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I posted around ED time for my penn chances, but um, that didn't really work out so well (I was rejected). anyways, with only a month to go, I thought I'd see what you all thought my chances are like for my RD schools.

applying to:
UVA, Virginia Tech, Yale, Princeton, Hopkins, Duke, Wash U in St. Louis, and Cornell

SAT 1: 1600
SAT 2's: 770 chem, 770 writing, 800 math2c

no class rank, 3.7something weighted GPA, go to a really well known sci/tech magnet governor's school in northern VA --> so all classes are considered honors.

ap's are weighted .5. taken 6 ap's (2 soph yr, 4 junior year) and taking 4 more this year [bc calc, eng lit, govt, and euro]. 5's on bio, psych, ab calc, and us history. 4's on chem and spanish lang. really rigorous courseload overall.. but i'm more of a B+ student than an A student.

i'm a private tutor, do lots of volunteer work, was girls bball manager, prez of indian culture club, model un, things like big sibs, etc. national merit finalist (not a big deal, my school had 170 semifinalists). had research internship at a govt biotech lab for molecular biology. 1st place in science fair, presidential scholar candidate.

great rec's & essays.. asian [indian] female and i applied as a bio major to all of these schools

i called penn after i was rejected and they basically said my grades weren't high enough. which i can understand.. seeing as how my school is filled with geniuses.

anyways if you could tell me what you think my chances are, i'd really appreciate it =) thank you!

By Penn08please (Penn08please) on Monday, March 01, 2004 - 04:25 pm: Edit

Are you an Asian indian? That could have played a large role as Penn gets quite a number of Asian Indians applying ED (there is a large population in Philadelphia and New Jersey). In essence, you're an overrepresented minority at Penn. Good luck...here's how I see your chances...

UVA- Accept
Virginia Tech- Accept
Yale-60% Reject, 40% Accept
Princeton- 60 % Reject, 40% Accept
Hopkins- Accept
Duke- 75% Accept, 25% Reject
Wash U in St. Louis- Accept
and Cornell- Accept

If you're in the top 10 % of your class (r u?, even without class rank you can normally guess a general range), that could increase your chances at Yale and Princeton.

Good luck!

By Ohio_Mom (Ohio_Mom) on Monday, March 01, 2004 - 04:37 pm: Edit

Tchokri -
my son will also have the problem of grades not matching SAT's, so I know that some of your colleges are pretty grade-oriented - most show 90+ of admitted students in the top 10% of the class. For Yale and Princeton, 95% of students are in the top 10%. Here is my guess - and best wishes to you. I would bet that at least one of the keep fingers cross batch will come thru for you!

Yale, Princeton - no
Hopkins, Cornell, Duke, WUStL - keep fingers crossed
UVA, VTech - yes

By Tjchokri04 (Tjchokri04) on Monday, March 01, 2004 - 04:50 pm: Edit

thanks to both of you! =) I am an Asian Indian; and my essay was all about being Indian too. =( and no I definitely don't think I'd be top 10%, but at the same time, my courseload has been a lot tougher than most people at my school.

Penn08 please, I was pretty much thinking the same way you were, except I don't think I really have a shot at Princeton/Yale, and I'd make Duke 50-50.

By Voigtrob (Voigtrob) on Monday, March 01, 2004 - 06:39 pm: Edit

3.7 weighted does seem like somewhat of an issue... what is that unweighted, 3.0-3.3 or so? Given that discrepancy between your scores and grades I think it's quite a wild card in your case. Noone can really predict accurately anyways, but I think especially in your case it just really depends on how you come across in your app. I wish you the best of luck, hehe.

By Tjchokri04 (Tjchokri04) on Monday, March 01, 2004 - 07:39 pm: Edit

whoa, your school system must have major grade inflation. it's a 3.765 weighted, and a 3.614 unweighted.

we only get a .5 for AP's. so it really isn't much at all.

By Mike2004 (Mike2004) on Monday, March 01, 2004 - 08:16 pm: Edit

I go to a northern va school too and I'm 99.999999999% sure I know what high school you go to since there aren't too many science and technology schools up here...so, I'm 10000% sure you will get into UVA (awesome school, one of my favorites) and Tech (amazing football and food)...washington u i'd say you stand a solid chance at, same with cornell. yale/princeton should be interesting bc they do put a lot of emphasis on grades, I think if they knew the school you were coming from better (like uva since so many kids from your school get accepted there) then you would get in, but hey that's one of the downsides to the college admissions process. good luck!!!!!!!!!!!

By Tjchokri04 (Tjchokri04) on Monday, March 01, 2004 - 08:24 pm: Edit

haha thanks mike, i'm pretty sure the username kinda gives it away too ;)

do you know where you're going yet?

By Garland (Garland) on Tuesday, March 02, 2004 - 12:17 pm: Edit

TJ--I have heard of that school, and I'm just an ordinary Mom from NJ. I think that should somewhat mitigate the "low" GPA, since colleges will certainly know your school, too. It's like kids who go to elite preps--they're more likely to get accepted even if they aren't top ten. So I think Penn08's outlook is not overly optimistic.

By Kushm (Kushm) on Tuesday, March 02, 2004 - 03:20 pm: Edit

slightly off topic.... are you gujarati? im assuming you are b/c of your name.

By Tjchokri04 (Tjchokri04) on Tuesday, March 02, 2004 - 03:26 pm: Edit

yup i am

By Mike2004 (Mike2004) on Wednesday, March 03, 2004 - 07:47 pm: Edit

goin to Penn next year, uva was my 2nd choice if i didn't get in. i feel really dumb bc i didn't see the TJ in your username, i just figured the "Tj" was part of your real name or something....wow i feel smart.

By Gabushida (Gabushida) on Wednesday, March 03, 2004 - 08:48 pm: Edit

"we only get a .5 for AP's. so it really isn't much at all."

Ummm...we only get .43, so dont complain. And anyway, the GPA is important relative to your school and class. You cant just say a number that works all throughout, because schools do it differently.

By Riesenmy (Riesenmy) on Wednesday, March 03, 2004 - 09:54 pm: Edit

after reading this post, i am thoroughly convinced that the adcoms at these schools are also members of the BCS committee... football fans, you'll know what i'm talking about.

By Tjchokri04 (Tjchokri04) on Wednesday, March 03, 2004 - 10:06 pm: Edit

i have no idea what you're talking about.. BCS committee? can you explain?

By H0peful (H0peful) on Wednesday, March 03, 2004 - 10:22 pm: Edit

Everywhere but Yale and Princeton.