Chances...

Chance Me / Match Me
1

<p>Chances for:
CalTech
MIT
Princeton
UPenn
UChicago
Harvey Mudd
Harvard</p>

<p>I don’t know what major yet, but something in the sciences, maybe philosophy, in addition. I want to do something with biotechnology or nanotechnology… I’ll triple major (or more) if I can.</p>

<p>White male from Iowa. Low income. Applying for financial aid.</p>

<p>High school sends very few graduates to top schools.</p>

<p>GPA: 4.15 W, 3.7 UW
Rank: 25/397
SAT: 2330 (800CR, 760M, 770W, 9E)
ACT: 35 (35E, 34R, 36M, 35S, 8E)
SAT II:
Math II: 800
Physics: 780
Chemistry: 740
NMS semi-finalist (at least)</p>

<p>Transcript (trimesters):
Keep in mind, my school offers no honors classes, but “advanced” and "Pre-AP are the same thing without any GPA boost. Also, there’s no A+'s in AP classes.</p>

<p>Freshman:
German 1: A,A+,A+
Advanced LA 9: B+,B,A+
Adv. Geometry: A+,A+,A+
Adv. Alg. 2: A,A+,A
Pre-AP Biology: A+,A+,A+
AP Human Geography: A-,A,A</p>

<p>Soph:
Comp. Sci: A,A,A
German 2:A,A+,A
AP English Comp: B,B,A
Advanced Pre-Calc: A,A,A
Pre-AP Chemistry: A+,A+,A+
AP Euro: B,B+,B+
Philosophy: B</p>

<p>Junior (where it gets interesting):
German 3: A,dropped,C-
US Humanities: pass/fail,C+,D
AP US History: B-,dropped,C-
AP Bio: A,B,A
AP Calculus AB (BC not offered): A+,A,A-
AP Chemistry: A,A-,A
AP Physics B (C not offered): A,A,A</p>

<p>Self-study: Calc BC, AP Env. Science</p>

<p>So, as you can see, my GPA junior year went from a 4.611 to 4.2 to 3.572…</p>

<p>I missed 21 days of school first trimester, 51 days second trimester, and ~35 third trimester. I thought about dropping out of high school because it was worthless and taught me nothing. I learned on my own at home. I’ll explain this in my interviews. (If classes at the college are worthless, I don’t want to go there anyway; if they’re worthwhile, I’ll be an excellent student.)</p>

<p>Intended senior year schedule (not finalized):
-At HS:
AP Econ
AP Lit
AP German
-At Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa:
Calc III
Linear Algebra
Advanced Mathematical Concepts
Advanced Geometry
Organic Chemistry I/II
Electromagnetics
Mechanics Formulations
-Self-study:
AP Comp Sci AB
AP Physics C
AP Art History
AP World History
AP US Gov
AP Comp Gov
AP Psych
AP Stat</p>

<p>ECs:
Science Bowl: 10,11,12; Co-captain 11 and 12
Science Olympiads: 10,11,12; Co-captain 12
Math Club/GPML: 9,10,11,12; Captain 11 and 12
Chess Club: 9; won best under age 16 in Iowa.</p>

<p>Worked at a grocery store ~20 hrs/wk during the school year and ~30 hrs/wk during the summer for junior and senior years.</p>

2

<p>That’s really impressive. For anyone. But being from Iowa will give you a boost.</p>

<p>Of course, Harvard/MIT/CalTech/Princeton/UPenn are reaches for anyone. But you’re a VERY competitive applicant for all of these schools.</p>

<p>And I think you’re more or less in (match/low reach) to Harvey Mudd and UChicago (especially because you seem like the kind of self starter that UChicago wants).</p>

3

<p>^ I agree with ses…so, did you miss so much school because you didn’t want to go? You thought you weren’t learning anything?</p>

4

<p>Pretty much. Disenchanted with the idea of uniform education, as well as a little depressed and really antisocial =-). I’m good now though =-).</p>

<p>And yeah, I didn’t think I was learning anything… Even my teachers told me to drop out, lol.</p>

5

<p>^ Good :>)</p>

6

<p>being from iowa-- tres cool, mon ami! that should help. your SAT scores are great, too. good luck! don’t let anybody discourage you from applying to your dream school(s)!</p>

7

<p>Will my falling GPA hurt me?</p>

<p>Along with getting dropped from two classes and getting C’s and D’s…</p>

8

<p>^Yeah. Yeah they will.</p>

9

<p>lol, okay, that was a stupid question…</p>

<p>How much will those hurt me?</p>

10

<p>… bump …</p>

11

<p>I wish I lived in Iowa things would be easier for college…</p>

<p>but back to you: make sure you really explain your junior year issues well because they are sort of shockers and colleges might think that you did poorly because you couldn’t handle the courseload you were taking.</p>

12

<p>Would these AP scores be enough to prove I could handle the courseload? And will these scores just make them think I’m lazy and unmotivated?</p>

<p>APUSH: 5
Bio: 5
Calc: 5 (subscore: 5)
Physics B: 4
Chemistry: 4
APES: unknown–late test (probably 5)</p>

13

<p>your scores are pretty good…4s and 5s are definitely not scores that will lead colleges into thinking of you as an unmotivated student…after all, it’s not like you’ve got a load of 2s and 3s in there</p>

<p>Also, some of your APs (like APUSH) are among the harder AP courses, so colleges may also take that into consideration when looking at your scores.</p>

<p>chance me back?
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=368576[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=368576&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

14

<p>You had it all going for you until your junior year.</p>

15

<p>Great Contribution, Gaffe.</p>

<p>I think you have a very good shot at the Ivies. But the GPA will obviously hurt you and possible keep you out.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

16

<p>I don’t think it would be possible to triple major at a U. like Chicago that has a lot of requirements and graduate on time.
Your great scores may very well get you in to some of your schools, but if not, think about acing freshman year at a state U. and transferring.</p>

17

<p>CalTech: High Reach (no really standing out science/math activity)
MIT: "
Princeton: Reach (GPA wise)
UPenn: Reach
UChicago: Match
Harvey Mudd: Match
Harvard: Reach (it’s harvard…)</p>