My dream schools are schools like George Washington University and University if Maryland and I’m worried my GPA isn’t good enough to get in… I’m an IB student and am taking the hardest classes my school has to offer and have a 4.0 weighted but I know most schools just look at unweighted. I was a solid straight A student but I became ill my sophomore year and my grades took a pretty big drop. I’m a junior now and my health has improved significantly as well as my grades however my sophomore year did major damage to my GPA and I’m gonna have to start applying for colleges soon and I’m soooo worried that my GPA is gonna stop me from attaining my goals.
also although I go to public school I go to school in a highly competive school district (Montgomery county MD) which is something else that worries me
I think you have a pretty decent shot! they love to see people challenging themselves, and if you feel comfortable explaining what happened to drop your grades, the common app has a space for that. Obviously it’s good to find some safeties and matches you love too, but I’d be surprised if you didn’t get in. Good luck!
I’d take @illiteratemoron’s advice and I’m also going to add that never-ending mantra of “GPA isn’t everything.” I got into a highly selective school with a 3.67 and I had no good reason for my lackluster grades early on other than pure childishness. As long as you show genuine interest in a school and present your best self in your college essays, you should be fine. Good ECs don’t hurt either!
For reference I have a 3.4 UW GPA (Biology major), and got accepted to:
-West Chester University
-Temple University
-Drexel University
-University of Vermont
-UMass-Amherst
-University of Delaware
I took several AP’s and honors and had good EC’s as well.
Absolutely note the reason for your drop. And although schools look at unweighted, they look at rigor, and positive trends as mentioned before. If you can explain the health challenges and the work you’ve done since to bring it back since getting better, they will take that into account as they look at your GPA.
Yes you can get into good colleges. For reference I have a 3.4 UW GPA and have been accepted to:
Rhodes (w/ merit)
Sewanee (w/ merit)
University of Texas
University of Georgia (w/ merit)
SMU (w/ merit)
University of Richmond
UMiami
Villanova
Look at the universities 3.4 students have been admitted to and head to the parents forum where there are threads telling the application and Admissions journey of their B/B+ children. The results are always quite hopeful. And the visit reports are very useful.
Gwu and UMaryland will be big reaches. Remember to build your list from the ground up. Find two safeties you like and can afford. Then find about five colleges where you’re above 75% sat score (don’t look at GPA) and those will be your matches. And then only add reaches.
My 3.5 kid got into South Carolina with merit, Va Tech, NC State, and a few other safeties. He also had rigor, good ECs, and a Varsity sport.
I live in MoCo, my kid graduated from WJ, and my nieces graduated from RMHS (IB), and from Poolesville. You need to start by asking your own guidance counselor about this. The guidance offices at all of the MoCo high schools have detailed records of where students have applied and been accepted in recent years. None of us here can give you advice with the accuracy that your own guidance office can. Start with them. They will know how to address your health history in your applications and whether or not GW and UMD are reasonable places for you to apply.
I would respectfully suggest that you change your goals. Instead of targeting two schools (that may well be reaches with your GPA), your goal should be to attend a college where you can have a great 4 year experience and get where you want to go to in life. There are many colleges that can do that for you. Cast a wide net and seek out reach, match and safety schools that appear affordable and that you would be happy to attend.
@acegikm could you tell me how you got into the University of Richmond with 3.4 UW GPA? That is a school I would like to get into, but I’m worried about my GPA, which is the same as yours.
What is your class rank, if your school ranks? I had a 3.29 UW, but was within the top 10% due to my weighted GPA (~4.7) and also took the most rigorous courseload available to me (13 APs and 6 Dual Enrollment and all others Honors/Gifted). Basically, I got mostly B’s in AP classes, mostly A’s in Honors/Dual Enrollment, and 2 C’s. I am also Latina, which I know is a boost. My outcomes were extremely uneven/unpredictable, so if I am any indication, you will need to apply to a wider range of schools than someone with a higher GPA.
With my 3.29 UW GPA, I was accepted to: Boston College (with 4 years’ housing, reserved for the top 15% of applicants), Smith, Wake Forest, University of Miami, three in-state publics all with 100% Florida Bright Futures Scholarship plus small school-based additional scholarships (Florida State, New College of FL, University of Central Florida), and Fordham and Rollins (both with merit $). I was WL’ed at Emory and Wellesley. I was flat out rejected to a few mega reaches (Vandy, Duke, Williams), and to the University of Florida, which was a bit of shock. I don’t know if UMD is similar, but UF is very GPA-focused and has quotas from each school in the state. Several kids who were outside of the top 10% at my school and with lower test scores, but with higher UW GPAs were accepted. I think that tends to be a trend at public flagships, so look into whether UMD is similar in that regard.
I suppose all of this is to say that I am proof that you can get into highly selective colleges with a sub-3.5 UW GPA. My test scores were strong, but not stratospheric (30 ACT), so if I was able to improve them a bit, I may have had even better results. Of course this is just one person’s experience. I know that my being a URM helped, but I think the main thing that got me accepted was my “soft” factors, especially my ECs which were exceptional, unique, and targeted to my interests. Finally, be sure to write compelling essays! That’s the easiest thing you can do at this point to compensate for a less-than-stellar GPA.
GOOD LUCK!
The OP has not been on CC in over four months.