Low GPA, good EC'S chances w/ reach schools?

Chance Me / Match Me
1

Hey gang,
I’m from Miami, FL and my reach schools are UChicago, Georgetown and Northwestern. Was considering applying to some Ivies but I don’t think there’s any chance. I’m a white male, so no intersectionality hook in that respect.

GPA: 3.52 UW
SAT: 1360
AP tests: straight 5’s, took 8 APs in total
Courseload: pretty rigorous (I.B. Diploma Programme. Taking SL Math Studies this year). Got an A in a Psych class I took at local community college last year.

I’m retaking the SAT in October and I think I can make it into the 1500’s range (did not study when I got 1360 and I am studying now; did not have extended time for the 1360 but I do now). For all intents and purposes plese reply to this as though I had gotten a 1520 or so (If I don’t get that then it’s my problem).

I am the Student Council President of my high school of about 3200 students. I am the Vice President of our Model U.N. team and have won best delegate five times (Including at Harvard Model Congress which is pretty hard).

I did a semester abroad my Freshman year where I lived in Slovenia from January to July of 2017 and went to school there. Won the Central Europe History Bee while I was there.

Every day I do a 60 second video interview with a different person and I upload it to Instagram. I’ve been doing this since January 1 and last year I did the same but with selfies w/ different people in stead of video interviews.

I have interviewed a lot of important political people like Marco Rubio, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Beto O’Rourke, Tulsi Gabbard, Andrew Yang, and like 6 or 7 others running for President in 2020 (as well as Cenk Uygur, Carmen Yulin Cruz, a few US Congresspeople and tons of local politicians and candidates). They are all up on my instagram alongside my friends and strangers whom I have interviewed. My personal essay is about this.

Also founded an interfaith youth group and we have monthly interfaith dialogues during the school year.

I’m the copy editor for the high school newsmagazine and I won the best-of-the-best award for off-campus commentary, meaning my opinion article about Brett Kavanaugh was the best high school newspaper opinion article in the whole state of Florida.

Did a summer internship (paid) with a local political consulting firm running campaigns for county mayor and commission.

Also have won Brown University Book Award.

I have ADHD, not sure if that counts towards any explanation for why my grades aren’t a little better.

Worst part: downward trend. Straight A’s freshman year, two B’s sophomore year, 4 B’s and a C (that damn C in precal is REALLY what’s gonna do me in) Junior year. Yeah. Ouch.

Do my interviews/selfies plus my study abroad to Slovenia count as a hook? I’m a pretty good writer so my essays are probably pretty good. Letters of rec I also expect to be solid.

I like Georgetown because of the political and international aspect, which I do think shines through on my application. Applying to the college (not Walsh or McDonough). I like UChicago because it’s very open minded and I am pretty quirky especially in my interview video (and I’ve heard they like quirky). I’ve heard stories of people with stellar essays but grades worse than mine getting into UChicago. UChicago also has a pretty bomb MUN team and I’m pretty bomb at MUN. I attended UChicago’s MUN conference last year and placed second in my committee.

So: chances? Any hope for me?

2

The main thing is to make sure that you have two solid safeties where you know you will be admitted, you know you can afford to attend for at least 4 full years, and you would be happy to go there for four years.

If you have two solid safeties, then you have some freedom to apply pretty much wherever you want for reach schools.

That being said, an unweighted GPA of 3.52 and 1360 SAT are very low for U.Chicago or Ivy League schools. I also know someone (a good friend of a daughter) who had I think a unweighted 4.0 for his entire life before going to U.Chicago, who found it very challenging. He did well there, but complained every time that I saw him that it was tough.

If you had a C in precalculus, then you probably should be looking to get some tutoring when you take calculus. In my experience students who have solid A’s or A+'s in all of algebra, trigonometry, and precalculus find calculus to be pretty easy. Students who struggled in any of these prerequisites find calculus to be quite difficult.

Don’t be shocked if some schools ask for your midterm grades before deciding on your application.

3

The GPA and SAT scores aren’t competitive enough for a realistic chance to into these schools listed. Even UF and FSU are going to be a reach for you. A good target school would be UCF and USF, but still about 50/50. Keep some safety schools in mind too.

4

The issue is that grades reflect ongoing effort, your seriousness about learning, and the amount of knowledge mastered. Top colleges will worry you don’t have the prep for their level of work. The competition isn’t just for an admit. It’s also about the classroom experience, once there among top performer peers and considering professor expectations. The only EC that seems to bypass the academic requirements is some recruited athletes. Think about it: it’s college and no other hook outweighs the need to be academically qualified.

Pick the right colleges where you can do well.

5

The downward trend is going to hurt you. But congrats on the APs and the political work. Try UCF and FSU (still a small reach) and then transfer to Georgetown. FSU has a summer bridge program that you might be eligible for. Also, think about how you are going to address your ADHD for college - you may need extra help, like a tutor (you don’t have to pay; there are volunteers). Take precalculus at a community college and get one-on-one help there to prove that you can succeed in it.

6

Christ, how did you attain the financial resources or the time to do any of this? I’m thoroughly impressed with the myriad of students and their parents posting essay-long posts concerning their achievements simply in high school. I only achieved a fraction of this. It’s pathetic. But, then again, in the grand scheme of the universe, none of this supposed achievement is remotely substantive.