Chance me? 2.8 UW GPA

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey y’all, I’m very new here. I’d like to see what colleges y’all think I can get into. I am really not the best applicant, and I understand that now, but I at least want to hear outside opinions. My schooling system is a little strange, I’m at a little private school in NH that does grades in a trimester format, if that changes anything. I’m a white, Greek male, so I don’t get any diversity points either.
GPA UW: 2.78
GPA W: 2.83
SAT: Haven’t taken.

Grades: I just graduated my sophmore year in HS. In my freshmen year, I goofed around, did jack, and ended up with mostly C’s, a few B’s, and a few A’s. Sophmore year I ended with mostly B’s, a few A’s, and one C.

ECs: I am currently on my school’s crew team, and just last year I stopped playing on my school’s lacrosse team. Other than that, I don’t currently play any instruments (played trombone for 5 years, but stopped a few years ago). I also currently run a small little online business with my friend, if that amounts to anything, and I’ve also run one before this.

Colleges: I have always been interested in business, so that’ll be my major. My parents also have the ability to pay for any college, so thats not an issue. Currently, I’m interested in Bentley, Northeastern, BU, UMiami, and NYU. These are crazy stretchs for me, but I am curious as to what your opinions are as to if I still have a chance if I score extremely highly on the SAT (Above 1550).

Please leave any recommendations for colleges in the comments. I really wanna hear all my options, and I especially wanna hear what colleges I am safe for.

2

Schools like Northeastern, BU, NYU are way out of reach (doesn’t mean you shouldnt apply). I think your best shot is for state schools like any in NH. Having a good SAT score can makeup for your GPA somewhat, but it’s still tough to overcome. I think your ECs are decent if you talk about your online business (that is quite unique). If you SAT is very high (about 1550) then you will raise eyebrows. AO’s will wonder why a kid could get such a high score and have such a low GPA in comparison. It will help, but idk how much. Good luck!

3

If you’re open to the west coast, Portland State University in Oregon might be a good option for you. Below a 3.0 GPA, they require counterbalancing test scores for admission - you would have to get a 1300 SAT or a 27 ACT, but it sounds like you’re anticipating decent scores so that could be pretty realistic. I know a student who took up rowing there as a freshman and absolutely loves the crew program both athletically and socially. (And the Willamette River is a lovely place to get out on the water.) It’s a terrific urban school with a friendly, entrepreneurial spirit, in a fun small city, not unlike Northeastern/Boston in vibe. https://www.pdx.edu/sba/

4

Even if you score very high on the standardized tests (a big “if” until it actually happens) the colleges you listed will likely be out of range with your GPA. If you want to throw in a couple of applications to those schools it is your prerogative but the odds of acceptance are quite low. You need to research schools that will be a fit for your GPA.

Note that college admission officers may view a low GPA/high standardized test applicant as possibly a lazy student who has not been engaged in academics throughout HS.

5

Thank you guys so much for the responses. Is there any chance I can raise my GPA to a 3.0 before I start to apply for colleges?

6

The most important thing that you can do right now is to work hard for your upcoming junior year of high school and pull up your GPA significantly. A strong junior year will make a very large difference when you start applying to universities in a bit over a year.

7

You could be out of luck for most American colleges since so many prioritize GPA. Thinking outside the box, since your parents can afford to be full pay, would you consider going to a UK school? They don’t tend to care what your GPA is - admittance is almost entirely based on standardized test scores. If you do pull off a 1550 on your SAT and take 3-5 AP courses this year where you score a 5, you’ve got a reasonable shot at getting into some reasonable UK schools such as London School of Economics, which would be a much higher level of school than you’re going to be able to attend in the US, even if you raise your GPA to 3.0.

8

Once again, I appreciate the replies. There is one last point/points I should make. IF I were to pull my GPA up to 3.0 or 3.1, and score a 1550+ on the SAT, would I have a chance at BU or Bentley? My mom graduated from BU, and my friend’s father is a Professor at Bentley, so I have some connections to those schools. My parents also want me to be close to them, so anywhere near Miami Beach (we have a condo down there) or anywhere very close to Boston or in Boston is pretty much where I need to be, and NH schools are also out of the question because they hate it here. Not many options, I understand that, but I need recommendations near these places.

9

Tough to know. Some of it depends on which classes the bad grades were in, how rigorous your schedule is, etc.

Another idea - you mention that you are on the crew team. Any chance you can get to the level where you’re recruitable as an athlete? That will open some doors even if your GPA is low.

10

My schedule was not very rigorous during sophmore, 4 regular classes and 1 honors, and freshman was all regular classes. For crew, I am on the varsity team. But do the connections that I have help my chances for BU and Bentley, only if its a little?

11

May I be blunt? You sound lazy. It’s the internet, so that could be wildly, totally and completely off base. But I’m telling you the impression you may be creating in others who do not know you and can only guess based on what they read. And it’s better to hear it now from someone who won’t have any control over your life than to discover it when you start receiving rejection letters. You took easy classes, goofed off and want to know if you can still get into your preferred schools. You have few ECs, most of which you’ve quit and are low energy when you talk about the few you continue. You have a very specific wish list of “must haves” and whenever anybody offers suggestions, you keep trying to steer the convo back to what you’d like to happen and how to take a shortcut with “connections.” Come on…

Think for a bit about what you have to offer. Surely there are some awesome things about you or things you’ve done. What are you interested in and what are you doing to pursue that interest? Where is your spark and how are you going to show it to colleges?

12

Professors do not have the power to get their kids’ friends into their school. You know this, right? And Legacy at BU just means that if you’re qualified, you may be chosen over some other qualified applicant. It doesn’t mean they accept Legacy applicants who aren’t qualified. There is the College of General Studies, which accepts students with some weaknesses in their qualifications… but BU doesn’t publish separate stats for CGS (and it starts a lot of the CGS students in the spring because that keeps them from counting toward the published stats), so I don’t know what it takes to get into CGS… but that’s your best shot, BU wise.

Wentworth (right next to Northeastern) might be an option for you. I have known a few motivated students who have had great experiences there and gotten good jobs with companies where they had internships.
https://wit.edu/business-management

13

I appreciate the bluntness, however the “wish list” is not my doing, its my parents. They really made it clear that I need to be within an hour or two of them at all times, so that decision is out of reach. The connections thing and me steering the convo is me just trying to see what my options are in my current situation and what I’m planning my near (one year) future to be for grades and scores and etc, because, to be honest, I’m very scared that I’ve screwed myself for most colleges that I once thought were a safe bet.

Moving away from that, your last point is valid. My entire life I have been passionate about business and business ownership, and I am always trying to think of new ideas for things that haven’t been invented. I starting to learn code so I can build websites, I’ve been learning German for a while now, and my current business that I have with a friend is starting off very well. Your point about my laziness is true in certain aspects only. If I don’t enjoy something, there is nothing there to keep the fire going, such as music and rigorous sports. However, when I genuinely enjoy something, I excel in that, and I push myself to succeed. I honestly really appreciate the feedback, thank you.

14

I appreciate the bluntness, however the “wish list” is not my doing, its my parents. They really made it clear that I need to be within an hour or two of them at all times, so that decision is out of reach. The connections thing and me steering the convo is me just trying to see what my options are in my current situation and what I’m planning my near (one year) future to be for grades and scores and etc, because, to be honest, I’m very scared that I’ve screwed myself for most colleges that I once thought were a safe bet.

Moving away from that, your last point is valid. My entire life I have been passionate about business and business ownership, and I am always trying to think of new ideas for things that haven’t been invented. I starting to learn code so I can build websites, I’ve been learning German for a while now, and my current business that I have with a friend is starting off very well. Your point about my laziness is true in certain aspects only. If I don’t enjoy something, there is nothing there to keep the fire going, such as music and rigorous sports. However, when I genuinely enjoy something, I excel in that, and I push myself to succeed. I honestly really appreciate the feedback, thank you.

15

“My entire life I have been passionate about business and business ownership, and I am always trying to think of new ideas for things that haven’t been invented. I starting to learn code so I can build websites, I’ve been learning German for a while now, and my current business that I have with a friend is starting off very well.”

Keep building on those interesting and positive things. They’ll add to your app and help demonstrate what you would offer colleges. You can’t change past grades, but you can focus on the things in your control.

16

To answer your question, mathematically, it should be possible to get to a 3.0 if you ace your junior year. Just as a rough calculation, if you had the same number of credits every year and got a 4.0 UW in the third year, it would get you to a 3.18 UW. Hitting the 3.0 mark would help you a lot with college admissions, and a strong upward trend casts any GPA in a much more positive light than otherwise.

The question is whether you can keep your upward trend going. There’s no way to tell that from what you’ve posted here. Your particularly “off” freshman year, combined with your parents’ stringent requirement that you remain close by, suggests that maybe they’ve had reason to be concerned about you. The important perspective to have is that you can always get a fresh start on school, even if it means attending somewhere that isn’t what you might have imagined for yourself. Making sure that you’re in a good place in terms of your overall health and wellness is what is most important. And part of that is setting realistic goals, not setting yourself up for a crisis by getting in your head that you must now get flawless grades or your life will be ruined. Resolve to do better, and be thoughtful about how you can set yourself up for success; but don’t set goals that hinge on perfection. Set realistic goals, and then if you exceed them, that’s great!

I still think the competitive private U’s in the Boston area are likely to be out of reach. (No harm in trying, but it’s a steep admissions path made even steeper by the sheer numbers of students who want to go to college in Boston.) But you’ll have options. How about UMass Dartmouth? It’s within your parents’ desired radius, and 75% of first-years live on campus, so it’s not purely a commuter school. It has a business school https://www.umassd.edu/charlton/ and you’d probably have transfer potential within the UMass system if you did well and didn’t want to do all four years there. I don’t know if business is a lot harder to get into than the campus in general, but you can probably look into it and find that out. At any rate I think it’s the most forgiving of the UMass campuses, stats-wise, and they have the “Connect” alternative entry program for students who don’t meet the thresholds for regular admission.

Another option Dean College. I knew a young man who struggled in high school, some years back, did a two-year program at Dean, and then transferred to UMass Amherst and got his degree from there. They have both associate and bachelor’s programs in a number of business-related areas, and they offer a high level of support and individual attention.

A good reachier school to shoot for could be Clark University in Worcester. They have an undergraduate Management major, and students who do well can qualify for their 5-year BA/MBA program with the fifth year free. https://www.clarku.edu/programs/major-or-minor-management They made Forbes’ “Top 20 Entrepreneurial Universities” list, and while it will be a reach for your GPA, admissions are holistic, so with an upward trend, and good EC’s and test scores, it could certainly be a possibility.

Providence College would also be within your 1-hr radius of Boston, in the away-from-NH direction, and has business-y majors. Again, a stretch, but if your tests scores are high and grade trend is upward, it could work.

Lastly, if your grades continue to improve and you really want to try to crack a higher competitiveness tier, consider looking into productive gap-year possibilities. To maintain your eligibility as a freshman applicant, you would have to avoid taking college-credit classes during that year. But you could study a foreign language, do an internship, participate in a service program like City Year, anything that does not involve enrolling in college. This would allow you to apply with your full four-year high school record complete, which could be a help if you do well both junior and senior years. If you got into, for example, UMass Dartmouth Connect, as a senior, you could deposit there and defer your admission for a year, so you’d still have that as a backup, and then apply to more competitive programs during your gap year.