low gpa ok SAT for UCB UW UChicago

<p>Quick Summary:
Advantages: SAT scores, great extracurricular, good story for middle class guy, college classes
Disadvantages: low gpa, no academic awards/academic club involvement</p>

<p>Short version of my life (Important): Grow up loving skiing living in the Northwest. School was super easy, so easy in fact I got bored. Proceeded to start hating school by 6th grade. By 9th grade I had started winning ski competitions and getting ski sponsors. Winter of 9th grade I (somehow) convinced my parents to allow me to attend online school to pursue skiing and to allow myself the flexibility to travel for competitions (the school had threatened to not let me graduate 8th grade because I was gone so much for contests). Online school was great for skiing and great because I wasn’t forced to do “stupid” school anymore. 12 months into online school I started to remember a curiosity and passion almost pounded out of me by my time in forced education. Proceeded to pick up my grades and decided to attend running start full time beginning fall junior year. (For those who don’t know running start is a program in Washington where you get free college credit and you attend real college classes). I am now loving college classes and in particular my math and science courses, while also feeling very challenged.</p>

<p>Objective:
• SAT I (breakdown): 2250 1st take (CR:780 M:770 W:700)
• ACT:
• SAT II (conservative estimates from practice tests): Math II:750 Physics: 750
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.71/4.0
• Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Don’t know rank and it isn’t applicable as I take college classes with a different grading system.
• AP (place score in parenthesis):
• IB (place score in parenthesis):
• Senior Year Course Load: Linear Algebra, Calc III, Calc IV, Diff Eq, Physics II (E&M), Physics III (waves&optics w/ a little quantum), Chem I-III, English Comp II, Poly Sci I</p>

<p>• Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
John Hopkins talented youth kid back in 7th grade if that counts? (haha)</p>

<p>Subjective:
• Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
-Freeride team (team captain 2 years)
-Freeride competition:
-1st in U.S. 8th grade
-10th in N.A. 9th grade
-15th in N.A. 10th grade
-13th in N.A. 11th grade. (All of these were invite only, selected from ~1000 competitors)
-Numerous regional contest wins/awards
-Have 5 distinct sponsors that supply me with almost all of my gear every season
-Made my own blog to chronicle my travels for skiing competitions
-Japanese Club 11th grade</p>

<p>• Job/Work Experience:
Courtesy Clerk at QFC 20hrs/week (since spring of Sophomore year)
Worked at a summer camp in Oregon for food and lodging so I could ski during the summer after 9th grade
• Volunteer/Community service:
Volunteer to help teach wilderness survival techniques to youth ages 5-15 80 hrs.
• Summer Activities:
Worked at a summer camp in Oregon for food and lodging so I could ski and train during the summer after 9th grade.
This summer I get to take classes in my favorite subjects (math&science).</p>

<p>Other
• State (if domestic applicant): WA
• Country (if international applicant):
• School Type: Public
• Ethnicity: White
• Gender: M
• Income Bracket: ~130k
• Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):</p>

<p>List of schools that you’re applying to:
-University of Washington
-UChicago (parchment seems to think I have a 30% chance. que skeptical face)
-UC Berkeley 3.81 UW UC gpa, and 4.21 weighted w/ college classes - applying to college of L&S
-Reed
-I need more!</p>

<p>If anyone can give me some advice/chances that would be awesome! Also I need lots of help selecting more schools to apply to. UCB is my dream school because they’re admissions standards aren’t as high as some of other good math and science schools, so if someone could reccomend more schools like UCB (preferably cheaper!), that would be greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>For your level, target/Low reach schools would be:
Northwestern
University of Michigan
Carnegie mellon
Washington University in St Louis
Duke
JHU
Georgia Tech</p>

<p>Anyway, your chances:</p>

<p>UCB - High match
Uchicago - Reach (but it is to everyone, I think you’ll get in with stellar essays)</p>

<p>Thank you very much @killforstern!</p>

<p>The main thing that is important to me is that I go to a good enough school that when I apply to grad school my chances won’t be hurt by my undergraduate school’s prestige. Are there any other “prestigious” school for math and science that I could get into that anyone knows of?</p>

<p>bump 10 char</p>

<p>bump 10 char</p>

<p>You’re e.c. is pretty unique, and as long as you continue to find a way to show how much you love skiing in your essays, I think you have a decent shot at UChicago, despite your GPA. You’re almost a match for the other schools you mentioned, but you’ll definitely get into one of them.</p>

<p>@smarty99 Thank you very much!</p>

<p>What do people think about this updated list:</p>

<p>U Chicago
UC B
UCLA
Northwestern
U Washington
Reed</p>

<p>bump for new list of schools?</p>

<p>bump once more?</p>

<p>@Twixmoment</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>Anyone else?</p>

<p>U Chicago: Mid to High Reach
UCB: Good Chances
UCLA: Good Chances
Northwestern: Reach
U Washington: In?
Reed: Good Chances</p>

<p>GPA is rather “low” for top schools</p>

<p>Updated:</p>

<p>Turns out I am ranked 107/418, which is just out of the top 25%, but I am sure I will be in the top 25 after summer quarter, although I can’t see myself moving to the top 20%.</p>

<p>I have taken only one semester of classes at my high school out of my entire career. Furthermore I am taking full time dual enrollment classes that are graded on a completely different scale than the scale at my high school, so I am wondering if merely being in the top 25% is going to really hurt my chances? Parchment seems to think that it would better my chances than what they were at before but this doesn’t make any sense to me.</p>

<p>Short: I am only in the top quartile of my high school, but I have only taken 6 classes out of 22 with other high school students in the ranking. The rest have either been online or at the local community college. How much does this hurt my chances?</p>

<p>Anyone wanna comment on being in the top quartile?</p>

<p>I’m starting to get worried here!</p>