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I am an Asian male
California resident
SAT I: 1420 (760 verbal 660 math)
SAT II 680 writing 620 math1c 680 Literature
GPA: unweighted ~3.25

I have/am taking three APs: AP environmental science (taken junior year with AP test grade 4, and 2 A's for each semester) and AP english and AP U.S. government (I am taking these 2 right now in my senior year)

My school grades on a two semester system.
The main reason for my low GPA is my sophomore year where I got 1 C each semester in SPanish II, and 1 C in one semester of Geometry, i also got a C and a D in my two semesters of C++ programming language, but it is an elective course. Every other year my grades were A's or B's
I go to a very competitive private school, Buckley.
I am applying to:

UCLA
UCSD
UCSB

NYU
Pepperdine
USC
Occidental
Pitzer
Pomona
Claremont Mckenna
Loyola MArymount

my EC's: 2 years of swimming, 1 year of yearbook, 2 years of metals and enameling, 2 years of Ecology Club (co-vice president this year) and will complete about 90 hours of community service by high school graduation, of which I have already done 60 hours)

Thank you for your comments and observations

By Tj86 (Tj86) on Saturday, November 29, 2003 - 04:05 pm: Edit

bump

By Dohinc (Dohinc) on Saturday, November 29, 2003 - 04:26 pm: Edit

scratch pomona off the list.

By Culovv (Culovv) on Saturday, November 29, 2003 - 04:37 pm: Edit

You definately need some safeties. Your stats are very similar to mine and we are applying to schools of the same caliber. My SAT is 110 points lower than yours (gotta take ACT), my SAT II are a bit higher, im an URM, and my my gpa is also just a bit higher (also a prep school). Whats your first choice?

By Leejwwc (Leejwwc) on Saturday, November 29, 2003 - 06:32 pm: Edit

whoa, I've never seen an asian with a verbal score higher than math before!

By Lqqkie2 (Lqqkie2) on Saturday, November 29, 2003 - 06:37 pm: Edit

I didn't want to be the one to say it, but yeah. Thats not racist is it? Is Asian considered a URM? Does it matter if you're Chinese, Korean, Japanese, etc.
Just wondering

By Eccentricity (Eccentricity) on Saturday, November 29, 2003 - 06:47 pm: Edit

asians aren't URMs... not anymore according to most colleges. but it is true... most asian kids have a stronger math score....

By Tj86 (Tj86) on Saturday, November 29, 2003 - 06:55 pm: Edit

Cullov, yeah my college counselors also told me I need more safeties, maybe Univ. of Pacific and Univ. of San Diego? Lggkie, no, it's not racist, I've been told that it's good for me to have a higher verbal than math since it makes me stand out more from other Asian applicants. I don;t think Asians are URMs not at most schools anyway, I heard UCB and UCLA have about37-40% asian lol. Anyway, I am half-chinese and half japanese american born.

Oh yeah, I know UCLA, Pomona are pretty much no chances with USC (Uni of Southern California my first choice), NYU, UCSD are reaches, but can someone tell me my chances at UCSB? I read that they have a 51% admit rate but my counselors told me it was a reach, do you guys agree? Cause that is scaring me.

By Warriorlax22 (Warriorlax22) on Saturday, November 29, 2003 - 07:16 pm: Edit

"most asian kids have a stronger math score"

yup. 730 math, 620 verbal

anyway, your GPA is kinda low. i mean, that's just like about an 80, right?

By Tj86 (Tj86) on Saturday, November 29, 2003 - 07:59 pm: Edit

warriorlax22, yeah, I screwed up my sophomore year, the only year I got anything less than a B-. I think a 3.25 is about a 87, that's what theprincetonreview.com says.

By Tj86 (Tj86) on Saturday, November 29, 2003 - 10:06 pm: Edit

rocket bumper boost

By Andrey1225 (Andrey1225) on Saturday, November 29, 2003 - 10:25 pm: Edit

Yeah, i dont think you have good chances for pomona...its as competitive as some of the lower ivy league schools.

other than that your list looks alright; you have a decent chance at USC, but your GPA is obviously going to hurt you (is there any reason it's so low....anything that a guidance counselor would be able to explain in a letter?).

your ECs are also sub-par....nothing really stands out except your high verbal score (which looks like a fluke next to the SAT II writing).

if you're into the humanities you should apply to UCSC (it's not too late if you already sent in the app, and you need a solid safety), they love students with high verbal scores and the campus has a liberal arts feel...the only UC campus to even come close to that. the rest of your schools are pretty easy to sort out, im sure you can differentiate between claremont mckenna and loyola marymount, so im not going to.

best of luck

btw....eval my chances under "Final List: Evaluate"...thanks

By Calif (Calif) on Wednesday, December 17, 2003 - 01:16 am: Edit

I strongly recommend applying to the University of San Diego (USD). It's a terrific school. The professors there are deeply committed to teaching and really care about making their students think.

A number of very exciting things are occurring at the school. Its peace and justice institute recently received a $50 million donation from Joan Kroc, which should help make the institute become one of the premier institutes of its kind; this fall, an amazing $46 million science and technology center opened; and in August of this year USD was awarded a Phi Beta Kappa chapter (only about 10% of all colleges and universities in the nation have been granted chapters of this prestigious honor society).

The school is also beautiful. It's definitely one of the prettiest schools on the west coast, let alone the country.