35 ACT, 2.9 unweighted GPA (Chances?)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brandeis University
1

Male/Caucasian
Large Public (500 students)
Massachusetts
Low income
Possible majors: English/Creative Writing

2.9 unweighted (2.4 freshman, 3.0 sophomore, 3.3 junior)
3.7 weighted according to my high school, about 3.5 regularly weighted (.75 AP, .5 H, .25 regular)
class rank: top 30-35%

Honors or AP English every year
Honors Spanish every year
Honors History every year
Honors Science Junior Year (cp1 fresh/soph)
Honors Math Junior Year (cp1 fresh/soph)
Honors C++ Junior Year

Senior Year Schedule (I am taking a gap year, so hopefully I’ll be able to do well and drag my gpa up my senior year)
AP Lit.
AP Calc. AB
AP Gov’t
AP Euro.
AP Psych.

SAT I: 2090 (680 Math, 680 CR, 730 Writing(8 Essay)) // I took it early on in the year, so I wasn’t very prepped
ACT: 35 (35 English(11 Essay), 36 Math, 36 Reading, 34 Science) // taken later in the year

SAT II:
Actual: Literature (800)
Hypothetical: Math II (800) or US History (800) // I don’t know which one to take…

AP Exams:

Actual:
AP Lang. (4) // I was pretty shocked not to have gotten a five. I consistently nailed the MC section getting 85-90% correct and did fairly well on essays (6’s, 7’s, 8’s)

Hypothetical:
AP Lit. (5)
AP Calc. AB (5)
AP Gov’t (5)
AP Euro. (4 or 5)
AP Psych. (5)

EC:

Cross Country Varsity (Junior & Senior)
Indoor Track Varsity (Junior & Senior)
Outdoor Track Varsity (Junior & Senior)
Summer Job at restaurant (All of High School)
Some volunteering hours (~ 50)

Assuming all Rec’s are good.
Essays will be excellent.

2

Obviously submit only the ACT score.
Take both subject tests, and submit one or both depending on your scores. You can do selective score reporting for subject tests even if they were taken at the same sitting.
Also obvious, write a good essay, one that makes them want to like you. Be likeable, more than impressive.

I think that you have an excellent chance, assuming there are no skeletons in your closet accounting for the low GPA’s (like you were an ax murderer and just got paroled). Your GPA has an upward trend, and your standardized test scores show that you’re really smart (you can’t fake that). No gimmes here, but I would be cautiously optimistic.

3

Which public school if you don’t mind? The GPA is a concern. Given the ACT And SAT score, you would expect better grades. Brandeis may be concerned you won’t apply yourself to the courses and maintain a GPA required to graduate. And if you are in say Lowell schools, or maybe Brighton, this would be a real problem for Brandeis given your low GPA. If the GPA is a result of your attending Lexington schools they may overlook it.

4

I’ll give you a reference point. I had a 3.0 GPA, graduated 105 out of 350 in Belmont Public Schools. Graduated Boston College with a 2.8 GPA. I never took the SAT/ACT, and went to BC at night.