<p>Is a 3.79 GPA an acceptable GPA for a low IVY like Upenn or Cornell? I had a rough freshmen year but I scored a 2350 on SAT and 36 on the ACT and I plan on submitting both. I know that ECs are very important but I just want to know If the GPA is acceptable to them.
Also what are the strengths and weaknesses of both schools?</p>
<p>I’m sure that GPA shouldn’t be much of a problem, as long as the rest of your app. is impressive. Your testing scores are wonderful.</p>
<p>I appreciate it.</p>
<p>If that GPA is due to rigor courses and tough grading system at your school, I would not worry too much about it. Your test scores and school report would help you to overcome that.</p>
<p>Yeah most of my classes were AP. Thanks for the responses.</p>
<p>If the bad grades did indeed come from freshmen year, it shouldn’t be much of a problem. Excellent test scores.</p>
<p>It’s shocking how much a cursory glance at this site will prove the urban dictionary definition right.</p>
<p>I have to disagree with folks – this year I have seen way too many kids with high test scores not get into any of their reach schools. Your GPA is dependent on too many unknown variables that we are not privvy to – my question to you would be “how would your guidance counselor rank your GPA and course rigor compared to your peers at your school?” You could have a 3.79 unweighted, have 9 AP courses in your four years, and be among the top 5 students at your school… or you could have a 3.79 unweighted, with 3 AP course in four years, and be in the 25th percentile of your class. If you are in the former group, you have a great chance at the schools you listed; if you are in the latter group, you don’t have a great chance.</p>
<p>^ I am assuming that 3.79 is uwGPA as it is what we see on stat.
But your statement is confusing as you said unweighted twice. ;)</p>
<p>no I didn’t include senior year. only freshmen, sophomore and junior. it will greatly improve after this year.</p>
<p>and it is the unweighted average.</p>
<p>@Momof2back2back the fact is that you don’t know of they were rejected because of or in spite of their stats. A bunch of Bs Freshman year will not kill you, especially if you’re taking lots of APs and have such a high SAT score. </p>
<p>Chances are OP will not be rejected for his stats. If he’s rejected it will be for some other reason.</p>
<p>Assuming that the OP has a much higher weighted GPA (he mentioned that he took a lot of AP classes) the unweighted won’t be a dealbreaker in terms of admission to a “lower tier” Ivy. A lot of kids who apply to the top schools have high GPAs and SAT scores however not all of them can be passionate and articulate in their essays. I would advise that you don’t worry to much about your GPA (which is already decent) and rather start working on your essays. It is the essay, not the GPA that will potentially get you over the hump and into your dream school. </p>
<p>You should probably also remember that both UPenn and Cornell dropped their acceptance rates considerably this year. You might want to apply ED to increase your chances of admission. </p>
<p>Your standardized test scores are awesome! Kudos on that. Your GPA might be a problem, though, regardless of course rigor. Are the B’s you received all in a certain subject? For example, if you’re a STEM major and all your B’s are from a foreign language then I think it’s a little better than, say, being a STEM major and getting B’s in math and science classes. Colleges will also take an applicant’s class rank or decile into account when making their decision.</p>
<p>Make sure you have strong recommendations and a good essay. Get started early. If you can bring your GPA past the 3.8 threshold before you apply, that’d be wonderful. For what it’s worth, numbers-wise, I applied ED to Cornell with a 1600 CR+M and a 3.88 UW and was deferred before being offered a GT in the spring (conditional acceptance for sophomore year). So even with high scores, everything can still be a little bit up in the air!</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>What is your uwGPA without freshmen grades? I assume you have an upward trend since you said you had a tough freshmen year.</p>
<p>4.0 unweighted GPA (I only got A+)</p>
<p>Great. Then I would not worry too much about the GPA.</p>