I’m having a bit of a crisis about my GPA. I plan on applying to T20s, and my top school is Columbia with the SciPol dual BA.
Basically all the schools I want put a lot of emphasis on the GPA
My GPA is currently a 3.6 UW, 4.8 W. It’ll be rising because I just raised a B of mine to an A, but I don’t know by how much
Freshman year really pulled me down. I was going through a lot at home and got 2 C’s and a ton of B’s. I got two B’s in sophmore year, and one B junior year.
I took 1 AP in freshman year, 2 in sophmore year and junior year was all APs for me, so the course rigor is good?
Idk. I’ve been told my GPA is too low and that my SAT/ACT would have to balance it out, but does the fact that the GPA is mostly due to my freshman year hiccup change anything?
Maybe it’s worth mentioning that one of my C’s was in health/gym, so if colleges recalculate it won’t be considered. I also had a 4.0 UW this year, so there’s some upward trend
Considering the fact that Columbia now has approx. a 5% admit rate focus on giving a balanced list of schools including some financial safeties and schools were you may be able to get merit money
Keep something in mind. Your GPA is is awesome and shows an upward trend. Lots of schools discount freshman year if there is an upward trend. Won’t ask what happened in gym class… Lol…
Just do your best and take classes that you are interested in and show rigor. You are judged usually by kids in your school. Have many safeties. Just don’t apply to T20. It’s getting harder every year for the most accomplished students. There are awesome schools in the t50 and beyond
There is bad news and good news.
First of all, most applicants to top 20 universities have either all A’s or nearly all A’s for four years of high school. Most get turned down anyway. “2 C’s and a ton of B’s. I got two B’s in sophomore year, and one B junior year” does not sound like the academic record for someone who is going to be accepted to a top 20 university. Columbia, and all top 20 universities are very high reaches for you for undergrad.
“Basically all the schools I want put a lot of emphasis on the GPA”
As far as I know, all schools in North America put an emphasis on GPA.
Some good news: There are hundreds of very good universities in the US. You should be able to get accepted to a very good “top 200” and probably “top 100” university. You might have a chance at a “top 50” university. You can do very well with a degree from any of these schools.
More good news: You can attend a “top 20” university for graduate school even if you only attended a “top 200” university for undergrad. I know someone well who got multiple graduate degrees from Columbia, after getting their bachelor’s degree at a “top 200” university that is not in the top 100. When I was a graduate student at a “top 3” university, there were many other graduate students who had done their undergrad at a very wide range of schools, some of which were not in the top 50.
Your uptrend should help you quite a bit. You should be able to get into a very good university for undergrad. If you do very well there (avoid the C’s, minimize the B’s), then you should be in good shape for graduate schools.
If you want to you can apply to Columbia. However, do not expect to get accepted there for undergrad.
Thanks for your comment.
Do you believe that my course rigor or school difficultly would help at all? Or would it ultimately not matter/be negated by the bad grades? Or perhaps it’s all a crapshoot, as some have told me.
I attend one of the top 10 public schools in the nation. My school is the best in my state. Junior year was difficult, being in a demanding school with a full AP course load, but I’ve still pulled away with a 4.0 (just from this year. The 3.2 in freshman year pulls it down significantly).
Secondly, do you think that it would help my case at all to explain my freshman year circumstances? (perhaps on the common app section allocated to doing so). We were evicted and I ended up moving three times. I missed a ton of school and for many weeks didn’t have internet or a place to do homework. I also attended some horrid elementary schools (we love Chicago) and had to effectively relearn basic math during fresh/sophomore year. The Bs are all in my math classes, which were all advanced. (advanced algebra freshman year, which is a junior level course, precalc and calc)
Ugh. This whole process is immensely frustrating, as I’m not a C student by any means, and the Bs I have received have only been in difficult classes (I am not happy about them either). Had I known how this would mess me up, I would’ve skipped out on whatever difficult courses I took and just played it safe. Good thing I was planning on going to grad school anyways
OP, I wouldn’t give up on your dream. Understanding that almost all kids are rejected from Columbia, your situation is exactly what "holistic " admissions is designed to address! I would absolutely talk about your experiences, they make you who you are.
I know some T20 schools throw out the 9th grade grades and recalculate applicants’ GPAs.
Personally I think you should apply to some reaches, expecting to be denied (because most applicants are) and also apply to some safeties so you have a good landing place.
My opinion is based on one of my sons not having a great GPA, for good reason. He applied to 4 reach schools, 2 matches and 3-4 safeties, more schools than a more straightforward applicant might, because we really had no sense of how it would play out. He ended up getting in to every school but 2 of the teachers. So you really never know.
Apply, but keep expectations low. Best of luck!
Look at naviance at your school to see the history with the colleges of your choice. Going to a rigorous school counts to the AO for your school. My son went to the number one public school in Illinois about 3 years ago (think the number one school has recently changed hands with a football player… Hmmm… Politics… ??)
Anyway, we were told directly that yes going to this certain high school certain colleges definitely get it. All honors and AP and nationally ranked is tough and rigorous. But there is a saying you will hear a lot from AO 'a… Is it better to have a “B” in an AP course or an “A” in a non AP course. The answer always is an “A” in the AP course… Lol…
Challenge yourself but not to the point of decreasing your GPA. Also don’t take classes that you “think” colleges want. Wrong approach. Take classes that interest you and are challenging.
Also no one can answer your questions about your rigor without knowing which classes you actually took.
One last point… The most AP classes doesn’t win you anything. It’s not how many you can possibly take. Many get into T 20 colleges with like 6-8 AP’s tops.
I agree with going to talk to your guidance counselor. If you are at a top school, they will be able to give you the best advice.
I would also have your GC address your home situation in the LOR.
I’ve emailed my counselor. I’m probably going to take a class at the city colleges to boost my GPA. I’m also applying regular decision to more schools because my senior year first semester grades will be factored into the final, which will raise my cumulative.
Specifically for any other worried kids looking at this:
My counselor gave me the little “this isn’t the end…holistic admissions” speech which I guess is true. GPA and test scores are just a puzzle pieces in this whole college admissions game, and none of us (even those who worked in admissions, like my counselor) really know what the result will be. It’s a crapshoot for sure, but he told me that this GPA doesn’t outright eliminate me from any of the T20s. GPA is the first thing colleges look at, but they also look closely at the transcript. A pretty UW with easy classes isn’t as impressive as some might think. The importance is challenging yourself above all, and having something to show for it.
Also there’s test scores, essays, recs, your background, ecs, literally so many other factors. Which is why we have 4.0/1600 kids who get rejected over kids with less stellar grades and test scores. Some colleges want someone who adds something unique to campus, others want the strongest students possible. They’re all looking for different things, so it’s just a question of if you’re what they’re looking for in an applicant. He also mentioned that you need to make sure whatever school you want offers what you like
Basically, for anyone stressing at all about their GPA or test scores, we’ll be ok. Nail your essays, secure good recommenders and try your best in school/on tests.