So. My first two years of highschool were very bad. My parents were going through some things, not to mention there were quite a few deaths in the family. I was extremely stressed out - my combined gpa for both years only measures up to a 2.5
So now I’m in my junior year. I’m going to bring up my gpa to a 3.8/7, so that after I finish my senior year I’ll have a cumulative 3.3/4.
I mainly want to know if the amount of AP classes I’ve taken throughout highschool will help my case when I apply for colleges… So far I’ve taken about 8 AP classes, that’s counting the 5 I’m taking this year. Also, my ACT score is a 25, (but of course I’m retaking it), and though I haven’t taken my SAT yet, I’ve been told my projected score is probably going to be around 1900.
To be honest, I just want to go to a nice state school. I have my eyes on Harding University.
Has anybody else gotten into a decent school with my scores?
Decided to post this in the ‘what are my chances’ board.
But of course, if anybody here has any advice, please share. ^^
@gawlog -
The simple answer to your question is that of course you can get into college at a number of places with an overall GPA of 3.3. For the best guess about admissions to public universities in your home state, ask your own high school guidance counselor. That person knows where everyone from your high school has been admitted in recent years, and what their test scores and GPA were.
To get a notion about your admissibility at Harding, google for “Harding University Common Data Set”. All colleges and universities in the US publish this set of information about their own admissions. There you will find the % of freshman students who have a GPA and ACT scores like yours, and the factors that the admissions office takes into consideration (course rigor, GPA, demonstrated interest, etc.)
You haven’t indicated whether or not you will need any financial aid. So talk with your parents about that. Since you like Harding, ask your parents to help you run the Net Price Calculator at Harding’s website. Run the NPCs for your local community college and a couple of the public Us in your state as well. For more ideas about how financial aid works, spend some time in the Financial Aid Forum here.
Wishing you all the best!
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My parents were going through some things,
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Have you asked your parents how much they’ll pay each year? That answer will likely determine where you should apply.
What is your major?
What is your home state?
Haven’t asked my parents anything like that yet, but I doubt they’re going to pay anything.
I want to double major - get an accelerated degree in graphic design and a normal degree in psychology.
Also, I actually live in the same state as Harding Uni.
Are your parents low income?
run the Net Price Calculator on Harding’s website and paste the results here.
How will you cover the school’s cost?
What will your cum GPA be at the END of junior year? I think around 2.9/3.0 if you get the 3.7/3.8 this year.
The GPA at the end of senior year won’t matter…you will be applying LONG before senior year is over.
With your stats, this is the result of the NPC if your family is very low income with an EFC 0
(is your family low income?
Tuition & Fees: $17,610
Room & Meal Plan: $6,628
Books: $1,200
Other: $0
Price of Attendance: $25,438
Grants/Scholarships: $16,106
Net Price:
(after grants/scholarships) $9,332
Available Loans: $5,500
Available Work Study: $0
Net Price:
(after grants, scholarships, work study, and loans) $3,832
With these stats, you can probably do better than Harding, actually.
Will your parents pay nothing because they don’t want to even though they have money, or will they pay nothing because they’re lower-income? This is super important because it’ll affect your strategy.
They’re probably not going to pay anything because of how badly I did my first two years. ):
Well, if you show an upward trend, it shows greater maturity and better ability to handle college.
After first semester, when you have a great semester report card, ask them how much they’re able/willing to pay for college. No matter how small the amount, if it’s not “nothing”, thank them and tell them you’re going to work very hard second semester to make them proud of you and of their investment.
So, you’re “projecting” they’ll pay nothing, but it’s not a sure thing, right?
Can you at least gu-estimate whether your income is 65K and below, or 180K and above, or in the middle?
The PSAT is coming up. Prepare very carefully to score as high as you can, since this is a national scholarship competition. Grades don’t factor in at this point, only your score. If there’s no PSAT prep anywhere, prep with SAT books.
I took my psat last year! though i’m not sure if it was an official thing or just a practice. i got a 180 on it.
that good?
The PSAT you take as a Junior is the one that counts for scholarships. A 180 is pretty good as a sophomore. Prep and do better this year.
180 PSAT is pretty good for a sophomore, so work very hard every evening because the “real” one (that counts for scholarships) is coming up soon.
Note that you’ll be taking the “new” PSAT, so review with Khan Academy (the version you took last year is being phased out).
If your parents won’t pay anything, you don’t have a choice: you MUST get high grades and get high scores, because that’s the only way to get sufficient money to attend a 4-year university. Fortunately, if you managed to get a 3.5 weighted and 1900+ SAT, you should have decent choices… but gone are the days when it was possible to finance college by working and taking on a loan.
Do you live in AK?
Why are you interested in Harding in particular - because it’s an Evangelical Christian college? Because it’s private? Because it’s not too big? Because it’s not far from where you live?
If you tell us, we would be able to recommend similar colleges that’d be appropriate for your stats.
Can you also guestimate whether your family makes more than 180K or less than 60K?
I actually live in Arkansas and Harding offers everything I want and need. Double major, accelerated degrees.
Also, my parents aren’t currently making any income, but they do have a lot of money saved up?
Double majors exist everywhere. Accelerated degrees are common, too - it only means taking classes over the summer and overloading the rest of the time.
Cool if you have Harding as your top choice.
Now you need to find 2 other match schools and 2 safeties.
For public universities, look instate. For private universities, you can look in nearby states.
Is the money saved up in retirement, in investments, in a bank account?
You need to run Net Price Calculators.
Their money is saved up in their bank accounts. And I have actually already ran a npc for Harding! Supposedly, I qualify for a whole lot of financial aid the first year, which is great, but of course I’m still going to be looking for scholarships.
Bumping for more information on any similar cases! Or just more information in general.
@gawlog Well, income has the biggest impact on financial aid, so if your parents have none, you’ve already seen you’ll get some aid. However, their assets can be up for grabs at about 6%.
You have to talk to your parents. It makes no sense to me that they would decide not to pay for school because you had some bad grades in high school – wouldn’t they understand that it’s because of deaths in the family, etc, and want you to have a chance at college? Especially if you’ve turned around your grades? I think we’re missing a whole bunch of info.
If you’re going to want merit aid somewhere, you’ll need to be one of the strongest applicants at that school. Merit aid is basically bribe money – they know you can get into and attend a more competitive school, so they sweeten the pot for you to go to their school. However, it could be extremely affordable for you to attend a state school, and you can double major, etc, there just as well as anywhere else. Your state schools may be much better than the private school you’ve mentioned, too. Don’t get your heart set on one specific school.
Community colleges?
You will definitely get into college somewhere. Apply to Harding and a handful of other schools and maybe even a reach school. Keep your grades up and do a great job on the SATs. Look into how much they cost, try to estimate how much financial aid you could get, and if they offer work/study for you. rooting for you!