Ok, so for personal reasons, I want to apply to college this year as a junior. However, I do not know all the pros and cons of this. I am taking 2 AP classes (CS Principles and Environmental), and HOPEFULLY one DE class this year. I am also planning on reporting my semester grades with my transcript. My GPA Weighted is a 3.1 and I am aiming for a 27 or better on the ACT. I should also mention I have two Cs freshman year (71 and 74), one D (68), and the rest of my grades are As and Bs with no honors or APs taken until this year which is my junior year. Besides the two Cs and one D, I have in total 7 As and 8 Bs combined from freshman and sophomore year.
I am hoping to apply to schools like Baylor, Penn State, Rutgers, Seton Hall, Holy Cross, Fordham, UMiami, King’s College London, and UCL. If I earn and report a good semester GPA, like around a 3.7 and a 27 ACT, do I have a shot of getting into these schools despite slightly bad freshman and sophomore grades that gave me that 3.1 W GPA? I have good extracurriculars and am hoping to major in classics and modern languages.
If I do get accepted, do I have to attend college this fall in 2021, or do I have the option to wait until fall 2022? Also, if these schools reject me, would it lower my chances of admission if I decide to apply again next year as a senior with the rest of my peers? And if I deny all my acceptances and decide to wait until the end of senior year to attend college, would it affect my chances to apply to these schools again despite being accepted the first time?
If the weighted GPA is 3.1, I’m thinking the unweighted is going to be below 3.0. Even if you finish strong, your GPA isn’t going to be affected that much. With that GPA, the schools on the list wouldn’t be realistic at all. Not only statistically, but they’re financial reaches as well. My question is this…why the push for a $300,000 bachelors degree? You literally have nothing to gain by it.
A 3.1w on a 5.0 scale is roughly equivalent to a 2.5 on a 4.0 scale, isn’t it? You can check each college’s Common Data Set to see how many students they take in that GPA range.
Have you checked these websites to see what they require from applicants? NYS law requires that all students submit proof of satisfactory completion of a high school program (or it’s equivalent). Without that you wouldn’t be able to attend.
Why would you want to apply as a Junior if your GPA is not competitive? Stay in school through Senior year, bump up your GPA and you will have more options.
Definitely not a wise decision especially since many schools are either test optional or test blind.
It’s not a crapshoot. The applicant needs to meet the colleges’ wants and standards- actual stats, the right rigor, activities, and more. You would benefit from doing your own research into what that is, to calculate your uw gpa accurately, rationally assess whether you fit their expectations. One way or another, nearly every college has this info posted.
Your actual record hints there may be a focus problem. Adcoms can spot this sort of thing. Another poster shouldn’t need to point out an ACT minimum. If you spent a minute on the Rutgers NB site, you’d see your 2.5/4.0 puts you in the bottom quartile, significantly reducing chances. (Those accepted kids may include some athletic recruits or others with connections.) Seton Hall average gpa is 3.6/4.0. This stuff isn’t rocket science, lol. These are reaches.
If you can afford to pay in full, then many of the UK universities would be interested in you. The fees are steep, but still cheaper than many US private universities. With your grades, you would have a better chance at completing a Foundation program in the UK. The foundation programs are one year in duration and help prepare students to join one of the standard courses (ie majors) in UK.
UCL, for example, has a foundation program, but allows applications from high school seniors only. As long as you have the AP requirements, the overall GPA won’t matter as much. If you get good marks during the foundation program, you have a pretty good chance of getting accepted into one of the undergraduate courses.
I would totally not recommend going to a foundation course in the UK to try get into a “better” college than otherwise. It’s an expensive undertaking (£20k/$25k tuition at UCL) with no guarantee of “success” and quite frankly should not be needed for a US high school graduate who can get into college, even if one below those which are currently aimed at.
Why apply to college as a junior if you want to differ your acceptance until senior year anyways? Especially if your stats are below the colleges’ averages and you need time to bring them up…
I agree that those colleges are reaches.
I also agree that this far along, your GPA isn’t likely going to go from 3.1 to a 3.7 in half a year unless your AP classes are weighted way heaver than normal, in which case your GPA will probably be recalculated as way lower than you report anyways.
Also colleges typically have unit requirements/recommendations for prospective students (4 years of english, 3 math, 4 science, etc.) So you need to make sure you meet those.
You also need to be on track to graduate before the fall of the term you’re trying to enroll, or else it’s usually an automatic rejection and you’ve wasted money/time.
Your thoughts are all over the place and your grades are subpar for the colleges you are interested in. Stay in high school. Get better grades. Apply as a senior. See a therapist to work out whatever issues you are currently having at home or in school.