low GPA and sorta low SAT's...should I bother?

Chance Me / Match Me
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<p>I’m an upper-class half-Mexican and half-white male at a NE boarding school. I figure I’d be best at a polytech school, but I don’t really know where I have a shot. I’ll probably end up an engineering major. Anyone wanna chance me?</p>

<p>Schools I’m looking at:
MIT
Caltech
Harvey Mudd (don’t know about this; I heard the air is terrible there. Anyone been there who knows?)
Cornell
Northeastern
Grinnell
RPI
U. Rochester
Rochester Inst. of Technology</p>

<p>Classes
Freshman:
Latin 2 B-, Precalc A-, Art B-, Physics B+, English C+, Religion B- (GPA ~2.9)</p>

<p>Sophomore:
World History B+, Religion B, AP BC Calc A, Latin 3 B, Biology B, English A- (GPA ~3.33)</p>

<p>Junior:
APUSH B, AP Physics (C) B+, Latin 4 B+, American Lit A-, Multivariable Calc A-, Chem B+ (GPA ~3.39)</p>

<p>Senior Classes
AP European History
AP Bio
AP Chem
AP Econ
AP Lit & Comp
Environmental Science :mad:
Topology (independent study class)</p>

<p>EC’s
Voice Lessons, school Choir (one that’s selective and one that isn’t), District Choir
Cross Country (was 1st on team last year and ran a 16:40 5K)
Track (never was as good at this :()
Debate Team</p>

<p>Awards
Some end-of-the-year writing award (1 given per grade), an award in Multivariable Calc, and Cross Country MVP.</p>

<p>Testing
SAT: 700 M, 720 W, 640 CR=2060 (will retake)
AP’s: Physics C Mech 5, E & M 4, US History 4, BC Calc 5</p>

<p>Summer
I’m finishing a CTY Linear Algebra course that I started last summer and recently got a job as a dishwasher (give or take 28 hrs/week). Other than that nothings really organized, but I’m teaching myself to play the guitar and training for Cross Country.</p>

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<p>I’d say you have a great chance at Northeastern!</p>

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<p>I hope you’re not going to say that you were never good at track on your application. Also, I didn’t know CTY had a linear algebra course. Well that could just be because I took the science ones and didn’t know much about others.</p>

<p>All right, let’s move on. Most of these %'s are just results based on people I know who are attending the below schools. And I doubt that the air is bad at HM.</p>

<p>MIT - 10%
Caltech - 10%
Harvey Mudd - 25%
Cornell - 30%
Northeastern - 75%
Grinnell (Don’t know)
RPI - 75%
U. Rochester - 75%
Rochester Inst. of Technology - 100%</p>

<p>Did you do community service?</p>

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<p>damn URMs…</p>

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<p>Freightrain: That was neither helpful nor warranted. There are many threads debating the advantages and disadvantages of affirmative action. Find one of those.</p>

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<p>Tapper: Thanks mom. Are you a moderator…? otherwise, mind your own business and take a chill pill.</p>

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<p>freightrain: I’m neither a moderator nor a mother. I stated that your comment was unnecessary, it still is. It’s one thing to say you dislike affirmative action on a thread debating its utility. It’s quite another to make a comment like yours on a thread where one of the people you condemned is seeking information. </p>

<p>ilikecollage: Apologies for inadvertantly hacking your thread.</p>

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<p>bump…thanks for protecting me tapper!!!</p>

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<p>Well, what freightrain rudely mentioned does, in fact, help you. I still think that MIT and Caltech are extreme reaches, though.</p>

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<p>Freightrain- Right on brotha! Talk the talk, and walk the walk.</p>