Ivy's Princeton, Harvard, MIT other top 20's

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Hello,

I am a rising junior next year, and I was wondering my chances of getting into a top 20 school. The thing is, freshman year I did not do my best at all and I got a C+ in a programming class (which I dropped first semester) and a b+ both semesters in Geometry Honors. The reason I did so bad was because I was adjusting from going to a small school to a very large high school, and it was a lot to handle. Also, we do all of our work on computers on our school, and for the first two months I couldn’t access notes in programming, which was a major factor, and we even tried to get the grade dropped because of it, but it didn’t. My councilor said he would address it though in the councilor letter of recommendation because he knows it was partially not my fault. The bright side is I got straight A’s both semesters in sophomore year with all honors classes, and I will be taking full IB next year. Outside of school I work in a lab doing research on a disease I had as a kid, which led me to asking the doctor for a research internship and it happened. I also am president of the crypto currency club and launchx club at my school which I thoroughly enjoy. I have not taken an ACT yet, but with my tutor I have been consistently getting 34’s so I assume I will do fairly well on it. I also participate in Model United Nations and have been recognized nationally, and will be going to an international conference. I also am working on building a blockchain application, which I am fairly sure will be successful, and I enjoy as well. The main question I am asking is if top 20 colleges will automatically look at my freshman year, and not even consider me. I am hoping that my extracurriculars will be able to show that I am very passionate about what I do because I do these extra curriculars because I enjoy them, not to look good. I would really appreciate any suggestions from anyone in the process or anyone who has been admitted to college.

Thanks for helping

2

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/2086230-almost-perfect-sat-score-multiple-awards-published-but-gpa-is-in-the-dumps-due-to-personal-reasons-p1.html
Your EC’s are good, but it depends on how well you succeed. For instance, did you get anything published from your research internship? Also, wdym by MUN recognized nationally. Thing is, even if colleges overlook your GPA, your EC’s don’t seem exceptionally unique. They’re good, but not amazing compared to other ppl on CC. For instance, the page I linked seems to have someone who is basically the exact same as you in terms of EC’s.

3

A lot of colleges like to see that you’ve improved your grades, which it seems like you have from your freshman year. I agree that your extra curriculars are good but nothing extraordinarily unique. You’ll need to find a different way to shine in your application to make up a bit for those few grade slip ups, but I think top colleges would still consider you.

4

Do you have any tips to diversify my EC’s? If I get researched published or do ISEF do you think that would make me more unique?