High GPA, Low SAT, Bad Standardized Test Taker

Chance Me / Match Me
1

<p>Hey everyone! I decided to use CC because the counselors at my school don’t really cater to upper 10% of the class and my school hasn’t really had a good track record with elite colleges (maybe like 1-2 Ivies and 1 Stanford, around 20 for top UC’s per year). But what chance do I have to get into the schools I’m applying to?</p>

<p>My school is relatively unknown to people not within the Bay Area but here’s the basic info:</p>

<p>Type: Private
Location: San Jose, California
Demographics:
Asian 244 (11%)
Black 138 (6.27%)
Hispanic 160 (7.27%)
White 1658 (75.36%)</p>

<p>My Graduating Class Size: 356
*Does not rank students</p>

<p>MY INFO:
Female/Asian
Household Income: anywhere from $100,000-$250,000 annually
SAT: 2240 (Took it only once when I was sick actually)
PSAT: 233
ACT: never taken
GPA: 4.0 unweighted, 4.73 cumulative all 4 years weighted
Rank: Around top 6/356 of my class (school doesn’t rank so it’s hard to determine)
SAT IIs: 800 - Math II, 780 - Mandarin, 750 - Biology (E)</p>

<p>Classes:
*Note that we are required to take Bible all 4 years of high school and that freshmen are barred from AP classes.</p>

<p>Freshman year classes: Algebra II (H), Biology (H), Bible, English 9 (H), Girls P.E., Global Studies I (H), Theatre I
GPA: 4.0 unweighted, 4.57 weighted</p>

<p>Sophomore year classes: AP Biology, AP Chinese Language, AP European History, Bible, Chemistry (H), English 10 (H), Hip Hop I, Intro Type/Comp, Trig/Pre-Calc (H)
GPA: 4.0 unweighted, 4.75 weighted
AP Testing: AP Biology (4), AP Chinese Language (5), AP European History (4)</p>

<p>Junior year classes: AP Calculus BC, AP Chemistry, AP English Lang Comp, AP Physics C, AP US History, Bible, Hip Hop II/III (first semester Hip Hop II, second semester Hip Hop III)
GPA: 4.0 unweighted, 4.7143 weighted
AP Testing: AP Calculus BC (5, AB subscore 5), AP Chemistry (4), AP English Lang Comp (5), AP Physics C (Mech-4, E&M-not available, didn’t take because our teacher sucked), AP US History (5)</p>

<p>Senior year classes: AP English Lit Comp, AP Economics (Micro 1st semester, Macro 2nd semester), AP Statistics, AP Government (US Gov 1st semester, Comparative Gov 2nd semester), Community Outreach (Bible), Multi-Variable Calculus, Musical Theatre II
GPA: will hopefully maintain 4.0 unweighted, 4.7143
(Future) AP Testing: AP English Lit Comp, AP Micro-Economics, AP Macro-Econ, AP Statistics, AP US Government, AP Comparative Gov</p>

<p>Average grade in classes: 96-97% (too lazy to calculate exact haha, I’m just estimating)</p>

<p>Extra Curriculars:

  • Speech and Debate President, ranked #63 nationally for parliamentary debate
  • Mock Trial Vice President
  • Law Club President (disbanded after 1 year though)
  • Chinese National Honors Society
  • English National Honors Society
  • Dance Performances (Fall, Spring Shows, hip hop choreographer for student-directed show)
  • Theater Brown Bag Performances (student-directed lunch theater shows)</p>

<p>Awards:

  • Top 16, top 8, undefeated 4-0/5-0 wins during prelim for several for various speech and debate invitations, nothing super major like winning 1st at an invitational or winning states :frowning:
  • President’s award for academic achievement (5 subjects/classes)
  • AP Scholar, National AP Scholar, AP Scholar with Distinction (idk if that counts bc too many people have this haha)
  • not really an awards person, didn’t really compete a lot in high school :/</p>

<p>Service:

  • 25+ hours at RAFT (Resource Area for Teachers)
  • 35+ hours teacher’s aid at Chinese school
  • 110+ hours teacher’s aid at Nanjing International School
  • 50+ hours community outreach at local impoverished elementary schools</p>

<p>Work:

  • private one-on-one tutor (overseen by school) since junior year twice a week, charged $15/hour, made around $1000 last year</p>

<p>Focused area of study: Economics</p>

<p>Applying to 14 schools: Harvard (Single Choice Early Action), Princeton, Yale, UPenn, Northwestern, U Chicago, Dartmouth, Amherst, Wellesley, MIT, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Stanford, UC Davis.</p>

<p>On a side note, should I retake my SAT to get a higher score? I took the PSAT after my SAT and scored a 233 after my 2240 SAT and I was sick for the SAT, but I took it right after an extensive summer prep program and I won’t have that if I take it again…</p>

<p>Thank you for all the advice!!!</p>

2

<p>Don’t count on any of the ivy’s. There’s nothing there that stands out enough for them. You’re an average applicant for them (maybe even below average with SAT score). But you’ll do well at Wellesley, UChicago, Northwestern, Amherst, ect. </p>

3

<p>What??? Since when is a 2240 a bad score?? And since when is that average? </p>

<p>This is insane, and honestly REALLY FLIPPING BOTHERS ME.</p>

<p>Iforalaska… that isn’t a below average SAT score. Of course you’re right in that no one can count on Ivy League Schools. But watch what you say. Comments like that make CC scary for many users and give this site a bad rap. </p>

<p>And OP… seriously? “Low SAT” Oh yeah, just in the top percentile of all students. Wow… SO terrible. What EVER are you doing to do?</p>

<p>UGH.</p>

4

<p>@sallymeno11‌: my apologies :frowning: I should have clarified when I stated that. All I know is that in my school, there have been students among my friend circle who received 2300-2400 on their SAT’s. In my SAT boot camp as well, I was actually in the lower 25% (25 percentile). Didn’t mean any offense. California just has really insane test scores and I am relatively not that well of a test taker compared to the people that I’ve seen also applying to similar schools with 2400’s and straight 5’s on APs.</p>

5

<p>A 2400 SAT isn’t going to get you into college, I promise you. Colleges want a DIVERSE student body of PEOPLE. After you get accepted to college, no one will care what your SAT score was. But it WILL be important that you made an impact on your high school, excelled at something you loved, and formed close bonds with friends (that will carry on to your college years to ensure you are happy even in times of incredible stress). My point is, other things are more important. Your 2240 is not low. It will not keep you out of ANY school (I am almost sure of it). But other factors might (keep you out of a school). </p>

<p>I know CA is really competitive. I live in the Bay Area too. But I have a 34 on the ACT and I am FINE with that. No, it’s not perfect. But I’m not going to waste time trying to perfect something that, as I mentioned before, won’t even matter in the long run.</p>

<p>Now, if you’ve only taken the SAT once, you might as well take it once more to try and improve (if you want to). But by no means do you have to.</p>

<p>Good luck. (BTW I don’t know if I’m in any position to be giving you advice. I’m, more or less, in the same shoes as you (I’m a senior))</p>

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<p>I agree that a 2240 SAT score is a bit low for HYPMS. What I do not understand is how your school has a bad track record with elite colleges but sent 20 students to UCB/UCLA.</p>

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<p>No a 2240 is not low at all. I agree with Sally. No committee is going to look down upon a 2240, especially if the math and critical reading are around 1500</p>

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<p>@mangiafuoco: I’m going to amend that haha. What I meant by elite colleges was east coast Ivy leagues and the sort. At our school the top 15% has no problem with UC’s. However, since 2001, our school has maybe 1 Ivy acceptance annually and some years none. We’ve had 2 Harvards since then, 1 Yale in our school’s entire history, 2 Princeton acceptances since 2001, a couple Cornells, no Darmouth, 1 UPenn, the like. I would say 50% of those Ivy acceptances were because the student’s parent was an admission officer at the college or an alumnus. </p>

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<p>@lforalaska‌, @Mangiafuoco‌: would it make a difference though if I had great teacher rec’s and an awesome essay…?</p>

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<p>I’m experiencing a bit of culture shock when I hear you say that your school does not have a good track record sending kids to the Ivies. Seems good to me. I came from a large public school in TN. 1700+ kids, and in twenty years not one of them had gone to an Ivy.</p>

<p>Back to the subject at hand, I’d say you should definitely retake the SAT and bring it up to part with your PSAT score. IMO @sallymeno11’s disgust was misplaced; your SAT score is a bit lacking for Asian applicants in the Ivy League (and many of the other schools you’re applying to as well).</p>

<p>She is right, however, that raising your SAT will most likely not be enough in itself. As an Asian applicant with those ECs, you should brace yourself for a rejection from HYP even if you manage a perfect 2400. Your academics are great, but your extracurricular achievement not extraordinary.</p>

<p>(Side note: I really wish your ethnicity was not a factor. Can’t help that.)</p>

<p>Anecdote time: I was rejected from H and Y with a 35 ACT, 2330 SAT II, perfect GPA, and better EC’s by my estimation. Also I am white. Good friend of mine rejected H and UChicago with 36 ACT, salutatorian at the best public school in our state, good internships and publication in a science journal. She was Asian. Accepted and attending Yale though.</p>

<p>Not saying you won’t make it, but from experience I can say that applications like yours do get rejected often. Make sure you account for that when choosing mid and low-fit schools.</p>

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<p>Yay, Bay Area buds!! :slight_smile:
UCD is definitely a low match, UCB and UCLA are matches.
The other top schools can’t really be chanced.
Instead of retaking the SAT, you should find an internship somewhere. That would make your application stand out a little more. </p>

<p>Please chance back: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1672761-chance-me-for-stanford-university.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1672761-chance-me-for-stanford-university.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

12

<p>Bring up your SAT score if you have time. Otherwise, just give these schools a try. You are not a bad in standardized test at all, but some of the schools on your list are very competitive and you are within the mid 50 for all of them. Nevertheless, there is nothing really makes you stand out from the crowd of applicants to Ivies.</p>

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<p>I didn’t want to put all “positions” I held because they make me seem more range than depth. But I should probably mention I was Medical Club Secretary, Race2Educate Co-Vice (community outreach club), planned + hosted an invitational debate tournament at my school, but I kind of felt like it doesn’t really make a difference in my app. Also, our school has these two programs I jokingly call “resume boosters” but they are the AMSE program (applied math, science, and engineering institute) which I’m a “minor” in and I joined because I met the prerequisites in my schedule already, and the second is our Conservatory program which I’m a minor in for Intregrated Arts (theater and dance). Should I even include any of this information in my apps?</p>

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<p>I should also mention that speech & debate really isn’t my fault LOL our club is run by students so it’s trial and error, we don’t have any professional coaches to help us and we started this club a couple of years ago. Our school never had it before so it’s basically a new club and students teach each other if they have the experience. </p>

<p>@OldNassau‌: thank you for the advice and anecdote. I already didn’t have high hopes and my counselor told me that I was in a relatively okay position to try for them…</p>

<p>@billcsho‌: thanks for your post! I have a counselor who just says all this fluff and I have no idea where I stand. In your opinion, should I apply for more safe schools then?</p>

<p>@Dream0n‌: holy crap your stats are amazing. I don’t really have time for an internship (I’m a senior haha) and I have a fall dance show coming up in which I’m choreographing, the debate season coming up, and ofc college apps…:(</p>

15

<p>^ You had time for much more. I’m not criticizing because I too did nothing more often than I did something.</p>

<p>You’re in a fine position to try for elite schools, but so are most of Ivy rejects. Nevertheless, if you want to try and the application fees are no object you, you might as well go for it. All I’m saying is that you should also apply to plenty matches and a few safeties.</p>

<p>Let me also say that your essays count for a lot. They’re not a golden ticket that will get you into a school with subpar qualifications, but I’m sure you have had some good learning experiences debating and choreographing dances. Essays not only give a window to your personality; they also bring your extracurriculars to life. What doesn’t sound special to us here might sound extraordinary in 600 words.</p>

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<p>@sallymeno11‌ lol… yeah a 2240 is good nationally and def the top percentile for top state schools and even the top LAC, but the fact is there are thousands of applicants to ivy’s with higher scores than that. it’s on the low end. you are right about diversity. the colleges are looking to create a perfect mix for each entering class. </p>

<p>@OldNassau‌ 's advice is pretty solid. </p>

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<p>do you go to lynbrook, monta vista, chs or harker? i live in san jose too, and i go to a pretty competitive schools. ucla and uc berkley are matches. uc davis is safety. rest are low to mid reaches.
chance me back: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1678812-can-i-get-into-any-good-engineering-schools.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1678812-can-i-get-into-any-good-engineering-schools.html#latest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Only on CC would a 2240 be considered a low score</p>

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<p>^ On CC and on the desks in admissions offices of the top 20 schools in America. Keep in mind that the OP is Asian, so she is unfortunately held to higher standards.</p>

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<p>@Lovejosaay Your school list has mostly reach schools but you do have a couple matches and a safety. It is up to you to have how many reach schools, but you may want to add a couple more match or safety schools that you will have some options to compare their financial packages. You do have a chance at those reach schools though but I would not put too much hope on them.</p>