<p>my uw GPA is 3.5, my weighted GPA is 3.8.
my sat composite is 1940 (sat math: 690. sat cr: 630) but i’m going try to get it up past 2100 total by october.
i’m pretty confident in my EC’s and essay writing skills. </p>
<p>i know that my grades aren’t very much up to par with the other applicants to UPenn and notre dame, but i do know some individuals (two different orthopedic surgeons) who graduated from both universities. i was just wondering if i showed interest in the colleges (applied early action or maybe ED to one, visited the campus, etc) and the alumni that i know write excellent recommendation letters, would I have at least a slightly reasonable chance at acceptance?</p>
<p>I always call a spade a spade, and this is no different. I am pretty sure a recommendation from two random doctors is inconsequential to your application. The admissions staff probably wouldn’t give a look at those recommendations. Penn and Notre Dame are probably not in your future in all honesty. I think even doing those applications is a waste of time and money when you could apply to more reasonable matches/reaches. In my opinion, you’re overshooting. Back to the recommendations, if you took classes at a college in the summer and one of your professors was an alumni, that’s one of the only exceptions for an additional recommendation aside from your high school teachers. If you applied ED and showed a great deal of interest in the school I doubt it would change your fortunes. You have to be more realistic when schools like those reject people with unbelievable stats to which you kind of pale in comparison. </p>
<p>I’m sorry I had to write that because I respect optimism, but optimism can often be used in excess. Yet, if you really could raise your SAT to over 2100+ (which is easier said than done) than you might apply to one of those schools early if you really want, but be mindful of your expectations.</p>
<p>no it’s fine by all means. i wasn’t actually all that optimistic about getting admission into those schools, but i did want to try to get other people’s opinions on this topic</p>
<p>I understand - believe me I do. I just feel that there are reach schools that are more attainable. I know that you have already stated that you want to pursue neuroscience, and we talked in length about Pitt. How about Case Western? Or UCSD, Kalamazoo, Haverford, Grinnell, Oberlin, UMiami, Colgate? You also said you want a small college which would probably place a LAC very high on your list. A lot of the ones I listed resemble reaches more than anything else, but should you apply for early decision, your odds would be greatly improved. Every school I listed is a good school with a good neuroscience program. Seriously consider schools like these. </p>
<p>Oh, and I recommend going to the CC search and looking up “good neuroscience programs” and see what you’ll find - I guarantee a great deal. Go to collegeboard.com, compare your stats to the averages at these colleges and weigh your fortunes. Also, try to keep to the same thread b/c it’s easier for people to build cases on information that is already present instead of sifting through thread after thread. Do some research on your own and maybe come back to the thread with a list of colleges so people can elaborate on the programs or your chances or whatever! Start searching…</p>
<p>If the alumni in question can speak well about your academic performance and your character, and explain from their own perspectives why you would be a good fit for the schools, their recommendations would be exceedingly helpful.</p>
<p>If you’re going to get a dry, formatted letter, or a plain laundry list, then forget about it.</p>
<p>Notre Dame does some “fudging” with the SAT scores of their entering classes, so they are not a high for the whole class as what they are reporting.</p>
<p>If the alumni is a teacher of yours then I could see asking them for a recommendation as a little bit helpful to your overall education. However, having two doctors who have attended the university to write you recommendations is not worthwhile in the least. No matter how they describe you in their recommendations, their words are pretty much meaningless because there is no context to them. The admissions staff would probably not even read them because they don’t like extra recommendations unless they carry significant merit.</p>
<p>@Tinfoyl Would Case Western Reserve be considered a reach for me? i always considered it a match if not a safety since their admission rates were 70% last year & my scores are a little closer to the upper percentile of their range. how about pitt? i don’t know if we already discussed this, but i consider pitt a slight reach mainly because i live out of state & i noticed that oos applicants that were admitted only made up 30% of their student population. im not sure if i’m judging my chances there properly though. </p>
<p>@kwu yes, the alumni would be able to speak about my academics, my character advantages, why i’d be a good fit etc but would it really be of a big help? from others comments it seems like it wouldn’t do all that much good.</p>