Am I competitive for college (includes GPA, AP classes, and SAT scores along with other information)?

Applying to College
,
1

Hi! I’m a junior in high school, and I am experiencing quite a lot of anxiety regarding my grades/GPA. I have an unweighted GPA of 3.73 and a weighted GPA of 4.07. Just to provide some context, I attend a private, college-prep school. In my sophomore year I took AP World History and earned a 5 on the exam. This year, I am taking AP Language and AP US History. I have low A’s in both classes. In addition to AP classes, I take honors in my Spanish class, Bible class (I attend a Christian school), and if there is no AP English/History option, I will take honors in those classes. I am planning on taking AP Government, AP Economics, AP Spanish, and AP Literature next year. I haven’t got my SAT scores back yet, so I can’t give them to you. Science and math are difficult subjects for me. I average at about a B in standard science/math classes. I am in National Honors Society (although I don’t know for how long because COVID is limiting my community service opportunities). I plan on majoring in a humanities major, like Criminology, English, or Political Science. Please, be brutally honest. Am I competitive or just average? My school is full of smart kids and I’m average, but I don’t know how I compare to public schools. I’m sorry for the hefty paragraph. I am just so worried that I won’t be able to achieve my dreams!

Thanks!

  • Anna
2

You are competitive for many very good universities. The average GPA for all high school students in the US is very roughly 3.0. You are way above this and clearly on track to do well at a good university.

The very top ranked universities (MIT, Harvard, Stanford level) are probably out of reach. Top 20 universities might be reaches. This leaves thousands of colleges and universities and hundreds of very good colleges and universities that you could attend.

You have about a year to think about where you want to apply. If you tell us your state and your budget that will be quite helpful if you want people to suggests colleges and universities for you to consider. What you want in a university would also be helpful, and is a good thing for you to think about.

However, the two most important things are to relax and know that you are doing well, and to keep doing well.

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