33 ACT low gpa

College Search & Selection
1

Hi, I really want to go to brown, but I did not apply ED so I could have more time to work on my application. My gpa is really low, 87. I know you need around a 3.8 to 4.0 for these schools, but I really worked hard junior year to bring up my grade. Freshman year was really hard for me. I went from around an 80 freshmand year to around 90 or 91 junior year (I was really sick on the day of my pre clalc. final and got an F, this brought down my gpa around 2-3 points, I had a 97 for pre clalc 4th quarter, I explained this in my common app). My act is a 33, andI have 5’s in AP US, Euro, and Bio. Unfortunately a 3 in AP stat. My essays are really good, and my extracurriculars are great, I did research on parkinsons diseas (electrical engineering- signal processing) and other research at a university and am co publishing a paper. I founded the first model UN in my school. I Was the head of the only high school team in a competition hosted by nasa, we went to the semi finals. I also won awards in swim team. I have 2 letters of recommendation from 2 college proffesors to go with my 2 reccomendations from school. I also have a 790 in SAT U.S. history. I also have a low income background, I dont know if that helps. Basically I have a pretty solid application exept for my gpa, but I took the most rigorous classes- all honors and AP’s since 9th grade. My course load for senior year is AP clac, AP government, AP ecenomics, AP physics, AP English, and Italian(the one class where I could not raise my grades).

Also, my first quarter senior year was really low, because I had so much going on with tests, research, school, etc.- my grades are mostly 80s, but I am raising it to all A’s 2nd quarter.

I applied ea to uchicago

Other schools that I am interested in are john hopkins, carnegie mellon, boston college, tufts, cornell.

My guidance counselor said that my best shot now is to apply ed II to NYU, she also said that I could most likely get into BU and Brandeis.

What schools do I have a good chance, anything bove NYU?

Thanks

2

Anyone?

3

Ok, you really should add what major(s) you are interested in, and also that you are going to need substantial financial aid (you did mention you were low-income, but it is sort of buried in the wall of text up there.)

4

If you’re low income, you shouldn’t be applying anywhere early decision, especially nyu.

5

Also, just off the schools that you mentioned in your post, I think Boston University is definitely a school that might be a good match for you - your ACT is on the upper end of their admitted students, about 30% of their admitted students have GPAs below 3.50, they meet 90% of need.

Boston College might be more of a stretch, but it is also a possible, as is Brandeis, but I don’t have all the info in front of me right now.

NYU is notoriously stingy with the financial aid, so that might be a problem.

The rest seem very unrealistic because of your GPA.

6

I was thinking of doing something in biology or engineering, possibly neural science, bioengineering, or even electrical engineering(I have a backround in research in this field). Is there anything above nyu that I may have a chance?

7

Does an upward trend from freshman to junior year help? I had mostly A’s by junior year. Thanks

8

I think you need to do some googling to build up a list of schools that are well regarded in those areas. You probably need to cross off any that have admit rates below 20-25%, then go and look at the Common Data Sets and see what their admitted student GPAs look like, and cross of the ones who aren’t admitting at least some reasonable percentage below 3.50. Finally, eliminate the ones that don’t meet a high percentage of need, and that ought to give you some good candidates.

Or hope someone wanders in here and gives you some good suggestions.

Anyway, good luck! And don’t stress out too much, you will find a decent school.

9

^ I agree with @NickFlynn. As a low income applicant NYU is NOT a good match. So far I don’t see any safeties on your list - schools you could definitely get into, can afford, and would be happy to attend. You might be able to find some options here: http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/

10

If interested in Boston College might add fellow Jesuit school Holy Cross. IMO, Holy Cross has stronger science programs and offers good financial aid. HC has nice campus and the HC website is informative.