Going into Senior year of high school, I have a 3.3 GPA and a 1400 on the SAT, with a bunch of ECs. All my classes I’ve taken were honors, with AP World and AP Micro/Macroeconomics in my junior year. I’m taking AP Stat and AP bio in the fall. Also, the reason my GPA is so low is because of my sophomore year. Do I even have a shot at schools like Lehigh and Bucknell?
What would your major be? If engineering, I think your GPA is really going to hurt you. My nephew applied for engineering with a 4.24 weighted and 3.89 unweighted and was waitlisted at Lehigh and rejected from Bucknell (his SAT was only a 1310, though).
Your best chance would be to apply ED to one ( not engineering or business) and make sure your 1st quarter grades are strong.
@Emsmom1 yeah my intended major is hopefully Chemical Engineering… what about Rhode Island or Pitt?
@Emsmom1 also, I feel like I could definitely do really well in my first semester of my senior year, so should I wait for RD or apply ED?
I don’t feel qualified to answer but in my opinion if you really have a first choice, it’s best to apply ED because of the boost you get.
I think you should find schools where your profile is in range
Agree with @ClarinetDad16; work with your GC and parents to put together a good list of targets and safeties as these two are reaches.
Not if you don’t have the profile to be admitted - early Decision is not a magic bullet that solves that challenge for you because of a “boost”.
Will you retake your SAT? The engineering school for both are competitive. The GPA will no doubt hurt your chances, one of the ways to somewhat blunt that damage is by a strong SAT score (1450-70). Pitt’s engineering school is also quite competitive, pretty much the same story with Lehigh and Bucknell. Have you considered Penn State? It is a great school for engineering also, and since it is so much larger in size, it potentially could do a better job to balance the weaker GPA with the stronger SAT. Also, don’t mistaken ED being easier to get in with lower scores. Both Lehigh and Bucknell are pretty selective in their ED rounds. Unless you are the third generation Lehigh legacy, I doubt the ED round will move much of your chances. JMHO.