<p>Freshman and Sophomore year, I had a number of problems both inside and outside of school (not behavioral issues; personal ones), and wound up with a ~3.0 GPA unweighted (4.0 weighted) at the end of my Sophomore year. I'm a Junior now and it looks like I'll get three As and four Bs on an all-AP/6pt scale schedule; this'll bring me up to a 3.2-3.3 unweighted and about a 4.4-4.5 weighted. I took the ACT in December and surprised myself with a 36. As for extracurriculars, I've been incredibly active in debate (now chair of our Congressional debate team and with 10ish top-3 finishes in debate), am on my school's Quiz Bowl A team, and have an as-of-yet undetermined leadership position in our Gay-Straight Alliance. I go to a top magnet public high school in NC, so my weighted GPA puts me just inside the top 25% of my graduating class. With these kinds of stats, what colleges am I looking at? I look at charts and just don't know how colleges will think. I'm looking to major in Economics or Computer Science, preferably the former. I'd also look into related fields and various engineering disciplines. Here's my current things:</p>
<p>Reach
London School of Economics (Reach of reaches, but if I do well on my IBs I might have a shot)
UNC-Chapel Hill
Deep Springs College
Drexel
Michigan</p>
<p>Match
NC State University
American University (I've been offered some aid from the Debate team there, but it isn't too much)
University College London</p>
<p>Safety
UNC-Greensboro
Alaska-Fairbanks
Appalachian State</p>
<p>I think we have a winner for the most random list of schools ever. I mean Alaska Fairbanks, Deep Springs, and Drexel in one list?</p>
<p>Drexel seems fairly stats based, so with your 36 ACT, I would not consider it a reach. It’s probably a fairly safe bet, although affording it will be another issue. Based on my experience, you’d most likely get a fair amount of merit aid from them. How much can your family afford?</p>
<p>If you can provide a copy of your circumstances on a separate paper or write an essay about how you were resilient, I am sure the college will understand. 3.2 GPA isn’t that bad either and you have an upward trend. Getting 36 on the ACT is not a joke(very rare) so the college will obviously know that you are ready to handle the course load. You need to apply to every school you want. Never think a 3.2 will hold you back.</p>
<p>Thanks, guys,
@whenhen – I really like the Fairbanks area and the college would probably give me aid, so that’s a safety to end all safeties. Deep Springs really appeals to me and I’ve spoken to alumni who loved it… but I doubt they’ll take me. I chose Drexel because I love the Philadelphia region and I heard that they are stats-based so they might help me. My family really doesn’t want to give me any money; they’re theoretically capable of throwing a good portion of the state college sticker price my way, but I doubt they will.
@XtremePower – Thanks. I hope they’ll read the essay, but I’m scared that they’ll just put me off as a slacker…</p>
<p>How much can your family pay for your education? If money is an issue at all, take a look at this thread and the threads linked inside:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html?highlight=bobwallace[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html?highlight=bobwallace</a>
Yes, even with your GPA that ACT score put you in the range for serious money, and gives you some options for rock-bottom safeties. Double-check whether they ask for weighted or unweighted GPAs. Some will look at your weighted GPA which will give you a boost.</p>
<p>How are you planning on financing the UK colleges?</p>
<p>Louisiana Tech from the list linked to in #5 offers a full ride for a 3.0 GPA and 32 ACT, so there can be a safety for you.</p>
<p>*My family really doesn’t want to give me any money; they’re theoretically capable of throwing a good portion of the state college sticker price my way, but I doubt they will. *</p>
<p>That’s going to be a problem. If they can pay a good portion of a state COA, then that means that you have a highish EFC. How are you going to cover that? </p>
<p>Will your transcript for grades 9-11 have your weighted GPA on it?</p>
<p>Your safeties are NOT safeties if you don’t have the money to pay the costs. YOU can’t borrow much. YOU can only borrow the following amounts:</p>
<p>5500 frosh
6500 soph
7500 jr
7500 sr</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. I didn’t know that full rides existed for such low GPAs.</p>
<p>Yes, my transcript will have my weighted GPA on it, so I think that might play a role.</p>
<p>I have some amount of college fund from various sources (ca. $20,000) that I might be able to put towards some of these colleges. I plan on working and borrowing to cover the rest, however. Some contribution may come (and has already come) from non-parents family, which exists. However, I doubt that I’ll be able to cover more than $20k a year.</p>