[starforme]

^ I'm not going to lie- that is me. I don't have natural smarts but I do have a passion for learning. Thanks for the advice and I'll keep trying my best (:

[MONIKA.]

I'm only a sophomore right now, so I still have time; but this is what I'm planning on having by senior year.


STATS

GPA : ??/??

No ranking at my school, unfortunately.

SAT I: ??

SAT II: ??

CLASSES


Sophomore Year:
English II HP
European History AP
Geometry P
Journalism P
Physical Education P
Spanish II P

Junior Year
Algebra II HP
Chemistry HP
English III HP
Journalism P
Spanish III P
US Government AP

Senior Year
American Government AP
English IV AP
Journalism P
Math Analysis HP
Physics AP
Spanish IV HP

EXTRACURRICULARS

CSF (4 years)
FBLA (3 years, president/vice president)
HOBY
Journalism/School Newspaper (3 years, 1 year editor, 1 year senior editor-in-chief)
National Honor Roll
TADV (4 years)

Volunteering

Community Center (20+)
Convalescent Home (200+)

(Presidential Volunteer Service Award, School Award for Community Service (3 years))

Other

InnerSpark
Medill Cherubs (Journalism Camp at Northwestern University)



SCHOOLS I WANT TO APPLY TO

I want to major in English/Journalism.

Brown University
Emory University
New York University
Northwestern University
University of California - Berkeley
University of Californi - Davis
University of California - Irvine
University of California - San Diego
University of California - Santa Barbara
University of Southern California


I'll edit this with more as a I go Any advice on what to do/join/etc would be greatly appreciated.

[d00lie]

ok. i'm super nervous now. so i'm posting..

STATS

GPA : 3.8/4.5

Rank we don't do ranks. but i'm sure i'm pretty below.. considering our school. -____________-''

SAT I: 1940. i'm planning to retake october. i've been hitting 2180-2200 so we'll see.

SAT II: Bio M - 650 (-_______-'') math sat II- 780 (*sigh*) Korean - 800. i'm thinking of doing chem.. but that depends on sat I.

CLASSES

Soph Year
World Literature
Chemistry H
Algebra 2/Trig
Leadership
P.E. Dance
Spanish 3
World History

Junior Year
APUSH
AP Bio
AP Chemistry
Pre-calculus Honors
American Literature
Leadership

Senior Year
AP government/AP econ
Physics H
Calc BC
AP Literature
Leadership

** i want to take the AP tests for psych and stats too. but we'll see. psych for sure. stats. not really.

AP SCORES

Biology = 5
Chemistry = 4 (IT'S SO LAME. 60% of ppl got 5's....-________-'')
APUSH = 5.

EXTRA CURRICULARS

Piano- 10+ years. I actually quit junior year. but I'm going to restart on it. I did volunteering with it like playing with a trio for a benefit concert for red cross that helped to raise $20,000 dollars. finished the CM tests and have gotten an award for that.

flute- 10 years. played in several orchestras. also participated in numerous benefit concerts. (one where i accompanied an autistic kid) and others include raising money for the earthquake in china, the virginia tech incident etc.

<in school>

leadership - this is probably my main. i've been a member of it for 3 years. now i'm lead for my commission. we have done food drive which raised over 500,000lbs of canned food, giving tree, car wash/garage sale for a charity event, stuffed animal drive. we plan to do an ice cream social and a shadowing day between middle schoolers and high schoolers.

Study buddy - been part of the program for three years where I tutor kids who either 1. cannot speak english very well 2. are having a hard time in classes. taught various subjects from sciences to literature

Teens for Environmental Action (VP)
Octagon (freshmen year only)
CSF (all years. very active)

Volunteering

FHFSN (friends helping friends with special needs) = helping autistic kids. both 1:1 and in grps. i'm the art teacher there as well. so I help them communicate their feelings through art. (500+ hours)

Church teacher - 150+ hours
VBS lead - 2 summers?
helped to organize a christmas program for the youths in our church.

Benefit concerts (mostly for flute) - participated in about 7-10.

mission trip (arizona.) - one week. helping to set up a summer program for the Native Americans in AZ.

Internship @ korea (seoul university) - I did it in two different places. genetic engineering and agricultural life sciences. pretty interesting. did it for about 2 months. every day.. for 8 hrs. (sometimes longer. depending on the research)

** i'm currently involved in helping my dad collect empty cans and bottles to help rebuild a church in India. We'll see how it works. so far we're getting around 300 ish a month.


Other
I think my recs would be pretty solid considering my teachers actually know me. and one of them I had her for 3 years now.

essay should not be that big of a deal.. I'M TOTALLY STUCK ON UCs. but *sighhh* the UC question is like mind boggling..

COLLEGES I'm thinking of:

for the safety. UCI, UCD, UOP (for their pharmacy program) could i consider these my safety?

I want to know my possibilites for.
UCSD/LA/BERKELEY (well i have pretty much given up on Berkeley)
JHU
BROWN
WASH U
UPENN
NORTHWESTERN
CORNELL
DUKE
USC


lol.i know that stanford and harvard is a far reach for anyone. so i'm not even gonna ask. lol.


yes. i'm applying to hella schools. lol. i would be really really happy if i get into stanford, but if I get into JHU/BROWN. i will be happy too. :]

does anyone know for northwestern's honors program (ISP and the medical one) even if i don't get in, can i still go to the school? it's so annoying that they require chem..-________-''

[Raine.]

Yo tengo una pregunta...

HOW IMPORTANT IS MUSIC in terms of getting into a good college.
Like, say for example, I don't play any instruments or anything, would I still be able to get into a top-notch college?
I mean, I just see all these people with like "10+ years of Piano" or "AP Music Theory",
would that hurt me if I didn't do any of that?

Does anyone know?

[Prot]

Yo tengo una pregunta...

HOW IMPORTANT IS MUSIC in terms of getting into a good college.
Like, say for example, I don't play any instruments or anything, would I still be able to get into a top-notch college?
I mean, I just see all these people with like "10+ years of Piano" or "AP Music Theory",
would that hurt me if I didn't do any of that?

Does anyone know?

It isn't important, people from the high school I went to didn't have much in extracurriculars to tell you the truth and got into Ivy leagues, UC schools, etc. Main factors are 1) Your high school average 2) SAT. Consider the amount of students applying to college and put yourself in the seat of the person going through this trainwreck of applications of students of essentially equivalent standards. The factor that will help you sort everyone out are those two things. After that, they will look at your dedication in extracurriculars. Also it is better to be dedicated in one thing rather than jumping all over the place with clubs and activities. So if you have 10+ years of piano and no band, well that is pretty pointless.

[porkbacon]

MY STATS

GPA : 3.7 (unweighted) 4.04 (weighted/UC) as of 9/08

RANK : top quarter of graduating class ; 115 out of 705 TT-TT

SAT I : 1700 I'm retaking in October so hopefully I raise it to at least 1800+ and maybe retake it again in December

SAT II : Korean (790) ; US History (590) I'm such a failure ;_;

CLASSES :

Freshmen Year
H English
H Biology
Geometry
PE
Music Appreciation
Spanish 1

Sophmore Year
AP World History
AP Biology
H Alg 2
H English
PE
Korean 2 (I switched foreign language to Korean, which probably looks really bad)

SUMMER SCHOOL : H Math Analysis/Trig

Junior Year
AP US History
AP Calculus AB
H Physics
H Contemporary Literature/Composition
Korean 3
Photoshop

SUMMER : Chemistry at college

Senior Year
AP Physics
AP Macro/Micro Economics
AP Calculus BC
AP Literature
College Peer Counseling
Government


EXTRA CURRICULARS

College Peer Counselor

Adopt - a - school : Secretary

Interact : Director of Activities

Key Club, Sophmore/Junior Council, Free the Children <-- in clubs with no position

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Library volunteer - 60 hours

Senior Home - 30 hours


COLLEGES

REACH :
Cornell (lol, just to see if I get in and its 21%! so maybe like a 1% chance)
Bentley (5 year business program)
Northeastern (6 year pharmacy program)
UCLA

Match :
University of Pacific (pharmacy program)
Syracuse (business)
UCSD
UCI
UCSB

Safety :
Boston University
Creighton University
UCR

so which colleges will i get accepted to? I don't really want to go to a UC cuz I want to go out of state or private but I'm just applying cuz of parents

[xm1chelle]

I'll post my stats over again! Please critique.

GPA : 4.5 (UC weighted) and school GPA is 4.053
RANK : 25/705
SAT I : 1780, but planning to retake in oct.
SAT II : korean -770, us - 650, world - 590 (yes, very bad), planning on taking math II
ACT : 28 (planning on retaking and aiming for 30)

CLASSES :

Summer Before Freshman Year:
Health A
Life Skills A

Freshman Year:
H English A/A
H Biology A/A
H Geometry B/B
Advanced PE A/A
H Music History/Appreciation A/A
Korean 2 A/A

Sophomore Year:
AP World History A/A
H Chemistry A/A
H Math Analysis B/B
H English A/A
Golf A
Korean 3 A/A
Photoshop A
Teacher's Assistant A

Junior Year:
AP US History A/A
AP Calculus AB A/A
AP English Literature/Composition B/B
Korean 4 A/A
Golf A/A
H Physics A/A
Journalism A/A

Senior Year:
AP Physics
AP Macro/Micro Economics
AP Calculus BC
AP English Literature
Writing Seminar
Government
Golf


EXTRA CURRICULARS :
Kendo all throughout high school - three gold medals, three silver medals, three bronze medals (one of which is from the 2nd annual North American tournament)
Piano - just lesson & practice
National Student Leadership Conference at AU - Summer
Debate all throughout high school - mock trials, outstanding performance award, participation in other competitions
Golf
Journalism (staff writer) in 11th grade

COMMUNITY SERVICE :
Senior Home - 9th grade
Heal the Bay - 9th grade
Korean School TA - 9th, 10th grade
Children's Afterschool Volunteer - 10th grade
Adopt-a-School Mentorship Program - 10th grade

CLUBS :
Animal & Society Club member- 9th grade
Sophomore Council member
Junior Council member
CSF - 10th, 11th, & 12th grade
Adopt-a-School Club VP for 1 year, Rep for 1 year, & President for 1 year - 10th, 11th, 12th grade
Free-the-Children Rep for 3 years - 10th, 11th, 12th grade

OTHER INFO :
First generation college student

COLLEGES :
Boston College (business)
Northeastern Uni ( business)
Cornell (psychology)
Syracuse Uni (business)
johns hopkins uni (psychology)
UCLA
UCSD
UCR
UCI
UCB

So, what schools do you guys think I'll be able to get into? Thanks

[s0y0un*]

ok so here i go, i really need some feedback on how im doing

Weighted GPA: 4.45
Unweighted GPA: 3.9
Rank: 3/254
ACT: 26 but im retaking this in a few weeks and aiming for 30
SAT: never took but taking it in november ><

I went to different high schools every year, is that a bad thingg?
What are my chances in getting into any UC? I really wanna go to Berkeley or UCLA.
Also I want to go to Upenn, Ann Arbor, Ut austin or NC chapel hill.
any chances that i will get into any of these schools? my stats arent the best :/

SOPH.
Acting & Perf.
Pre AP eng II
PRE AP ALG II
PRE AP CHEM 1
PRE AP OK HIST. (required)
Spanish II
Accounting !
Speed reading

JUNIOR
AP CHEM
AP ENG LNG&COMP
APUSH
PRE CALC
SPANISH III
Sociology

SENIOR
AP Physics B
AP Spanish
AP Eng lit
AP Gov
AP CALC BC
Comp Ed I/ Web page desiging

ACADEMIC HONORS

-Junior escort
-Outstanding Achievement Recognition in Spanish III
-Academic Excellence 4.0 and above GPA, 2003-2007

EC
�Vice-president of youth group, 2008
�Secretary of youth group, 2005-2007
�OMTA State Achievement Auditions Participant for piano and flute, 2003-2007
�CODA all region honor bands member for flute, 2004-2005
�National Honor Society member, 2007-Present
-NHS officer 2008
�Key club member, 2006-Present
�Praise band in youth group, 2006- Present
�Private piano study, 1997-Present
�Worship Dance Team, 2005-2007
�Private flute study, 2003-2006
�Band, 2004-2006
�Pom classes 2004

SERVICE
�Volunteered 80 hours in a Summer Program at OU Medical Center, 2008
�Served food, sang, and cleaned the warehouse at a Homeless center called Love Links, 2006-2007
�Sang at nursing home for Christmas, 2006-2007
�Babysitting at church, 2005-2007
�Served as a sponsor to children when they went to camp, 2006

[nightfall738]

Wow. Can you guys tell me my chances, please?

Unweighted GPA: 3.686
Weighted GPA: 3.924
Our school doesn't rank
SAT: 1920, but my new score is coming out
Writing: 680-710ish
Math- 630-680ish
Reading: 580-650ish
(I'm waiting for my new score, so I'll post that up once it comes out)

SATIIs
Biology: 740
Math IC: 730

APs:
European Hist - 3
Biology - 5
Psychology - 4
English Composition - 3
Government - didn't take yet
Literature - didn't take yet
Calculus AB - didn't take yet

Extracurriculars:
(in school)
Musical (9th, 11th, 12th grade)
Varsity Swimming Team (9th, 11th)
Asian American Awareness Club (10, 11, 12)
Spanish Honor Society (11, 12)
National Honor Society (12)
Diversity Club (10, 11, 12)
School Store (4 years)


(out of school)
Piano - 5 years (i stopped tho, but I'm picking it up again)
Shaolin Kung fu - 3 years
Dance - 4 years

Leadership Positions:
(Almost none -.-)
Diversity Day Dance Captain (one of about 6?) - 11th grade
Diversity Day Dance Co-Captain - 10th grade
Hip Hop Dance Club Vice President - 12th grade (created this year)


(i can't really remember any more. I don't think I have any.)

Here are my classes for Junior and Senior Year.

Junior
AP Biology
AP Psychology
AP English Composition
Dance
Precalc
Spanish IV
US History

Senior
AP Literature
AP Calculus AB
AP Government (1/2 year)
Economics (1/2 year)
Dance
Physics
Anatomy and Physiology
Advanced Spanish Conversation


I'm Early Decisioning to Tufts. Do you think I have a chance of getting in?


My other schools are:

Reaches:
Cornell
Brown
University of Rochester
Amherst College
Barnard
Tufts

Targets:
Boston University
New York University
Lehigh
Villanova
Northeastern

Safeties:
Suny Binghamton
Suny Stony Brook
Suny Geneseo

Thank you!

[mojomunkeez]

All your SAT scores are so low......

[Vivskies]

o-o; Say your grades are really crappy...but you have a decent SAT Score.

How will UC's look at like?


SAT Score: 2080
UC GPA: 3.5 UW(Well so far, all my classes were honors last year. I'm just beginning my junior year. )

I realize that many other factors play a part, like SAT2,volenteering, etc, but I'm just wondering from an academic standpoint.
I don't know if I can get a 4.0 IW with all my AP's this year.


Am I pretty much screwed over if I want to go to UCSD/UCLA?

[Rasberryz]

From what I know private schools weigh SAT scores more heavily than UC's do. So if you're aiming for a UC, a lower SAT score is fine as long as you have a high GPA to support it.

[Vivskies]

^#$#%
o-o; damn. hahaha, i was kinda hoping for a high SAT and a low GPA type of thing.

thanks though

[Avex]

From what I know private schools weigh SAT scores more heavily than UC's do. So if you're aiming for a UC, a lower SAT score is fine as long as you have a high GPA to support it.

Two things: I don't know how you define a low SAT score and I don't know how you define which UCs usually except low SAT scores.

But in general, it doesn't matter. If you have an academic passion for something (i.e. physics, for example), and you spend your free time doing physics experiments and doing well in your physics exams and doing physics related projects, that's IMO, a lot better than the one guy over there who does a lot of ECs and has no real actual defined purpose (sometimes I feel that way, sigh). Your GPA will show that.

[mojomunkeez]

o-o; Say your grades are really crappy...but you have a decent SAT Score.

How will UC's look at like?


SAT Score: 2080
UC GPA: 3.5 UW(Well so far, all my classes were honors last year. I'm just beginning my junior year. )

I realize that many other factors play a part, like SAT2,volenteering, etc, but I'm just wondering from an academic standpoint.
I don't know if I can get a 4.0 IW with all my AP's this year.


Am I pretty much screwed over if I want to go to UCSD/UCLA?

To be blunt: Yes.
But you can always hope!

[plumerias]

Ah hey
I'm only a Sophomore right now, but I just have a few questions :/
How do you weigh GPAs? Our school is like.. honors classes you can get 5 GPA max I think, and non-honors is just 4.
So if you take all honors and get all B's for example, you'd have a 4.0 unweighted, but how about weighted? If you took all standard classes and got all A's you'd get a 4.0. Does it depend on the school? And do colleges weight it? Or do they just look at how our school sends them? :/

Aaand..
How important are freshman grades for colleges? I heard that some colleges don't pay a lot of attention to them, but the higher ones do. If I didn't get all A's (a few B's) in freshman would it look really bad? ><
How much are chances affected by your freshman grades to get into an ivy college like UPenn?
I mean, I know it depends on a lot of other things too, but if everything else was extremely good + tons of extracurricular and out of school and volunteering but your freshman grades weren't straight A's? ..

Just wondering ^^* Thanks to anyone who answers!

[Rasberryz]

^UC's don't look at 9th and 10th grade, however your grades during those years will still make an impact on your overall grade. I think UPenn would definitely look at grades for all years.

[xm1chelle]

^UC's don't look at 9th and 10th grade, however your grades during those years will still make an impact on your overall grade. I think UPenn would definitely look at grades for all years.

actually, UC's look at 10th and 11th grade report cards and that's what they use to calculate your UC GPA

[Rasberryz]

^Yea. It's accounted for in terms of overall GPA. But they don't really weigh what you did in the first two years as heavily as junior. :< Sorry if I didn't make that clear.

[xboredguy]

GPA: 3.56 (unweighted)

SAT
math: 740
reading: 640
writing: 600
(best scores for each subject, not from one sitting)

are my chances for usc and nyu good?

i did really well during junior year too, managed to get straight As
and took all the honors and ap classes i could (except for English)