Click here to go to the NEW College Discussion Forum

I am class of 05.

GPA- 3.448 (Probably 3.5 by application time)
SAT- 1230 (Verbal-620, Math-610) I am going to take them again a couple times in the fall and hopeful get 1300/high 1200's.

I do not know my class rank.
I have and will not take any honors or AP.

ECs- (Including Senior Year)
1. Executive Producer of my highschools TV Show for 2 years and have taped/directed over 30 sports and school events for 3 years.
2. I have held a radio show at my school for 3
years.
3. I have done video work for the thespian society that is very popular.
4. I will be Chief engineer for the radio station and tv studio during my senior year.

Outside Exeperiance
1. I have worked over the summer for an Audio Visual company and a TV Production company.
2. I have taped over 30 events/town meetings for my town.
3. I have created a professional movie that I edited/wrote/and directed my self. It is six minutes long and it took hundreds of hours to edit and it is extremely popular at my school. It was also shown on the schools TV show on public access.
4. I have taped and directed a public access TV show for many years at a cable vision studio.

I am looking to go into communications and then a career in film.

I know the SAT II's are requiered for NYU, but are they important or worth it for my other schools? If so should i take the writing test or what?

The schools I am looking at are Syracuse, Emerson, and Ithaca, my reach schools are Boston University, NYU, and USC.

What are my chances? Please suggest other schools that you think might be good to. Some safety schools would be nice too. All help is appreciated. Thank you so much.

By Alecmod (Alecmod) on Sunday, July 04, 2004 - 12:27 am: Edit

Anybody?!?!?! Wow that hurts.

By Alecmod (Alecmod) on Sunday, July 04, 2004 - 03:09 am: Edit

ah! I am staying up to see a post please send me a replay! My 4th of July sanity depends on it! AHHH!

I don't know, sorry I thought I would try the desprete/kind wierd reponse. Thats the "In" thing to do on these boards to get responses now right? Maybe I should have made a better topic name.....hmmmm....

By Hayden (Hayden) on Sunday, July 04, 2004 - 01:40 pm: Edit

Alecmod - you've done a great job of selecting schools! I think your schools, and the rank you've put them in, is just about perfect. I have one small suggestion: add Penn State. They have a good TV / film department.

As far as chances: is your gpa weighted or unweighted? Will make a difference for you since your SATs are a little on the low side for some of these schools. Assuming unweighted, I think your chances for Syracuse and Ithaca are very good. I know Ithaca is looking for the strong, solid B" candidate.
Emerson is good for your current major, but you have to totally sure that you won't change majors. Your other schools are good in that you could decide to change majors and still stay at these colleges but not Emerson.

I also suggest you decide on your first choice school and apply ED. USC doesn't do ED, though, so if that's your 1st choice reach, don't do ED anywhere else since if by chance you get into USC's RD, you'll just want to kick yourself!

So overall, I think you look great for your matches, and okay for your reaches. Which is what's supposed to happen.

I think you should 1) get a Penn State app together and apply asap (they do rolling, and you'll have a better shot if you apply as soon as they open their doors); 2) prep for SAT re-takes, and 3) work on a good solid essay. Good luck!

By Alecmod (Alecmod) on Sunday, July 04, 2004 - 07:50 pm: Edit

Thanks alot. I know this is kind of an embarressing question but what exactly is an unweighted GPA? That was my weighted GPA. The unweighted is just all the grades averaged out and the weighted is a more complex calculation right? Anyway i think my unweighted is higher then my weighted, but only by a small fraction. I do not have any honors or ap, so i guess its very possible to have a higher unwieghted GPA. Thanks alot for your commments Hayden, they helped alot. Is taking the SAT 2 a good idea for the other schools? Is it worth it? (I know NYU requires it). Would it make any differance with the other schools or should i just take the SAT 1 again and again. Thanks for any responses!

By Hayden (Hayden) on Sunday, July 04, 2004 - 08:28 pm: Edit

There's something about the way you write that makes me think you are going to do great in the future, regardless of where you go !

Weigted GPA means when you take an honors class, a B is weighted at 4.0. The same B in a non-honors is a 3.0. So weighted GPA's are always higher.

You should figure your college GPA by taking out things like health and gym, and only calculate the academic classes. Since you say you don't have honors / AP classes, your weights are 1:1, so a 3.5 is a 3.5. High schools use weights because it's easier to create a realistic ranking of students.

Colleges take out the weights, and only count B's as 3.0 (usually !) But they only calculate the academic courses. Each school has its own method of giving "points" for tough schedules versus not-so-tough schedules. This system helps students from smaller schools that don't have enough students to run a lot of different AP or honors classes.

So the GPA you posted is better for you being unweighted, than it would have been if you had taken honors, and were reporting the weighted GPA.

Regarding SAT II, the bad news is you should take them. Most schools either require them, or want them.

With regard to the SAT I, you should take it again. The schools will accept the highest single math and highest single verbal, and add them toghether. But don't take the SAT I more than 3 times. That's not only an act of desperation, it's an act of masochism !!!

Good luck.

By Alecmod (Alecmod) on Sunday, July 04, 2004 - 11:23 pm: Edit

Thanks for all you help Hayden. I can now sleep in peace and tranquility because, for now, I have no more questions. Thanks again.