unweighted gpa: 3.17
weighted gpa: 3.39
sat - 2100
740m
730wr
630cr
4 ap classes taken
extracurriculars:
developed 2 iPhone applications
software engineering internship summer after junior year( made an iPhone app that over 200 doctors use)
4 years track and field
2 years cross country
2 years tutoring.
so yea please chance me for a computer science major at:
Rutgers
Penn State
UIUC
Temple
NJIT
Drexel
University of Maryland College Park
I live in New Jersey
Your test scores make you extremely competitive at all of these schools.
Colleges check gpa and sat so how would they look together?
do you think that extracurriculars and previous work experience in intended major makes up for low gpa?
I don’t think you will get in Maryland, Illinois and Penn State. They won’t spend much time on your application being you are out of state and have a flat B average. You should add Rowan to your list.
GPA is being used less and less. What’s better, a 4.0 at a less competitive school, or a 3.17 at a highly competitive school? Back in the '70s, I went to school with a math savant who struggled in languages and history. His GPA wasn’t great, but he started going to college for math junior year. I think he became an actuary, a statistical modeller for the insurance industry.
I agree with ScaredNJDad that you should add Rowan to your list. I disagree with his assessment of your chances at the OOS schools. I think you’d have a decent to good shot at those with your SATs, since that’s a primary gauge. Your internship and activities are nice icing on the cake. It’s a realistic list.
Where GPA does come into play is in Class Rank. The Top 5% can get full tuition/fees/housing expenses for 4 years in NJ. Top 10-15% get a nice chunk, too. And then there’s grants based on your parent’s financial need. So, if your grades put you in the middle-of-the-pack and your parents make a nice living, you will likely pay full freight for tuition/fees/housing/meals for at least 4 years. Price tag at an in-state public college: $100,000. Look for that to double if you go out-of-state.
Here are more questions to consider: What will you learn at the OOS schools that you won’t at the NJ schools? Is it worth the added expense and debt that will stay with you for a decade? Can you realistically graduate in 4 years/8 semesters? I’ve found that, due to a variety of factors (class availability, activities such as sports commitments, need to work while in school, slacking, retaken classes, etc.), it’s become more difficult in many majors, especially the tech ones. What’s my social life likely to be - is it a Club School, or a Frat School? Frats could be fun (in some schools it’s the only way to socialize), but it adds variables. Where do you plan to live & work after graduation? That’s a very, very important consideration since most first jobs are in the region of the college. What happens if the OOS school turns out to be not for you (as it often does)? You’ll need to start over, with the added debt.
School “cache” is overrated once you’re out and established in your career. Your pay won’t vary by where you went to school; it’ll vary by the projects you worked on and your role in them. And the cost of housing in the area you choose to live and work. I know this. I’m a 25-year recruiter.
Tread carefully, my friend. And good luck!
I think while your SAT is competitive for your schools, you should definitely talk up your extra curriculars (especially the IPhone app since that is very unique). Also, your GPA isn’t super high which could hurt you. It is hard to say because I have not read your essays but I think that if you really talk about your app and your essays are strong you have a competitive shot. The GPA will definitely hurt you though…
Penn State considers GPA and class rank 2/3 of the decision and SAT and other stuff 1/3 (http://admissions.psu.edu/apply/statistics/). It’s not like GPA doesn’t matter. On a 4.0 scale, percent of freshmen who had GPA between 3.0 and 3.24 = 8.45% (http://www.budget.psu.edu/CDSRedesign/cds.aspx?reportindicator=FreshAdmn&Location=UP&AY=20142015) That’s lower than 87% of freshmen.
So. Look up Common Data Sets for the schools in which you are interested. If your GPA is a lot lower than the statistics indicate, you should probably start finding schools that match your profile.