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GPA: UW 2.8 W 4.31
Class rank: 159/588 (27%~)
PSAT: 220 (80m/70v/70w) (National Merit Semifinalist)
SAT I: 1500 (790m/710v)
SAT II: 720 MIIC / 710 BIOE
ECs: volunteering at hospital, NHS, Lit. Club, Orch. (1 year), and various other things... founded movie club this year at my school.
State: TX
Perm. Res. from India

Nearly all H/AP courses throughout high school, but didn't do that great grade wise, will get good teacher recommendations and hopefully a great essay as well.

Not sure where I stand at this point. Planning to apply to Ivies and some other top 25 schools.

I am really unsure of my chances at this point because of my disproportionate scores. Can anyone tell me which schools will be my matches/reaches/safeties?

By Radracer (Radracer) on Wednesday, September 29, 2004 - 08:37 pm: Edit

Please advise on which colleges I should be considering...will I make it into University of Texas? Will I have to settle for University of Houston or Houston Community College? What are my chances in the Top 25? I am very confused and anxious...

Thanks in advance!

By Radracer (Radracer) on Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 03:14 pm: Edit

Can someone please advise based on the first post whether I would be a good candidate for Carnegie Mellon, NYU, Brown, or Dartmouth?

By Jpps1 (Jpps1) on Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 03:18 pm: Edit

I'm from Canada so I couldn't tell you whether colleges consider weighted or unweighted grades...But top 27% will not help you, and your ECs are very weak. Not to mention that Texas is not "under-represented" as a state.

I'd say Brown and Dartmouth are big longshots, but your SAT will help you at NYU.

By Alexandre (Alexandre) on Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 03:22 pm: Edit

2.8 GPA? Not in the top 25% of your class? I have to tell you, your odds are almost 0 at top universities. Can you offer any reason as to why your grades are so average? I mean, your SAT is awesome...what happened to your grades?

By Aznhermit (Aznhermit) on Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 04:19 pm: Edit

you must have taken like 15 AP classes to have a 4.3 GPA and have a 2.8 UW GPA... Thats CRAZY... and with a 4.3 how can u only be 27%. At my school ppl like that are at least in the top 10%

By Radracer (Radracer) on Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 06:49 pm: Edit

Yes, I am at the second most competitive school in my county, just for some comparison, we have 150+ students above a 4.33 while 6 other high schools in my county have on average only about 15-20. Another example would be a nearby high school which has only 11 people in NHS (we have 120), if I lived a mile down I would probably be one of the top 5 people. Also, I have had a lot of stressful events during my high school years, such as having a grandfather go through heart surgery (my grandparents which raised me for 6 years as a child), a grandmother in ill health and other "situations"...

Okay, I have pretty much understood that my current GPA won't get me into the top schools, but my next question is where should I apply so that I can be sure that I will get into a decent school? If I show huge improvement in my grades during the mid-year report, what possible effect might that have on my admissions? If I attended a non-top 20 college for my freshmen year, and do well, what are my transfer oppurtunities?