Hi! I live in Florida and I am a junior in an IB school (very rigorous). I take a lot of AP classes… last year I took 2 AP classes and this year I’m taking 4. My extra curricular activities are competitive dancing, singing for 5 years, and competitive tennis for 8 years. I’m in the relay for life club, dance marathon club, co-founder of the multicultural club, and president of the Indian Student Association Club. I am also on the varsity tennis team, my ranking is #2 and I hope to be captain next year. I have over 150 service hours. I haven’t taken the SAT or ACT yet but I plan to do well on those (fingers crossed). Only problem is, I have a crappy GPA. My unweighted GPA is a 3.18 and I think it might drop to a 3.0 because junior year in IB is hella hard. My weighted GPA is a 4.54. I have one more semester left before I apply to colleges and I hope to do well so I can raise my GPA. I also got a 1220 out of 1520 on my PSAT this year. But overall, I think I’m pretty good other than my GPA. Is it possible for me to get into any of these universities if I write an amazing essay?
University of Florida
University of Miami
Emory
Case Western
NYU
Wake Forest
Carnegie Mellon
University of Michigan
Nova Southeastern University (7 year dental program)
Right now, my back up schools are USF and UCF but I REALLY don’t want to go to either of those schools. My top choice is UF. So do I have a chance?
Move to chance page.
But I’d say unlikely. Essays and ECs typically don’t compensate for academic performance.
It is fine to apply to a few reaches, but also have some match and safety schools.
You should check out UF’s official data. They probably place primary emphasis on GPA, but - if they resemble other state flagships - they also probably weight pretty generously, and so in-state IB students probably have decent odds. I suggest retaking the SAT, and trying the ACT, at least once. I suspect that CMU, Michigan, and probably Emory, are out of reach for you unless you have a bang-up spring semester. BU College of Arts & Sciences might be within reach, but more selective programs like their combined BS/MD program probably won’t be. Case Western and Wake Forest might be moderate, reasonable reaches; Miami probably a high match. May we presume that you won’t need financial aid? I don’t think your chances for merit aid are very good, and you have some very expensive colleges on your list. If you don’t want to go to USF or UCF, then look at Temple, Clemson, College of Charleston, Michigan State, Indiana, et al.
UF recalculates GPA. Add a 1/2 point for honors classes and 1 point for ap classes. The middle 50% has between a 4.1 and 4.5 GPA. From the UF website:
University of Florida
2014 FRESHMAN PROFILE
Few students are admitted to the University of Florida purely on academic merit. While the potential for academic success is a primary consideration, UF’s holistic application review also considers a student’s personal essay, honors and awards, extracurricular activities, and family background. All information in the applicant’s file, academic and non-academic, is considered in relation to the size and strength of the entire applicant pool.
The middle 50 percent
The middle 50 percent of students admitted to the 2014 fall freshman class had the following criteria:
High School GPA of 4.1-4.5
SAT 1810-2060
ACT 27-31
APPLY NOW
You can look at the Common Data Set for each school you’re interested in to see how you compare to recent students that were admitted . I know stats for some of these schools have risen recently .