Chance me: Low GPA, High SAT, special circumstances.

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Please chance me!

Country - USA
Gender - Male
Race - Asian
Location - CA

GPA - UW: 3.5 Weighted: 3.81 as of Junior year end
SAT - 2270(CR 760/M 740/W 770)
SAT Subject Tests - USH: 770 (Will retake it), Bio E: 750, U.S History: 690(ugh… may retake)
AP Scores: AP Lang - 4, Bio - 5, Comp Sci - 3, APUSH - 4, AP Spanish - 4, AP Psych -4(yeah… lot of 4s. Even averages out to a 4)
AP Classes I took so far - Bio, Spanish, Honors US History(essentially AP), AP Lang
Classes I will take Senior year - AP Lit, APES, AP Stats, AP Gov(but 2nd semester), Oral interp, TA

Extracurriculars - Co founder of the investment club, paid freelance writer for financial blog, writer in Op-Eds in Asian newspaper, Treasurer in 2 clubs, Golf 3 years JV, started community service organization helping old people

Work Experience - 2 internships at a wealth management company and a real estate company, one paid, one not

Planned major - Gender/sexuality(lol jk. This interests me but obviously I need a job, so finance/business/econ)

Recommendation letters - I think it’ll be 9/10 for my chem teacher, 6-7/10 for the other.

Languages - English (1st language), Chinese, Spanish(4 on AP test, a bit worse than my Chinese skill)

So here are my special circumstances that could get me out of the hole I’m in with my GPA. My dad essentially got framed for a business deal gone wrong in China and was sentenced to fourteen years in prison. I haven’t had contact with him since I was 6. His sister proceeded to steal all of the money he accumulated as a businessman, so my mother had to go and try and win the money back. I had to help as well, and this took a lot of time from my studies. Thankfully, we hit a major breakthrough, and my responsibilities have dropped considerably. I’m thinking of mentioning this in the additional information section, and trying to win some points back, because this took a major portion of my time, and hampered my abilities to focus on my studies significantly. I will note that I do NOT want to write this as an essay, as my mother does not want me to. Do you think this could help?

Secondly, because I suddenly have a bunch of free time, I’m taking online courses to help boost my GPA. They are not on my school transcript, but there are 3 semesters worth of As there. Also, if you factor in my projected* grades for 1st semester senior year, I have a 4.0 W and 3.6 UW.

So taking into account both circumstances, what are my chances for:

Northwestern
Cornell
JHU
Emory
UChicago
WUSTL
Georgetown
Middlebury
Notre Dame
Vanderbilt
NYU Stern
Boston College
NYU normal
Haverford
Colby
UCLA
UCB
UPenn
UVA(OOS)
USC

Obviously I am not applying to all of these, I just need preliminary guidance. Thanks, and I will definitely chance back if needed.

2

Definitely include your story on your application. Boston College and USC would be good fits for you.

3

What’s your UC-weighted GPA? Berkeley and UCLA focus heavily on GPAs in admissions, so you might want to add some other UCs, especially if your UC-weighted GPA is under 4.2-4.3. USC and NYU/CAS are probably matches for you; Emory and BC high-matches. I’m not sure about Colby, but most of your other colleges are reaches. May we assume that you plan to include more UCs (e.g. UCSC, et al) as safeties? What are NYU’s policies about applying to multiple divisions? I seem to recall that rejected Stern applicants can be referred to CAS for consideration, but I’m not sure. When my older son was considering Tisch for Theater he could not apply to multiple divisions of NYU within a single admissions cycle. That might have changed, however.

4

My UC GPA is 4.16, including online and 12th grade 1st semester courses. I do sort of have an upward trend, as even though I had roughly the same numbers of Bs ovver the years, I took more honors/AP classes.

So how much do you think the impact of the story would be even though it won’t be on my essay? Also, does the story sound made up? I have some proof to back it up, but I can see that the thing sounds pretty oulandish.

5

Thanks for the chance! Here are my opinions
Northwestern-match
Cornell-match
JHU-match
Emory-little reach
UChicago-reach
WUSTL-match
Georgetown-reach
Middlebury-reach, although try interviewing there
Notre Dame-reach
Vanderbilt-reach
NYU Stern-match
Boston College-match
NYU normal-match
Haverford-match
Colby-match
UCLA-reach
UCB-reach
UPenn-reach
UVA(OOS)-low match/reach
USC-match

6

bump

7

bump

8

Most of these are reaches. That is a crazy/awful story, and I would advise you to include it on your application. Schools like Vandy, UVA, NYU Stern, Cornell, etc. are all reaches. USC, NYU normal, etc. would be matches.

9

@tigerrocks13 can you elaborate specifically on which ones are matches or reaches?

10

Reaches: the ones I listed already + U Chicago, Georgetown, Emory, Middlebury, Notre Dame, UPenn, UCLA, and NW
Matches: the ones I listed already + BC, UCB, Colby, and Haverford

11

Wow really UCB and Haverford? Didn’t they were matches but I’ll take it. I assume high matches then. And how much of an impact do you think my story will have?

12

@woogzmama @shtang could you guys also give specific comments? And also mention how much the impact the story will have?

13

bump

14

In the past, UC’s application included an essay prompt for students to discuss obstacles or challenges they have encountered. Your family story could certainly be incorporated into such an essay, although you should be careful to keep the story about you and not your father and aunt (an admissions officer at Berkeley was quite specific about that in her presentation). You should schedule meetings with your adviser and the teachers you ask for recommendations to private colleges, so that they are all familiar with your background. They can mention it in their letters of recommendation. The most important thing is that you NOT use it as an excuse for any shortcomings in your application, but present it as part of a family narrative that explains who you are and how that makes you a better, stronger person.

15

@Howardyuan for UC GPA you only get to use UC approved online courses and 10-11 grades only.

16

Oh I didn’t know that. Drats.

17

Many of these are reaches…You have to realize that many other kids have these “special circumstances” and don’t give a significant privilege to the applicants.

18

Hey. Sorry don’t know much about some of the schools, but will try my best. You have a compelling story and mentioning a small summary of it would be helpful for colleges to understand your circumstances. Cornell and JHU are good matches, but UChicago, UCLA, and UPenn are reaches. Good luck!

19

Bump

20

What schools have you visited? and what was your impression there?