I am a senior at a public high school in Maryland, Asian male. I’m all over the place in terms of grades, test scores, and extracurriculars, so I am really unusure about what my chances are. I want to apply to the following universities for Geology:
University of Maryland, College Park (top choice - if I end up accepted somewhere else it is very likely I will transfer here)
SAT Subject Tests: Math Lev 1 540 / Physics 560 / Biology E 720
GPA: 2.7 unweighted / 2.9 weighted (my school district actually said that they are completely changing their GPA system in about a week and everybody’s GPAs will be different then, so I will probably be applying with something a little bit higher than this)
Extracurriculars:
Robotics (am lead programmer, won several competitions, competed in worldwide competition, generally very good)
Environmental Club (volunteering stuff and environmental awareness at school)
Science Bowl
Jazz Band (clarinet)
Concert Band (clarinet)
Research:
Did internship doing original geology research, was able to give presentations at multiple academic conferences, won awards, & worked with scientists at some of the places I’m applying to.
It seems very likely I could get rejected from everywhere, and I am planning on attending community college if this is the case and transferring later. Everything on my application is impressive except for my GPA.
AP classes: World History (3); US Gov. and Pol. (4); Art History (currently taking); Statistics (currently taking)
Honors: English I, English III, Geometry, Algebra I, Algebra II, Precalculus/Calculus, Trigonometry, Probability & Statistics, US History, Physics I, Physics II, Chemistry I, Chemistry II
Foreign Language: 2 yrs of Chinese
I’m a junior in high school from New Jersey and Johns Hopkins is my dream school and I know so many things about JHU.
Looking at your stats your SAT and extracurriculars look pretty good ! But the thing that might be a weak factor is defiantly your GPA, even though you said that the GPA system of your school is changing you need at least 3.7 UW and 4.3 W GPA for Hopkins.
But if you do good in your interview and explain yourself in the best way to them you have a chance since your other things are pretty strong.
That SAT is below Johns Hopkins’ 25th percentile. The unweighted GPA, unless it’s going to go up by more than a point when your school’s GPA system changes, is a death sentence. A 540 and a 560 in math I and physics, respectively, would be some of the lowest scores of any admitted student.
Unless you’re a recruited athlete, your chances at JHU are about the same as your odds of winning the lottery.
The same is true, to a lesser extent, of the University of Maryland.
@eagle2426@NotVerySmart like I said, I know hopkins would be a stretch and I’m probably going to get rejected from all of the schools I listed. I know some professors at hopkins who are willing to write recommendation letters and have relatives who worked there so I’m going to at least apply just on the tiny 0.0001% I could get in.
I’m more just interested in optimizing the chances of getting into University of Maryland, but from everything I’m hearing the chances seem slim…
@dankmeme I’d suggest you look at the admitted student profile for the University of Maryland. The Common Data Set is usually a better indicator of your odds at a given school than anything people will say here on CC.
Your M+CR SAT (which is all they’ll look at) is at the 75th percentile, which is good. Your GPA, however, is currently near the 1st percentile (1% of applicants admitted had a weighted GPA below 3). Even if it goes up some, unless your recalculated GPA is in the 3.4-3.5 range it won’t make much difference-only 3% of admits were below 3.25. That’s about 180 students, and I don’t feel like it’s a stretch to say that most of those students are athletes or close friends of the dean.
I don’t know how much your GPA will change with your school’s new system, but a 2.7 unweighted and 2.9 weighted would make your application a stretch even at schools two or three tiers below Maryland.
Do you want to stay in Maryland? If not, apply to University of Wyoming, and you will get in. Don’t even think about UMCP, less so Hopkins. Pull your grades up in senior year and you will have a chance at Towson. This is the cold truth.
@eagle2426 Don’t take this wrong but - it is *do well in your interview as opposed to *do good in your interview. To get accepted into the top schools you MUST know the difference between good and well and use them appropriately instead of slang. What is the difference between well and good?
In general, use well to describe an activity, good to describe a thing. When it is an activity being described, use well, as in “He did well in the spelling bee.” Well is an adverb in that instance, describing the verb. When it is a condition or a passive state being described, use good, as in “You’re looking good tonight.” Good is an adjective in this instance, describing the noun. With feel good/feel well, it is more complicated. In this case, the word well is being used an adjective meaning ‘healthy’ - so it is ok to say, “I feel well.” You can say “I feel good” also, but it is more informal and is borderline slang. Do hyphenate well when it is placed with a past-participial verb before a noun, as in “well-known fairy tale” but not if it follows what it modifies, as “That book was well researched.”
Why not apply to CU Boulder? Great geology and you have a chance there. I’m sorry but just take Hopkins off. Chances are literally zero for that. UMD is a stretch but you should apply anyways.
You’re going to get in to Towson. College Park is a tad of a reach but could be a match depending on how well written your essays and LOR are. JHU is a stretch for just anyone who applies tbh. You’re most likely set for Towson. I had the same credentials (GPA/SAT/ECs a bit different) but i have been accepted to TU, UVM, PSU, & WVU. I think you’ll be fine.