Pitzer stands out as very different from the rest of your schools (large publics) due to it's size and character.</p>

10

<p>I have another question about University of Washington-Seattle. My dad is currently living there, so if I were to be admitted, he would have lived there for over a year. Would that qualify me for in state or would I actually have to have been living there?</p>

11

<p>I don't think your dad's living in Seattle will give you in-state residency. I believe that your your state of residence is based off of where your primary guardian lives.</p>

<p>..And dude.. UWash-Seattle is the MOST amazing school ever. Awesome campus, awesome city, great academics.. It really can't be beat. I turned it down for UW-Madison, and I'm already planning to transfer there after sophomore year.</p>

<p>I don't know anything about McGill. I'm sorry. Your chances of getting into UWash are pretty good, though.</p>

12

<p>Cool to hear- what made it better for you than Madison?</p>

13

<p>I'm assuming you're planning to major in Arts.
Your math SAT scores are too low for McGill. 630 is usually the minimum, even for Arts. If you're planning to do an Arts major McGill accepts almost any decent student though, so it's a low reach for McGill. McGill values SAT scores a lot more than GPA... They claim they take the full range 3.6ish + but I believe it's usually around a 3.8 for Arts (so that looks good too) as I'm sure they'll take what you're saying into consideration. They don't care much for amazing Arts students from the US, they'd much rather have your huge college fund. :P They have a very good psychology program but it's bio-oriented/science, for history I don't think they really stand out whereas Madison and UMich kinda do... UWash is a very reputable research university, one of the highest CFs and IFs in the world, the facilities are amazing, beautifullll campus, it's a great science school and the students are very humble about it. I'm a big fan of that school, it doesn't nearly get as much credit as it deserves. I would definitely choose UWash over McGill, UW, UMich!</p>

14

<p>Thanks for the input, really great insight!</p>

15

<p>bump.............</p>

16

<p>bump.............</p>

17

<p>ONE more bump couldnt hurt</p>