naideck

Greetings. So in my junior year, I transferred from my decent 6A school to an elite public residential high school (ranked somewhere in Newsweek). My GPA is a 3.65 UW (major drop from a 4.0 freshman and 3.8 sophomore year, due to the extremely difficult classes)

SAT I:
640 reading
780 math
680 writing

SATII:
750 American history
800 Math II
710 Chem (retaking)

ACT:
33 composite

Extracurriculars:
Freshman year:
Latin Club
Captain of novice academic team
State Honor Orchestra
Superior at Contest (solo and ensemble)
Odyssey of the mind 1st place regionals
Odyssey of the mind 1st place state
Odyssey of the mind 37th at world
Assistant principal ***** Youth Symphony
Key Club
National History Day

Sophomore year:
Latin Club
All-state orchestra
Honor society
State Honor Orchestra
Superior at Contest (solo and ensemble)
Assistant principal ***** Youth Symphony
NYLF medical
Captain of JV academic team
Cello player @ First Baptist Church
Oklahoma! the Musical (orchestra player)
Principal at a random music camp in my city
Junior Classic League 9th place in 2nd level academics
Superior at Contest (solo and ensemble)

Junior year (my new school didn't offer much in the way of extracurriculars):
All-state orchestra
Research at a state university
Participated in a major music camp
CPR Certified

Volunteer hours: 150ish

Something I hope that matters: The board of directors for the All-state orchestra did not allow students from the school I transferred to audition for All State orchestra, driving many prospective students away. I convinced the board of directors to make an exception, thereby students from my school to audition for All-state orchestra, and I will be the first in my school to be in All-state orchestra consecutively for three years.

Schools I am looking at (it is a long list. My apologies, please bear with me):
Cornell U
U Chicago
Emory
Vanderbilt
Case Western
U Michigan
U Virginia
U Rochestrer
WSU
UC Berkeley

Thank you in advance.

nj_azn_premed

What APs did you take (if any)? It's not a good sign that your GPA dropped so significantly when you upped the difficulty of your courseload in junior year (the year in your education that colleges care most about). Also, your SATs are quite low (I think they will be seen if you choose to submit your SAT IIs, so your ACT might not compensate though a 33 composite is pretty decent). Overall:

Cornell U - Reach
U Chicago - Reach (if you write good essays; if not, forget it)
Emory - High Match
Vanderbilt - High Match
Case Western - Match
U Michigan - Match
U Virginia - Match
U Rochestrer - Low Match
WSU - Safety
UC Berkeley - If you don't live in Cali, don't waste the application fee.

Your ECs are pretty good, but they won't compensate for an inordinately low GPA and SATs at the top colleges.

naideck

In my school, none of the classes are classified as AP. However, our school offers all the classes all the college level, but do not follow the AP Curriculum (hence why its not listed as AP). Most of our professors have Phds in their field. I took the AP Mechanics exam, AP Calc BC, and AP Chem, but I got 3s on all of them :S (thank you, teacher who didnt teach us Taylor Series before the exam!).

Um, if it helps, here are the classes I will be taking next year:
World Lit
Western Civilization
Latin IV
Multivariate Calculus
Endocrinology
Human Anatomy and Physiology
Organic Chemistry

I will be taking the SAT again next year, with a hope to get a 2200.

And thank you, nj

nj_azn_premed

Wow, your school is like Exeter with all of those cool college courses you listed there lol. I wish mine offered Organic Chem . Unfortunately, those AP scores aren't going to help at all (sorry to get you down). However, I don't think colleges will hold your scores against you as long as they're passing.

sherlock1016

Just send your ACT, dont worry too much about the SAT. Your EC aren't varied....which might hurt, but I'm sure you could definitely convey your passion for music. I think you have a decent shot at Cornell. Are you applying ED? I'd say low reach / high fit

nicole5178

I did Odyssey of the Mind as a freshman also! Anyway, your chances:

Cornell U- Reach
U Chicago- Reach, depends on essays
Emory- Low Reach if out-of-state, Match if in-state
Vanderbilt- Low Reach
Case Western- don't know about the program
U Michigan- Low Reach if out-of-state, Match if in-state
U Virginia- Match
U Rochestrer- Safety/Low Match
WSU- don't know about the program
UC Berkeley- Low Reach/Reach