My prospects are Penn engineering, UMich, Georgia Tech, Cornell Engineering, Berkeley EECS
I come from one of the top public high schools in the U.S. While I have had a few of Bs and my unweighted GPA is an A- average, I have taken rigorous courses and grades have improved over 9-12
AP Courses: AP Calculus BC, AP US. History, AP Physics C M&EM, AP World History, AP Computer Science.
My school also offers post-AP [5.0 weighted but not officially AP] courses in math and sciences. of those I have completed classes in: Multivariable Calculus, Linear Algebra, Computer Vision, Parallel Computing as a junior.
My Senior year I will be taking more advanced college-level math courses like complex variable calculus and quantum Physics
GPA: 3.74 unweighted, 4.33 weighted
Scores: 1560 SAT, SAT II: Math, Physics 800
AP: All 5
Extracurriculars:
Debate team top officer
USACO Gold Level
Published Research with a college professor
Volunteering teaching computer science
NHS member
I wanted to know how realistic my prospects are at some of these schools and how to boost my admission chances given that my GPA isn’t stellar
I think you have a good shot but I’d make sure to find some safeties you were happy with. As you know, engineering is a very numbers-oriented field and admissions is the same - they want to see uniform academic excellence. TBH if your Bs are in English I think they won’t hurt you as much - if they’re in Math or Science courses, they will hurt your chances and you can’t change that so hedge your bets. There are excellent engineering programs that are still “top schools” with competitive admissions that are easier to get into than the schools on your list.
Thanks for the response. I’m also curious how much course difficulty factors into admissions. I feel like my course difficulty is well above the average and I don’t know how much that helps me.
Berkeley EECS will be a major reach IMO. The GPA will hurt you unless the Bs were when you were a freshman. Calculate the UC GPA.
Yes, the Bs I had were freshman year, my UC GPA is a 4.45. Does this change anything?
Are you out of state for Berkeley? If so no financial aid. You would be full pay.
I am not an admission expert but from the kids I have seen applying - it doesn’t matter enough to be the deciding factor. The college wants to educate you - if you come in with a bunch of advanced classes under your belt that helps you but not necessarily them. Engineering is a tough program so of course a rigorous high school curriculum looks good and you won’t get into a top school without it - but just having a unusually rigorous schedule won’t get you in. A recommendation from a professor might and top scores help a lot. Keep in in mind that admissions departments are well aware of the college ranking systems out there - admitting kids with a lower GPA pulls down their average GPA - and potentially their ranking. So a 3.7 will work against you and I don’t think the advanced coursework will counteract that. Other folks may disagree so hopefully they can weigh in.
I think you will be competitive but as previously stated, have a solid list of match and safety schools. We had perfect stat kids with amazing ECs at our daughter’s school get wait listed at Michigan and no one admitted to Cornell this cycle.
The admission selectivity part of the USNWR rankings is based mostly on test scores, with the rest being class ranks and admission rate. See https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/how-us-news-calculated-the-rankings . So a “USNWR ranking climber” school will want to emphasize test scores and class rank, as well as encourage larger numbers of applicants (even no-hope ones).
UCB EECS, Penn, and Cornell should be considered reach for everyone.
My school does not rank its students.
What counts as “good” test scores in terms of these colleges
I don’t think it’s possible for a top student to get a UC capped GPA that high (4.45). Unless you were only taking 4 classes a semester. A normal student taking 5 a-g classes in 10th and 11th grade (20 semesters) with straight As would have a max of 4.40. Most academically smart kids would have between 20-26 semesters, so the UC Capped GPA for all As would be between 4.31 and 4.40.
Your tests scores are fine.
UC GPA is simply calculated without freshman year taking into consideration weightings and such. No? In junior year I am taking 6 AP weighted courses and took 2 sophomore year
Looking at the the U-Mich website, their median GPA for incoming engineers is a 3.9 . Hope that helps with your question. Your scores are higher than their median scores so that’s good news. I hope you have good luck in your college applications!
The UC GPA is capped at 8 semesters worth of advanced classes (ie AP classes). Actually, taking more AP classes hurts that UC Capped GPA because each subsequent class beyond 4 AP classes is rated at 4.0 instead of 5.0.
Use this to calculate: https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
Most HS GPA stats shown on UC web sites are “weighted capped”. This means that up to 8 semesters’ worth of honors courses in 10th-11th grade a-g subject courses can have +1 points. For California high schools and some on-line programs, https://hs-articulation.ucop.edu/agcourselist#/list/search/institution indicates what courses are considered honors (some high-school-designated honors courses are not honors for UC application purposes). For other high schools, only AP and IB courses can count as honors.
For practical purposes, the highest UC weighted capped GPAs are typically in the 4.3-4.4 range.
You are a competitive applicant. Your stats and ECs are good. Write great essays and you could get accepted to any of these schools