Hi, I have a question for my future colleges that I should apply to. I’m currently a sophomore attending a private school. In terms of academics, I’m taking 2 AP Courses: AP Physics 1 and AP Computer Science. I hope to major in a field in engineering with a minor in finance. My GPA isn’t excellent right now; I have a GPA of 4.0 (weighted). A lot of people said that 4.0 can only get you into state/community colleges. Is that true? (really worried about that aspect) Other than academics, I was worked as an intern in a nearby college as a research lab assistant during the summer of ninth grade (ninth rising to tenth). I conducted experiments and wrote research paper with the professor and lab workers. I also won silver in a National competition and bronze in an International competition. There are a few other competitions that I was a finalist at but these are not super prestigious (but still worth mentioning in college application). I joined a couple hackathons and was accepted to one called HackMIT. Unfortunately, I didn’t win anything at HackMIT. With that said, what colleges do you recommend me to apply to? Safety schools? Reach schools? Etc.
Thank you so much in advance for your help.
(I’m asking as a sophomore to get a range of the experience I will be facing as a junior and senior when applying to colleges. ) Also, is my GPA bad?
What is your unweighted GPA? Weighing is done differently at any given high school and means very little. Even a college would need to either be familiar with your high school or read the accompanying school report that goes with the transcript to interpret it correctly. Many colleges will recalculate your GPA according to their own formula. This allows them to compare apples-to-apples across different schools and systems.
No, it is absolutely not true that a 4.0 unweighted is only good for community colleges. Be wary of taking college advice from your classmates.
@Groundwork2022 Hi! Thank you so much for your reply! I’m not sure of my unweighted GPA. I’m currently taking 7 classes and I have 4 A’s and 3 B+’s. Not super high, I guess. Please let me know what you think. Thanks
So your unweighted is about a 3.57… probably not high enough for top engineering colleges, but still respectable.
I would run a search for “colleges that change lives”. Also run searches for “colleges for B students” and look at some of your state’s flagships and directional colleges (those might be particularly helpful if you are hoping for financial aid). I would suggest small engineering-focused schools because there are some particularly good schools among them, but many may not offer that finance 2nd major or minor. For those I was thinking of Rose Hulman type places.
You don’t need a 4.0 to go to a good school. You’re a sophomore. I wouldn’t get too caught-up in colleges right now. A lot can change in a year. Come back to this later in you junior year. Just keep improving your grades and EC’s. Find things you enjoy and have passion. Also try to have a little fun under the current circumstances. Good luck.
If your in the northeast I would look into RPI, WPI, and Clarkson these are all good schools that you most likely have a good shot at, especially if you get the weighted up to like a 4.2, and at least Clarkson and RPI give good merit aid if you get their attention. (ignore Clarkson’s rankings admit rate is self selective which throws off rankings).
