<p>At the moment, I exist outside the top 25% range of my school.</p>
<p>Simultaneously, however, I received a 2400 on the SAT. My teachers describe me as a seltzer with a lifetime fizz, the freshest thing to blossom in west Los Angeles since Pete Carroll, the antithesis of packaged student, simultaneously irrepressible and irresistable -uncowed by adversity, unreserved in action, uncommon, uninhibited and altogether charismatic.</p>
<p>Or maybe I’m just stretching that, but still.</p>
<p>I have almost straight B’s in math, but I’ve been in national/international math competitions. I have all B’s in latin, but four perfect scores on national latin exams and first place in state competitions.</p>
<p>I have some B’s and some A’s in English, but I’ve been published everywhere.</p>
<p>I’ve connected homeless people to jobs in my free time on weekends. Twenty-two are no longer homeless.</p>
<p>Am I automatically knocked out because of my GPA? How does this factor in, what do I look like? I’m not trying to be a ■■■■■, I don’t know how regular this is, but I don’t want everything to stop here because my transcript blows. Hard. I don’t have any C’s, but I don’t have many A’s.</p>
<p>I don’t want to go to Harvard, I don’t want to go to Princeton, but I’ve been dreaming of Yale ever since I visited a week ago. So what happens from here? In your opinion.</p>
<p>I’ll find out more about Reed. I’ve gotten mail from St. John’s -that’s the Great Books program, right?</p>
<p>It’s interesting, but it’s just one big “core”. I’d like to believe that intelligence isn’t about knowledge but synthesis; at the same time, I don’t think anyone gets much out of Aristotle and Plato as a foundation for life. Why not environmental science, public policy, econ, and financial mathematics instead? You learn how to think by thinking, not by copying someone else’s logic.</p>
<p>But I’ll look into it again, it does look like they’ve had results, even if viewbooks are misleading.</p>
<p>Look at U of Chicago. They have the Core, like Reed and St Johns, plus they offer an intense, highly academic broadbased Liberal Arts education. Chicago is world reknown for its Economics and Math depts, and has superb Humanaties programs. Chicago is not for the casual student, or someone who wants the “typical” college experience of Big U sports and parties. Chicago teaches students how to think. Graduates are highly sought after by both businesses and graduate programs.</p>
<p>Seriously? Maybe I’ll try applying to more selective schools anyway.</p>
<p>Chicago looks pretty sweet, but I thought grades made that pretty much impossible. I like the “typical” college experience of sports and some sense of school spirit, but whether this just means I’m insecure or not, I’d like some kind of recognition. Or at least people who know who I am.</p>
<p>So maybe I’ll apply there, I like the essay topics.</p>
<p>I realize that after bombing pretty much every class, I shouldn’t really be picky, but does anyone have more suggestions?</p>
<p>Somehow you need to convey to them that you are not a lazy under acheiver, but someone who thinks so far outside the box that grades are not what you aim for. You need to do that without sounding arrogant or distainful (not that I have seen that in your posts).</p>
<p>I’ll try. Essays should help, and I’m honestly not that lazy (denial?), it’s just that grades aren’t important to me. I’m not necessarily “too good” for them, but they aren’t interesting, and I’d rather apply what I know. ECs show it.</p>
<p>All the bad grades are honestly from missing work. Even if this makes me look bad, I go home, don’t open my backpack, and go outside. I’m writing essays on bathroom breaks the period they’re due.</p>
<p>Sometimes they’re good, sometimes they aren’t.</p>
<p>I was about to say thank you again, but I think I’ve said it at the bottom of every post so far. Even so.</p>
<p>Chicago wouldn’t have been a reach 15 yrs ago when it was more self-selective. Luckily for you, Reed and SJC are both still self-selective, esp. SJC. I think at Sante Fe campus they still accept more than 4/5 applicants and you can always transfer to Annpolis or spend a semester there. Also, Thomas Aquinas in so cal is St John’s w/ a Catholic twist and as easy to get into as SJC.</p>
<p>Whether or not Chicago is a reach for you, I don’t know, but I do know that it is for students who have already disciplined themselves into doing a lot of work. If you think you can discipline yourself into working 8-10 hours a day on academics (for both classes and homework), I’d say consider Chicago. If you are still figuring things out for yourself, I think a school like Bard, Beloit, Earlham, or any of the others listed would be great for you.</p>