Hello.
This is my first post on this site, so I’m hoping to get some good advice.
I’m a current Senior in High School about to apply to some Colleges like a lot of other people.
I have had several personal and physical issues along with some really inefficient teachers that made me fail as a student during the 9th and 10th grades.
However, I have done mostly well in the 11th grade, having A’s and B’s in all of my classes.
Because of that, my current High School GPA is a 3.22, weighted. Unweighted, it is around 2.9.
Right now, I am taking three AP classes, and I have all A’s in my classes. (Except for Gym, somehow…)
I’m wondering if most average colleges (top 40-75) look at upward trends and will overlook the shoddy first two years because of it.
For tests, my superscored SAT is a 2200, with CR 710, Math 800, Writing 690. Best overall SAT was a 2120. (Math 800, Writing 650, CR 670)
For the SAT Subject Tests, I got a 730 in US History, and got a 670 in Math 2C (Planning to take the 1C and 2C next week due to the bad scores)
I’m just curious if any other people in this forum are/were in a situation like me, and what colleges they got into.
The colleges I’m looking to apply to (may add some more) are:
Villanova
Lehigh
Penn State
Boston University
Boston College
Northeastern
UConn
Rutgers
I’m curious if I have a chance in these colleges, and whether or not I should aim for some more rigorous schools. (Ex: Carnegie Mellon, UMichigan)
Please be honest. I would rather have a honest answer and save money on applications than to cry about my rejections in my sleep.
Thank you.
Am a parent, not a student but …
A 1470 SAT is quite good. A 2.9 GPA is really going to undercut that a lot, I bet. I wish for your sake it wasn’t so, but I think it is.
First, any of these are going to be mind-blowingly expensive, unless one of them is in-state. If forty thousand dollars to sixty thousand dollars per year doesn’t make your family so much as twitch, there might be other problems with this list.
Further, I don’t think the admissions offices of your listed schools is going to be very interested in why 9th and 10th were what they were. Most of those schools will have enough applications that they’ll likely do an early sort based on stats and maybe sports. It sounds cold, but think about putting ten thousand pennies on the floor and consider how much you could carefully examine each one. The answer is “not very much.”
In general, and particularly considering that it’s practically November, I’d strongly recommend looking at less prestigious names and more likely names. If you’re a PA resident, one of the regional Penn State, Pitt, or Pennsylvania campuses would be a great start.
Like your candor, Stairfax. Dislike some of your reasoning. You asked for an honest response, so here’s my truth:
Your scores, as you know, are very good. Your report card isn’t but, as you pointed out, there’s been an upward slope. You’re like a football player who tore it up at combines, but has failed on the field. You blame the coaches and your teammates for your on-field “underachievement”, and failed to give any credit for your successes. If your failures are other people’s fault, do you view your successes the same way?
You then, without knowledge, disparaged NJ colleges (other than Rutgers and Princeton). You train like a perp, but you’ve played like a victim. So, why would I want you as a classmate or have you in my project group? That’s the question you need to answer at some point, and have a few success stories and testimonials to back it up.
What are your interests (other than not sports)? Any clue on what you DO WANT to do, as opposed to what you DON’T WANT to do?
Once you have those at least temporary answers, I think you’ll find that colleges will take a holistic approach to your application. It’s good to be open-minded about your selections, but the grass isn’t necessarily greener elsewhere. If you’re not sure of your goals, picking the wrong out-of-state or private college can put you in a debt hole that your SATs can’t pay for.
I’d view you as a “walk-on” with some talent and potential, so you’d get some extra scrutiny. Depends on you.