Can I get into the following schools

I’m currently a junior and my freshman year grades have made me look like a weaker candidate than I actually am.

(Weighted GPA)
Freshman year

  • GPA: 2.8
  • Soccer
  • Basketball
  • Stock Market Club
  • May AAU basketball league
  • Symphonic Band
  • Honors English and Honors World Civilizations

Sophomore year:
GPA: 3.5

  • Soccer
  • Track and Field
  • Stock Market Club
  • Italian Club
  • Symphonic Band
  • Honors Italian, Honors English, AP US History 1

Junior year:
GPA: 4.0

  • Soccer
  • Basketball (Varsity)
  • Track and Field (Varsity)
  • Stock Market Club
  • Italian Club
  • Wind Ensemble (Honors Band) (Section Leader)
  • Physics team
  • Founder of STEM Club
  • Held local science fair
  • Held conference in Nigeria about STEM research
  • Volunteer at local Hospital
  • Certified EMT
  • Referee for youth soccer
  • Volunteer at underprivileged youth camp

ACT: 32
SAT: 1400/1600

I’m looking at schools such as Duke, Cornell, Lehigh, University of Michigan, Princeton, UCLA, USC, NYU, Johns Hopkins, etc.

My dream school is definitely Duke, but I’m not sure that I could get in there.

What is your overall GPA? Is it the 4.0 or is that for junior year only?

My overall GPA is a 3.3, but it has been going up a lot since my freshman year. I also helped found a startup company with a few of my friends.

My senior year classes are, AP physics 1, AP US History, Honors Pre-Calculus, H Italian 4, AP English 3

Junior*

What is your unweighted GPA? What is your budget?

To me, with the exception of Lehigh, your list looks unrealistic.

My school does not calculate unweighted GPA

UCLA like all the CA UC’s only use 10-11th grades in the a-g course requirements for their GPA calculation. There is the capped weighted and fully weighted UC GPA which will be considered by UCLA.

Here is the UC GPA calculator: https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/

Your test scores put in the running but if your UC GPA is below a 4.0+, then it will be a very tough admit.

UCLA admit rates based on UC GPA capped weighted and not major specific:
3.40-3.79: 2.2%
3.80-4.19: 11.7%
4.20 or Higher: 47.2%

25th-75th percentiles:
SAT: 1280-1500
ACT: 30-34

Are you in-state CA resident? Costs will be very high if you are OOS since UCLA offers little to no financial aid and your price tag will be $60K/year to attend? If in-state, costs are more reasonable but consider it Reach school either way.

I live in New Jersey, will this give me a lower chance of being admitted than an in-state resident?

“My school does not calculate unweighted GPA”

Different schools compute weighted GPA in such wildly different ways that the numbers are essentially meaningless. Can you give us a count of how many A’s you have gotten, how many B’s you have gotten, and how many lower grades you have gotten?

I’ve basically gotten mostly B’s with a some A’s and 1 C
A’s - 10
B’s - 13
C’s - 1

Actually, UCLA sets a higher bar for OOS applicants, so being OOS could hurt you plus you would need to come up with $240K for 4 years to attend. Run the Net Price calculators for all schools of interest and show your parents.

Forget about UMich. The put a lot of weight on GPA in admisssion. Withbelow admission average test scores and weak GPA, it is a high reach even if you are in-state…

Ethnicity?

All of those schools can be tough admits even for kids with a seven-semester 4.0. You most definitely have a shot, so go for it. Those schools will like your very strong upward trend in gpa, but all kids have to identify one or two safeties. You should add one to your list. Best of luck!

No shot at any of those. Put together a more realistic list and pick one as a far reach.

Thank you Glido! I’m an African American student and I do not necessarily believe Tha\T’ I have “No Shot” at any of these. my sister got into Johns Hopkins with a 3.6 and a 1350/1600. So I am trying to stay optimistic about my chances at any of these, but I definitely will be looking at many safer options.

Not for Michigan where Affirmative Act has been banned in admission.