How's it looking?

ElPadrino · 02-21-2006, 10:08 PM

Hi everyone! I know it's a bit old, but I was just wondering if you could give me a quick idea of my RD chances. I really appreciate this.

GPA: ~3.5 UW taking “Most Difficult Course Load” as my counselor marked it on my record. School has no rank and does not weight grades, yet is extremely rigorous.

SAT: 2240 (790 CR, 730 Writing, 720 Math)
SAT II: 730 US History, 720 Math 1C, 700 Chem

AP’s: AP US History: 5
AP Macroeconomics: 5
AP Statistics: 4

Extracurricular Activities:

• National Ocean Sciences Bowl team fall 2002-present (member of varsity team since sophomore year).
• Yearbook editor fall 2002-2005. Staff member 2005-2006.
• Co-founder and President Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School Investor’s Group.

Awards and Honors:

• National Ocean Sciences Bowl regional champions 2003, 2004, 2005.
• Second place at national championship of National Ocean Sciences Bowl in 2005. Team won all-expense paid trip to Bermuda to study coral reef ecology at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research.
• National Merit Commended Student.
• Yearbook won the Top Journalism Award, Class I, New England Scholastic Press Association.
• Dual County League All-Star in Tennis in Spring 2005.
• Certificate of Merit for Excellence on National Spanish Exam at Levels 2, 3, and 4

Athletics:

• Tennis as freshman, sophomore (Varsity), and junior (Varsity). (Tryouts for spring season 2006--senior year--have not yet occurred).

Employment:

• Sales specialist at REI (Recreational Equipment Inc.), worked full time over the summer, working 18 hours per week during the school year. Expertise in kayaks, mountain bikes, and car rack systems

Community Service:

• Volunteer tutoring for elementary school students having academic difficulty.

Coquettish · 02-22-2006, 05:07 AM

I'm pretty sure you're golden.

ElPadrino · 02-22-2006, 02:39 PM

I forgot to mention that I'm out of state. I attend a public school in Massachusetts. Is that going to change anything?

jags86 · 02-22-2006, 07:52 PM

yea u wont get in with a 3.5

cavalier302 · 02-22-2006, 07:57 PM

Yea, unless that 3.5 places you solidly in the top 10% of your class, you will have a tough time getting in.

ElPadrino · 02-22-2006, 10:16 PM

Yea I'm definitely in the top 10-15% of our class. But there's no real way to tell because they don't weight GPA's. Overall, however, I'd say my courseload far exceeds "rigorous." Last year, for instance, I doubled up in Advanced Math and AP Statistics. I don't worry about my GPA because it is all going to be recalculated anyways. The one real place where you can equalize everyone is the SAT's, and well... see scores above.

cavalier302 · 02-22-2006, 10:35 PM

I wouldn't call taking "advanced math" and AP Statistics in same year "rigorous."

ElPadrino · 02-22-2006, 10:46 PM

combine those with:

Honors Chemistry
Honors Spanish
Honors English
AP Macroeconomics

...and I would.

in the words of my friend... "salted"

cavalier302 · 02-22-2006, 10:49 PM

Wow, that looks no different than the courseloads of many applicants to UVA. They will not be "wowed," because believe me, they will see farrr better.

ElPadrino · 02-22-2006, 10:52 PM

I don't need to "wow" them, just impress them. My counselor rec, SAT scores, and EC's will take care of the "wowing". Would u mind putting your stats out? Just so I can see if you know what you're talking about?

cavalier302 · 02-22-2006, 11:05 PM

I ranked 1st in my class out of 402 people. I graduated with a 4.0 unweighted GPA and a 4.7 weighted GPA. I took 10 AP classes (eng lit, eng lang, french lang, calc AB, calc BC, stats, econ, US history, US government, physics C.) I took a physics class @ UVA and got an "A" in it. I also did independent studies in symbolic logic and number theory, using the curricula from MIT's OpenCourseWare. I scored a 1550 (750m/800v) on the SAT. My EC's were decent, but not amazing. I had extensive involvement with my school's track team (which won states when I was a junior and senior) and was recruited for the 400m dash by the US Naval Academy, among others. I played the drums for my school's jazz ensemble and interned full-time for two summers at a prominent local law firm. In my junior year, I was selected to attend the US Naval Academy's Summer Seminar. I was the president of my school's french club, which actually involved work, as we had more than a few dinners out, trips to museums, etc. There's a lot of other academic and extracurricular stuff that I did, but I don't feel like continuing this list. I won't even get into awards. UVA was my safety school, and not only did I get in, but I was named an Echols Scholar.

Needless to say, I'm more than happy to be here and I'm proud of my school. I try to help out potential applicants on CC by providing the information that I know and by "keeping it real" with them.

thrills4ever · 02-22-2006, 11:06 PM

Shutdown by Cav. To the OP. I applied to UVA ED, top 5% of my class, and IB program-->most rigorous courseload and got deferred. Granted my SAT scores werent that impressive, but still GPA wise and course wise I was good. If thats the toughest courseload ur school offers, then I think ur set. My heart is set on UVA, I hope I get in, and I hope I meet u there too. One day we'll go check out the AMAZING JPJ Arena!

To the OP, i just realized that u said ur counselor marked that u were taking the "toughest courseload", yea i dont know how i didnt read that, my bad! If your mid year report consists of all A's, and you show true passion that you want to attend, i think you have a shot. GL!

reb033 · 02-22-2006, 11:07 PM

People on here tend to exagerate statistics... although I am in state, I know a complete IDIOT who got into UVa; had she been interviewed by an admissions offer, they would have been able to tell she sucked off the teachers for a good GPA in high school, when really she was just retarded

thrills4ever · 02-22-2006, 11:09 PM

UVa completely massacred BC, damn that was sweet!

cavalier302 · 02-22-2006, 11:12 PM

reb033, I can assure you that my stats aren't exagerrated.

thrills4ever, yea, that was a SWEET game.