I have a 2.95 weighted GPA and Im heading into my final year of high school. Am I screwed? However, my SAT Is 1180. I messed around freshman year and did not take my classes seriously so I ended up with about a 2.6-2.7. But ever since then my grades have been constantly improving so will the admission person see that? or will my application be denied at first glance. I also have good extra curricular activities, I train martial arts 5x a week and have a weekend job.
The colleges I’m hoping to get into are university of Nevada Reno, Montana State University, Sierra Nevada College, and University of Utah (most likely not).
Do I still have a chance of getting in with such a low GPA?
I don’t know those particular schools, but my son’s stats were pretty close to yours and he was accepted at all schools he applied to and just completed his sophomore at a school he loves. Check Naviance for those schools if your high school uses it.
Can you take a summer-school class or two (now) and work hard to make As? If you can pull the GPA up to 3.0 it should help. Also, work super-hard next fall and apply regular decision to a few schools after your 1st semester grades are out. You can have the applications, recs, essays ready to go except for the new GPA. Showing a strong upward trend can show you’ve matured and are ready to do college-level work.
Alternately, you can apply to these schools after doing well at community college for a year or two. There’s always a way up if you’re diligent! (You know that from your martial arts practice )
You’re not screwed. Bringing your grades up since freshman year helps your cause although breaking that 3.0 WOULD be a definite plus. You’ve got the SAT score you need to be in range of your first three schools, but you’re probably right about reaching for Utah. Agree with @Sybylla that knowing your home state would be useful.
What major are you interested in?
What’s your Unweighted GPA?
What math class are you scheduled to take senior year?
Have you taken biology and chemistry? Perhaps Physics, APES?
2-3 years of the same foreign language?
Have you taken any AP class?
Will you retry the SAT to try and get to 1200-1250? (1180 is fine, but obviously to offset your GPA the higher the score the better).
What’s in-state for you?
What’s your budget?
You have a shot at all these universities. I’d add University of Montana, Carroll College in Montana, University of Nebraska Lincoln, Nebraska Wesleyan. These would ensure you only get in, but can compare financial aid packages to have an affordable choice or two. Carroll and Nebraska Wesleyan do especially well by B students in terms of scholarships and outcomes.
I also messed up freshman year and am paying the price for it. It’s hard out here
From what I’ve been told so long as you have some strong upward trend and have challenged yourself after freshman year, they’ll somewhat excuse that hiccup.
I’m also trying to get up my GPA, and I’m taking a class at my community college because they go on the transcript and boost GPA. Can you do that where you are? You’re very close to a 3.0.
If you also have a reason for the low grades (or can find a reason), it may be worthwhile to mention them
Is going from a 2.6-2.95 count as a strong upward trend? Previously I was getting Cs and now I’m mainly a B-B+ student with an occasional A-.
Unfortunately I don’t have an excuse. I’ve always been bad at French and been taking that Just so I can meet the 3yr language requirement. Have never gotten above a B- in that class.
Also I’ve had a lot of crappy teachers that didn’t teach me anything. My physics teacher this year just stood on the board for 45 min explaing a single concept. The class average was a 70. But that’s probably not a valid excuse.
@countryboyforlife Your chances at Nevada-Reno and Montana State are probably reasonable; I’m not familiar with admissions at the other two that interest you.
Get your GPA up to 3.0 and SAT to 1230 and you could qualify for the Amigo scholarship at U of New Mexico. With your current stats, it still would come in under budget. Other western schools worth considering that are less selective are Northern Arizona (high altitude Flagstaff, gets snow) and Western Colorado in Gunnison, which also gets a lot of snow and attracts a lot of skiers. You might qualify for some OOS merit discounting at those two as well, check their websites. In addition, take a look at some of the public Us in Idaho or Wyoming.
Many of the western publics, especially the less selective ones, have rolling admission so you’d get some responses back quickly.
NAU should be on your list, then. It’d be a match.
What about UMaine Orono? Castleton College?
St Michael’s college would be ideal - you get a ski pass and a shuttle takes you to the slopes. With only 4 courses per semester your attention isn’t too divided and LOTS of students take advantage of the compact schedule to go skiing. They have excellent support, so if you compare their graduation rate with that of most public universities on your list so far, you’ll see it’s a very good choice . With a 3.0+ and 1200 it’s even a low match (match with 1180/2.95). Definitely add it into your list.
( St Mike’s 4-year graduation rate is 73%, for UNR it’s 54%, Montana State it’s 49% and for NAU it’s 28%.)
If you’ve taken bio, chemistry, and Physics, and have 3 years of a Foreign Language, you probably also have 4 years of English and Social science. So, your curriculum is pretty good.
Any chance you can take APES in addition to AP Psychology? Those would prepare you for college better.
NAU: Actually, you need a 3.0 in core classes (English, Math, Science, Social Science, Foreign Language, and Cte/fine arts) +1100 for guaranteed Admissions; a 2.5 and only 2 deficiencies means you have a shot. With basically a 3.0, 1180, and no deficiencies, NAU is a safety. You could even end up with some sort of small merit scholarship to entice you, since their average SAT is 1060.
However, for your matches, you should look for universities with at least a 50% graduation rate…
The University of Nevada Reno’s website states that I need a 3.0 weighted GPA in order to be admitted so does that mean my 2.98 is automatically going to be denied no matter how strong my upward trend and extra circulars are?
Colleges do not round up. If your high school rounds up, that’s fine but the colleges don’t do it. You can easily go up .02 in the fall semester.
I don’t think you are reading the requirements correctly. The 3.4 gpa isn’t required, but it is almost automatic admission if you have that and at least a 1100 SAT. From UN-Reno page:
The harder part is going to be getting your costs under $20k. Some schools give merit but for that you do often need above a 3.0.
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