Worried rising senior looking for chances

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Female</p>

<p>Junior</p>

<p>Caucasian</p>

<p>Attend a very competitve, top 100 public school in Pennsylvania
GPA- 3.77 (UW) 4.06 (W); Top 10%-15% of class (will depend on senior year)</p>

<p>SAT- 2160; 760 CR 700 M 700 W (will retake and should hopefully be at 2250+)</p>

<p>SAT II- I haven't gotten my scores back yet, but I expect an 800 on Lit and about a 750 on US.</p>

<p>Senior Classes: Most demanding senior schedule, five APs. It'll follow my trend of taking the most difficult classes offered.</p>

<p>Teacher Reccomendations- Excellent (although everyone thinks that of their rec's, I really feel mine are above and beyond.) </p>

<p>Counselor Reccomendations- Again, to die for. It was a "best in career" letter but she also explained my relatively low GPA and rank by the fact that in 10th grade due to a family situation, I was removed from the district and then placed back into it after police intervention. I wasn't really able to ever recover those 4 months as far as math and science are concerned (my only B's).</p>

<p>Extracurriculars-</p>

<p>Newspaper Editor in Chief (12)
Newspaper Columnist (10, 11, 12)
Promotions/Management for locally renowned band (11, 12)
Promotions/Management for radio show (11, 12)
Intern at record label (11, 12)
20 Hour a week job as Customer Service Clerk (10, 11, 12)
Cheerleading (9, 10)
German Club (9, 10, 12)
150 + Volunteer hours (like every other kid in the country)
Brownie (Girl Scouts) Troop Leader Assistant (10, 11, 12)</p>

<p>I'm probably forgetting some, but if I am, the odds are their bullsh**, non commitment sort of things anyway so they won't be listed.</p>

<p>Where I'm looking to apply:</p>

<p>My top two "dream schools" are USC and NYU (Gallatin)</p>

<p>A few other options:</p>

<p>Occidental
American (safety)
Claremont McKenna
Barnard
Bard</p>

<p>And of course, I'm willing for any suggestions you fine, upstanding, CC's are willing to suggest.</p>

2

<p>Sound like matches^^
though what would you expect on the AP exams?</p>

3

<ul>
<li>Alright, I just reread that post and my last sentance is really bothering me. Let this be a lesson to never attempt to make a coherent post while enjoying a lovely bowl of cheerios. We'll make that "I'm open to any other college suggestions from you fine, upstanding, CCer's"</li>
</ul>

4

<p>you can go to higher-ranked schools than that. Your grades are good with discrepancies explained. Schedule is good. Your SATs can be made better with a simple retake (anyone with a 2100 can make 2200+ with study). ECs are pretty good, and you promise good recs.</p>

<p>The only real thing I have to criticize is your misspelling of the word 'recommendation'.</p>

<p>You can get into your schools, I think. </p>

<p>(only a junior myself, take with a few thousand grains of salt)</p>

5

<p>Well, I took AP US this year and I expect a 5. AP English should be very simple so I'm projecting a 5 there as well. The two econ tests will be completely new but I'll go out on a whim and say a 4/5. That leaves AP Euro and Statistics, both subjects I really enjoy so we'll say 5s there too. </p>

<p>Hopefully I'm not completely jinxing myself with this haha.</p>

6

<p>they all look like good matches, what your are potential majors?</p>

7

<p>Haha, I misspelled the word sentence as well in my edit. I promise that it's just constant typos, though. I'm also rather notorious for putting "drocter" when I'm intending "doctor" online. It really bodes well for looking intelligent on forums like these, no? </p>

<p>Do you really believe that I can look at higher level schools? That's surprising to me as I'd assume that the GPA, even with the explanation, is a death sentence.</p>

8

<p>"they all look like good matches, what your are potential majors?"</p>

<p>Wow, I've gone from no replies to so many that I can barely keep up! I can't say I'm complaining, though, I love the help.</p>

<p>As far as majors go, I'm interested in pursuing English or a combination of English and Music Industry. The great thing about USC and NYU is that both are extremely accommodating with this (USC offers both majors and NYU Gallatin is...well, NYU Gallatin) At any other school, I would most likely solely major in English but I'd possibly minor in Communications, Media Studies or the like along with it.</p>

9

<p>Northwestern University has a great journalism program (not sure if you're going to journalism), they also have a respected English program and a music program. Another possible option is Carnegie Mellon, although i'm not sure how carnegie is at English majors, i know they have a stellar music program.</p>

10

<p>3.77 uw is acceptable at most ivy league schools, i believe. i'd hope that not everyone in the IL has 4.0 uw gpas, otherwise i'm totally screwed. the weighted GPA is a bit confusing to me, since most rigorous schedules would prop up that QGPA a bunch, especially considering you've only gotten around a couple Bs in your career (if i infer correctly). </p>

<p>3.77 uw is not a death sentence by any means. i don't think that even means prison time.</p>

<p>Probation?</p>

11

<p>My school, though it is 2nd best in Pennsylvania, does not offer very many honors classes, and those it does are not weighted very heavily. I believe that the top 5 students in my class have about 4.3s weighted right now. So while you're right about my couple of B's, 3-4 low weighted honors a year really don't off balance them.</p>

<p>I'm glad to see you think my assumed felony is only a misdemeanor :D</p>

12

<p>3.77 uw is a $50 fine.</p>

13

<p>for most of this country, it's actually the government giving YOU $50.</p>

14

<p>USC MATCH
NYU (Gallatin) MATCH
Occidental SAFETY
American SAFETY
Claremont McKenna HIGH MATCH
Barnard LOW MATCH
Bard LOW MATCH</p>

15

<p>It is not GPA that matters as GPAs vary greatly from one school to the next. It is class rank, and it's very unusual for a kid not in the top 5% to get into an ivy without a hook like being an athlete. I think you are aiming appropriately.</p>

16

<p>i thought it was top 10% that was the limit, not top 5?</p>

17

<p>There is no "limit". When you read the stats and see 92% in top 10% that includes all of the hooked/connected candidates such as athletes, legacies, those that provide diversity and those with special talents. The school's numbers show that successful candidates without hooks are usually val or sal at most US high schools.</p>