I have a 3.5 gpa unweighted a 33 on act and a bunch of leadership positions. But what makes me really interesting is that I has created and sold a company for enough money to pay for college without any scholarships or finance aid. Moreover, I have created charities that have received multiple grants and raised more than 50K. What are my chanced at a school like Columbia, MIT, Upenn or Harvard?
@tsummers Honestly, why do you want to go to college, what’s it going to do for you? There are good reasons to go but with just that paragraph I would say that a 3.5 GPA signals a lack of interest in academics. You have done very well outside of college why not just start another business? I have a feeling if you got accepted you would go for a year or two and drop out, going back to what you really enjoy, which seems to be starting businesses and raising capital. This is what an AO might see in your application too.
I hear what you are saying, but the reason I started the business was to pay for my education. I came from a lower class family so just the idea of having a way to pay for any college forced me to spend time focusing on my business rather then school work. I would be visiting CEO on school days and leaving class to make calls for the first 2.5 years of high school. I will finally be able to settle down now that my family does not have to worry about our next meal or paying for mine or my siblings college.
@CU123
while your gpa is low, that is really admirable. Write your essays about what you just said above. I think one school will take a shot on you. Raise ACT tho, get it up to a 34 to show you can handle the academics.
How does a 33 differ from a 34 when it comes to determining academic capability?
@tsummers
These schools are high reaches for everyone. I will say the you should expand you list to high reach, reach, low reach, match, and safety schools. Your story is admirable, and please keep us updated on your results next year. Good Luck.
If you get rejected from these schools, it will not be because of your accomplishments, that’s for sure. That’s impressive. As someone already said, you might get rejected simply because the colleges want to protect their yield from someone who seems to be more enamored with starting successful business ventures than prepping for the ACT to get a 34+, or maintaining a higher GPA.
will do thanks for the comment.
@tsummers These schools are reaches for anyone. Out of the bunch, Stanford, Penn and Harvard are more entrepreneurial. Also Stanford and Penn are known to be a bit more holistic in their admissions and tend to give more chances to kids with lower scores that have something exceptional going on.