Opinions regarding university admission standards...

[ucdnam]

<< I actually had a 5.12 on a 4.0 from AP courses >>



How did you pull a 5.12 in high school or anywhere on a 4.0 scale where AP courses, at most boost your GPA by 1 point.

Anyway, getting into college is the easy part, staying and making something out of it is up to you.

You should find out the retention rate for the uni you're going to attend. Just go to google and do a simple search or visit the college's website and look for it. You'll see that a lot of people will drop out from the getgo. Looks like the U of C is small, you atleast you won't be too busy with being distracted by the social life and it's also not a state school, which helps a lot.

 

[saltedeggman]

Once i get in, i feel that i will be comitted to it

well....in our school a AP course counts as 6.0 points

 

[KokomoGST]

Actually, since most school are trying to be demographically diverse as well there's that factor. Looking at your profile, aren't you already in?

 

[saltedeggman]

<< Actually, since most school are trying to be demographically diverse as well there's that factor. Looking at your profile, aren't you already in? >>



That is my sister's email, so.....

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

try writing a fact sheet that includes the stats you mentioned, plus all the extracurricular activities or projects thtat you have worked on.

 

[ScottyB]

Damn I had a 26 on the ACTS and only got a 3.7 somthing GPA with 7 semesters worth of AP classes. But I didn't do much homework either.

 

[littlezipp]

Your grades and test scores might be just fine, but you might not get in if the major you declared is impacted! A friend of mine and I both applied to the same university, and looked the exact same on paper, but he got in and I did not. But he applied to where I am currently going, and did not get in!!! It all depends on what major you choose. I would call a counselor there and ask. Choose the major that is the least impacted. Just another story for you about how messed up the admissions process is... my girlfriend did not get into my university UC Davis, but had a 4.0 (the highest at my school!), but a lower SAT. My roomate got in by a stroke of luck. He is dumb, and will be on academic probation next quarter. I believe that they put our names on a dartboard, and throw to choose who is admitted. Also, you did not mention that you were in sports, colleges love that, especially if you were the captain of the team! Good luck though, I would think that you should be fine.

 

[saltedeggman]

Class rank 11th
GPA 4.22
ACT 25

Advancded Chorus
French club
Science club
Asiatic club
National Honor Society
Bridge Club
CCML Math team 4th place once in school (i think)
1st place Science Fair winner
Peer Tutoring

 

[saltedeggman]

In U of C they don't have departements of ______, their admission standard is uniform throughout

 

[ucdnam]

If you are really fearful, you can email their advisors and they will tell you exactly what they look for. When I was at UC Davis and in their school of engineering, I had to talk to my advisor atleast once a year, or something like that, to keep me on track. Anyway, she had a little file on me including everything you can think of, such as all my scores, the HS I went to, etc. Because so many people apply to these unis, there's no way they can look at each individual, so it's based on things such as your score and in my case, my high school's reputation.

 

[saltedeggman]

 

[SubZeroX]

Saltedeggman, your GPA is pretty good, but your ACT score is a bit low. Since you are Asian, you are competing against many other Asians with very high GPA and standardized test scores. Why don't you try to take the SAT? maybe you'll do better. I for one did not take the ACT coz I hated the format and questions. I much prefer the SAT.

If you were Hispanic, Black, or best of all, American Indian, you can get into Harvard easily. Sad but true.

 

[saltedeggman]

 

Being done with my college apps, and taking a step back, I can provide some hopefully useful information to everyone thinking of applying:

1. START EARLY. There's no better feeling in the world than getting into college in November (me) while everyone else is still worrying (my friends).
   Practice is the best method of preparation for the standardized tests. I got an SAT/ACT program from CompUSA and actually stayed w/it, and it paid off for me (1370 SAT, 35 ACT)
   Don't worry too much about community service. Don't you think that college admission people know a committed individual when they see one? I mean, unless you start an orphanage for Indian children or something huge like that, don't bother - if you want to make a difference, do it. If you don't, then don't.
   GPA IS IMPORTANT. It doesn't matter how easy your school is - colleges know all about grade inflation, and will account for it. Get the highest GPA you can get.

PM me w/any questions. BTW, I'm going to the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) next year!

 

[saltedeggman]

1400 SAT

35 ACT

hehe, i am stupid.......

 

[b0mbrman]

I think all the admission standards should be relaxed so that the population at university better reflects the population of the United States as a whole...specifically, I'd like to see blacks get preferential treatment through such programs as affirmative action.

Opposite Day

 

[saltedeggman]

but why??

 

[ucdnam]

You don't need AA (Affirmative Action) to get scholastic minorities into college. They got rid if that crap here in California and it hasn't changed much. With the UC system, there are many schools to choose from and each cater to certain types of students. If you can't get into a UC, there's always a state school. If you can't cut that, and that would be pretty difficult, than there's always a community college, after which you may transfer to a university.

 

[BuckleDownBen]

The colleges have all the high school's ranked, so 11th in class at a highly rated high school is better than 3rd in class at a lesser high school.

UC schools may have officially done away with Affirmative Action, but the people responsible for admissions do it anyways, as they should.

 

[saltedeggman]

UC school = ???

 

[CSoup]

<< Okay...

I have a 4.22 GPA (weighted), 11th class rank out of 367 people, ACT 25 (didn't take SAT), perfect attendance in 4 years, participate in various clubs

so What are my chances of getting into University of Chicago (just generally speaking)??? >>



What is your unweighted GPA on a 4.0 scale? University of Chicago has a high acceptance rate (about 50 percent), but those ACT scores are on the low end. My recommendation is to apply if you have the money for the app and see what happens. You never know with university admissions. It is not like they take the highest scores or have some concrete formula. They reject many people with really high scores and grades just so that they have a balanced class.

 

[6TNINE]

Have you ever visited U of Chicago. One of my best friends from high school went there, and IMHO it is a bunch of tools that go to school there. the party/social scene is very different there than any other school i've visited since i started college (over 10). I'm not saying you shouldnt go there, just know what you are getting into.

69

 

[CSoup]

<< ah.. u of chicago...

you're also going to need some awesome letters of recommendation. i'd consider u of chicago a pretty major university, so you're going to need some other accolades besides just clubs to make your admission a no brainer. because right now, you're just like any other student that applies to u of chicago.

you also need to write a great essay that tells them something about you that makes them say "hey this guy should come here"

once you get in college, what you did in high school means nothing, as you will meet people who did ten times the things you did and got even higher gpa's and act's... (oi harsh reality...) >>



yep, I totally agree with this. Letters of Recs and Essays are the real thing that tips the scale in college admissions. They look at some many people with similar credentials in terms of grades and scores that these are the only things that give them a view that is more personal.

 

[saltedeggman]

thats understandable

I just really want to get in...

I have high expectations from my parents and I am starting to regret the past 4 years, i have really put my effort into it.....

I am keeping my fingers crossed, and guys wish me luck

 

[CSoup]

Your sister's stats should give you some idea also. Another advantage you have is that you have a sibling there already. The top schools in the nation have been getting much harder to get into because more people are willing to pay the money to go to them. The acceptance rate at schools like Stanford and MIT are almost half of what they were about 8 years ago.

I hope you have applied to other schools also, including "safety schools". Not too good to put all your eggs in one basket.