High GPA, Low SAT, Bad Standardized Test Taker

Chance Me / Match Me
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<p>@toesockshoe‌: Nope. I go to a private school that’s virtually unknown. Don’t want to list the name for safety reasons but it’s definitely not Harker nor the other schools you listed.</p>

<p>@OldNassau‌: Thank you for all the advice. I’m signed up for the SAT in October and aiming for 2300+ based on all the feedback. I can get my results and juuuust manage to squeeze in before the Nov 1 early decision/early action deadlines. I don’t think I’m going to go for Harvard single-choice early action anymore - seems like a total reach from the feedback. Not that it’s impossible…but I don’t think I’m going to make it and I don’t really want to take the gamble. I’ll finalize my choice if I make it to my SAT goal haha. Definitely spending a LOT of time on my essay though for sure. I’ll see how my debate season goes this year to boost up my ECs. </p>

<p>@billcsho‌: Thanks! Financial aid/affordability isn’t a huge problem for me; I’m not going to reject a top school simply if its financial aid package isn’t perfect. Just need that acceptance letter :)</p>

<p>To clarify for THE LAST TIME for all the people I accidentally managed to offend, I wasn’t trying to say that a 2240 is a bad score; simply that due to my ethnicity, home state, and the average SAT score that my reach schools are seeing, it’s considered low.</p>

<p>From the general feedback though should I be expecting acceptance from the top UC’s? </p>

<p>Thank you for the comments everyone!</p>

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<p>@Lovejosaay‌
Your chances at the top UCs are very good. The UCs love perfect GPAs. Although they do not care about SAT scores as much, your SAT scores are well above average at the top UCs. I think UCB and UCLA would be your matches. UCSD is a low match, and the other UCs are safeties.</p>

<p>Unfortunately for me, I was rejected/waitlisted by more than half the UCs despite my 2300 SAT score because my GPA was far from perfect.</p>

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<p>Love how all high school kids are telling you that 2240 is low for certain schools. Sorry…they don’t know crap. You have passed a score bar of sorts for ANY school…the rest comes down to other factors. High school kids don’t need to tell others their “chances” because they haven’t been through the process and frankly don’t know squat. Good luck OP, you are a great candidate for all schools.</p>

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<p>UPDATE ON SAT AND RESUME:</p>

<p>Retook the SAT last month, got a 2310! (750 CR, 770 Math, 790 Writing, 10 Essay)</p>

<p>GPA and classes: remains unchanged from original post. (4.733 weighted, 4.000 unweighted)</p>

<p>Graduating class size: 357*
Rank: school doesn’t rank but estimated top 6</p>

<p>Reread my original post and realized I forgot to mention a lot of stuff and my organization was really terrible. So sorry for any overlap but I’ll sort of redo my resume below.</p>

<p>Academic Honors and Awards
National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist (Grade 11-12)
National AP Scholar (Grade 11)
AP Scholar with Distinction (Grade 11)
AP Scholar (Grade 10)
President Education Award in AP Calculus BC (Grade 11)
President Education Award in Honors English (Grade 10)
President Education Award in Honors Chemistry (Grade 10)
President Education Award in Honors Biology (Grade 9)
President Education Award in Honors English (Grade 9)</p>

<p>Academic Societies
National Chinese Honor Society (Grades 12-9)
National English Honor Society (Grades 12-9)</p>

<p>School Clubs and Organizations
Applied Math, Science, and Engineering Institute (AMSE) Minor
Conservatory Integrated Arts in Theater and Dance Minor
Speech and Debate Club (Grades 12-10, 4 hours/week, 36 weeks/year, Vice President Grades 12-10, Member Grade 9)
Law Club (Grade 12-11, 1 hour/week, 9 weeks/year, Founder and President Grades 12-11)
Mock Trial Club (Grade 12, 1 hour/week, 36 weeks/year, Co-founder and Vice President Grade 12)
Race2Educate Community Service Club (Grade 12-10, 1 hour/week, 36 weeks/year, Vice President Grade 10)
Medical Club (Grades 12-9, 1 hour/week, 36 weeks/year, Secretary Grade 11, Member Grades 12, 10-9)
National English Honor Society (Grades 12-11, 1 hour/week, 9 weeks/year, Member Grades 12-11)</p>

<p>Extracurricular Activities
Debate Tournaments (Grades 12-10, 180 hours/year)
Dance Show Hip Hop Performances (Grades 12-10, 72 hours/year)
Student-Directed Theater Show Performances (Grade 9, 20 hours/year)</p>

<p>Non-Academic Honors and Awards
Santa Clara University Philalethic Invitational 2014 Tournament Undefeated (Grade 11) - undefeated 5-0 win in the varsity parliamentary debate tournament
Leland League 2013 Tournament Undefeated (Grade 11) - undefeated 4-0 win in the junior varsity parliamentary debate tournament
Stanford Invitational Tournament Top 32 (Grade 11) - placed in top 32 of 185 parliamentary teams
Rank in POI Top 100 North American Parliamentary Debate
Creative Communication Poetic Power Winner (Grades 12-9) - poetry published in annual fall and summer poetry contests</p>

<p>Volunteer and Community Service
Community Outreach (Grade 12, 4 hours/week, 36 weeks/year, 144 hours total) - served as a mathematics tutor, sports instructor, and dance instructor at Title 1 Hayes, Hellyer, and Lairon Elementary Schools, respectively
Nanjing International School (Grade 11, 30 hours/week, 4 weeks/year, 114 hours total) - served as a teaching assistant of the Mandarin instructor, aiding International students in learning Mandarin and grading student papers and workbooks
Race2Educate (Grade 11-10, 1 hour/week, 36 weeks/year, 36 hours total) - fundraised through Mustache Madness and a race to donate to impoverished students in India to further their education
Tian Tian Chinese School (Grade 10, 2 hours/week, 18 weeks/year, 37 hours total) - served as the teacher’s aide to the school’s 8th grade Chinese teacher by grading student papers and workbooks
Resource Areas for Teachers (Grade 9, 2 hours/week, 12 weeks/year, 26 hours total) - prepared school supplies and resources for teachers from Title 1 schools</p>

<p>Leadership Experiences
Speech and Debate Club Vice President Grades 12-10
Law Club Founder and President Grades 12-11
Mock Trial Club Co-founder and Vice President Grade 12
Medical Club Secretary Grade 11
Race2Educate Community Service Club Vice President Grade 10
Hip Hop Dance Choreographer Grade 12-11
National Youth Leadership Program Grade 11</p>

<p>Work Experiences
Academic Tutor (Grade 12-11, 2 hours/week, 36 weeks/year, charged $15/hour) for Honors Chemistry, AP Chemistry, and AP Calculus AB subjects</p>

<p>Research/Internship Opportunities/Special Programs
National Youth Leadership Intensive Law and Trial Program at Stanford Law School (168 hours/week, 1.5 weeks/year) - listened to lectures by Stanford Law professors, participated in and won a mock trial at the San Francisco County Superior Court</p>

<p>Recommendations
AP Calculus BC and Multivariable Calculus teacher (graduated from Stanford) - very good I believe; she gave my rec top priority
English Honors 10, AP English Language teacher - incredibly close to him, exceptional hopefully
Counselor - very good I believe; he gave my rec top priority</p>

<p>Dropped my application to MIT…other than that I decided to do a school for EA/ED, won’t name it for privacy issues :slight_smile: </p>

<p>Added UCSD to my list of applications though. Other than that, I think I’ll try my luck with HYP and Stanford but won’t have high hopes.</p>

<p>Chance me on UChicago, Dartmouth, UC Berkeley, and Amherst? </p>

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<p>New thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1702735-need-to-prioritize-apps-on-greatest-chance-of-getting-in.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1702735-need-to-prioritize-apps-on-greatest-chance-of-getting-in.html#latest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>valley christian? last guess. lol</p>