Can I get into Oregon with a 2.9 GPA and 1660 SAT??

Yep. You will get in. They say 3.0 min but not always the case.

Your chances depend on whether you saying "2.9" means something like 2.91 or something like "about a 2.9" (ie 2.6-2.8, ie not actually "about a 2.9"). I tutor a fair amount, often times with high school kids, and one of my recent students told me he had "about a 3.2", which turned out to actually be a 2.8x. I am generally skeptical when people tell me their grades.

underachieving high schooler wrote:

-White from Southern California.

-I go to a very high performing public high school

-Varsity Team Captain XC/Track

-150 hours of community service

-Not fast enough to run for Oregon

Should i even bother applying?

You have the ability to type and form ideas in point form... you can get into Oregon

My total cumulative 9-11 GPA is 2.95. My Academic 10-11 GPA is lower, probably about a 2.7

My counselor said that Oregon used to be a shoe in for most kids at my school but now due to the notoriety the football team has brought, it is harder to get in.

You can get into Oregon with a 2.5GPA and 1250SAT.

Basic Admission requirements are for a standard 3.0 GPA (from a high school with a 4.0 top). However, if your SAT/ACT scores are high enough, you may make it in with your 2.90.

Here are more details on admission to Oregon:

http://admissions.uoregon.edu/requirements

Also If I can manage write an outstanding essay, will that help significantly? From what I've heard most state schools don't give a sh!t about writing. Writing is really the one area of academia where I have consistently excelled.

PS... In my first 3mile XC race I ram 26:20. My Senior PR is 15:40. Sounds like a pretty good essay topic.

I had a friend just get denied for spring term. He was a transfer with a 2.8. He was pretty shocked. Everything you said is true about the football team and admissions. Loads of cali girls too. All the silly girls who couldn't get into the UC's but have the money to go out of state.

And trust me, there is nothing unique about a sports essay. It sounds like a great story but the person reading won't know a damn.

underachieving high schooler wrote:

Also If I can manage write an outstanding essay, will that help significantly? From what I've heard most state schools don't give a sh!t about writing. Writing is really the one area of academia where I have consistently excelled.

PS... In my first 3mile XC race I ram 26:20. My Senior PR is 15:40. Sounds like a pretty good essay topic.

unless you're a great writer it sounds like a much better topic than it is

I got in with a 2.8 and a 1510

of course, that's when 1600 was the max

I lived by the credo, if you don't need to do your homework, then fr*ckin don't do it. I learned everything but got bad grades, aced the sat and picked a nice cheap state college. Could have gone to a better one than UO.

While you've got the chance, take the SAT again. It is what really matters. Succeeding in college is about taking tests, not doing homework. You don't even have to hand in homework most of the time. Either do it, or don't, just pass the tests.

Have you considered Stanford? It is closer and not as strong academically in some majors.

Two things.

First, have you considered going to community college for a year? Save some money and prove to everyone you can do college work. It will be much easier to transfer in.

Second, if you actually can write well, you owe it to yourself to find a better essay topic. Like a couple other posters said, admissions will be reading 100s of sports essays and yours just won't stand out. It's not that state schools don't care about writing its that only 1 out of 100 essays is sooo good that it makes a difference. The next 70 or so are deemed acceptable and the bottom 30 are red flags. Meet with 5 or even 10 of your teachers and really dig into the question of what would make a good essay topic.

Good luck

Did you look at the GPA-SAT chart? Basically, if you can fog a glass you can get in.

Steve Prefontaine of Ore won 3 Gold Medals at the Summer Olympics and that's pretty remarkable. I'd apply to Ore since it's at the same academic level as Cal State East L.A. and Cal State Compton.

"You've done a lot of solid work here, but it's just not Ivy League, now is it?".....

underachieving high schooler wrote:

-White from Southern California.

-I go to a very high performing public high school

-Varsity Team Captain XC/Track

-150 hours of community service

-Not fast enough to run for Oregon

Should i even bother applying?

Grade inflation in high schools is crazy these days. Even back when I was in high school, a 2.9 wasn't considered horrible. Most big state schools used to take anyone who graduated from high school, regardless of their grades or test scores. They CAN be more selective now because a greater percentage of kids go to college, but that doesn't account for all of it. I look at the number of kids in my daughter's HS sophomore class who just got a 4.0 or better in this last grading period, and it's unreal...no way all of those kids would get a 4.0 back in the 80s.

underachieving high schooler wrote:

-White from Southern California.

-I go to a very high performing public high school

-Varsity Team Captain XC/Track

-150 hours of community service

-Not fast enough to run for Oregon

Should i even bother applying?

At first glance I didn't think your SAT score was good enough, BUT it IS better than the average SAT score in 2012 which was 1498 according to this.

Maybe there's hope for you after all.

Orie doesn't have anti-Oriental race quotas like the Top 10 World schools so since you are a Mongolian-Caucasoid mixed breed you shouldn't face racism from Orie's Admissions Department.

You spelled Oregon right. Congrats, you're in!