Can a high SAT and AP scores offset lower GPA

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
21

Again, you have a > 95% chance of being rejected from Stanford and from Harvard, and from any of the most popular colleges out there. Almost nothing you can do will change this in any substantial way.

So, instead of wasting so much time and emotional effort in trying to find some magical formula which will change this, do yourself a favor and find some 10 colleges which you like for reasons other than “Wow! They’re famous, if I will be accepted to one of these, I’ll have so much more prestige and worth because of this”.

Like many kids here you are so obsessed with Being Accepted To A Prestigious College that it seems that you have not even once stopped to think “what do I want from a college, and what will I do in a college, once I am accepted”.

Have you ever visited either Harvard or Stanford? Have you sat in a class at either? Do you have even a slightest notion as to what goes on in these, or any, college?

22

^ That.
Even if you won the most prestigious awards possible, that won’t guarantee anything. Lol, it’s not just why you want a tippy top. The question kids need to ask is, why would they want me? That’s not covered in USNews prestige rankings.

Try learning what those colleges expect. It’s not just grades and titles. Until you get a better understanding, you can’t choose targets. Especially not targets that expect the sort of kids who think more deeply about their goals.

23

I’m curious how you got a 1542 on the SAT. That would indeed be unique.