<p>I might have screwed up my junior year pretty badly- 3 B's, along with 2 last year. And in a school as competitive as mine (#1 in state), that kills my GPA and slaughters my rank. I moved in between my freshman and sophomore year from a crappy school to an extremely competitive one, and went from being straight A student to being a mediocre one. I have 4s and 5s on all my APs, I am taking the most rigorous courseload possible, my SAT superscored will cross 2250, and my SAT subject tests all hover around 750. My extracurriculars and leadership positions are among the best in the school, with highly ranked officer positions, awards, publications, and several qualifications. </p>
<p>This year, I just got way caught up in my extracurriculars - and though I succeeded tremendously in all of them, my grades went into the crapper. I don't mean to make flimsy excuses but it was an extremely tough year, both with the stress of many commitments and that of dealing with a dying grandfather, and I know that I am capable of being successful in a top ranked college. </p>
<p>Is there anything I can do to make myself more competitive other than writing a kickass essay and getting great recs?
Also, should I hold off on early applying to columbia and wait until I have my senior mid year reports which will hopefully show a rise in GPA?</p>
<p>Great everything else is completely subjective. Of course you want to convince yourself that they are great, because you have to successfully market yourself on your application. However, a “crappy” GPA or any other weak academic area in your application could def. hurt you.</p>
<p>I dunno, according to my counselor, almost everything ‘easily exceeds’ what most of the kids in my school have done outside of academics - and we have kids accepted to harvard, princeton, yale, northwestern, georgetown, duke, cornell, uva, vanderbilt, uchicago, MIT, upenn, wustl, umich, jhu, emory, notre dame, cmu, uva, wake forest, chapel hill, wake forest, etc etc.basically, we have good turnout and good name recognition in the admission process. </p>
<p>I still have 3.7ish UW GPA, but the B’s came in soph/junior year. The ones in sophomore year were the two classes that had prerequisites from my old school, so the curriculum just didn’t match up. </p>
<p>I also want to go into business or law. The majority of B’s were in science classes - and our science curriculum is one of the strongest, and toughest, in the nation. If I indicate that I want to major in economics, will that help me out?</p>
<p>I just don’t want to waste my time with straining myself with officer positions in 3 of our most prestigious clubs and 5 APs next year along with the fall play and a job if my GPA screws me over. I’ll get into OSU with so much less effort, and if the GPA will keep me from any place I actually want to go, then why bother?</p>
<p>I don’t know my exact rank, but when I came here with straight A’s freshman year, I was around #8. Now, I must be somewhere in the 30’s or 40’s. We release percentages - so top 10% probably, and just barely. Of course, this is completely due to my good freshman year. There is a trend of a growing # of B’s (0-> 2 -> 3) which is pretty much the exact opposite of what one would like to show, but at the same time, the difficulty of the course load has increased each year, along with extracurricular achievement.</p>
<p>Unless you want to apply to the top 25 or so schools, you are fine. You’ll apply to reaches and definitely matches and safties. Your GPA is not bad and neither is your rank. Your grades through Junior year are most important as that is what you use when you apply. The schools will see the rigor of your senior class courses (AP’s) and your likely great resume.</p>
<p>I would suggest you explain your concerns to your guidance counselor so he can address them in his recommendation. </p>
<p>My sons schools is also very competitive and though he did well, mostly A’s and a few B’s thrown in the mix, he did not have enough AP’s through Jr year to pull up his weighted GPA and then rank. He had a 3.82 but that only left him in 24th percentile. I think he chose the right teachers for rec’s (never read them but speculate on this) as he is steller in comp sci and physics and is going into engineering so I think what they say about him is important.</p>
<p>Results: Accepted to all 15 schools applied to. (applied engin and comp sci, so we applied to schools that only had comp sci also in case he opted out of engineering.)</p>
<p>I think you will do fine in your applications. Do not kick yourself over those B’s.</p>
<p>Colleges don’t want to see you stretching yourself thin just to impress them. Drop the whole “I’m only doing this for my resume” approach for next year. It’s doing nothing for your grades and you indicate you don’t enjoy it. Let go of the ECs that are not that important to you and focus on your grades and the few ECs you are really passionate about. </p>
<p>You might be eligible for top schools; plan to apply to a variety of reaches, matches, and safeties, and you won’t be disappointed.</p>
<p>Hey ChasingStarlight, you’re going to be fine. Honestly, if your extracurriculars are what you are really passionate about, it’ll show in your application. Let the admissions counselor see your passion by writing your college essay on one particular activity you’re involved in. Colleges, especially competitive schools, look at your application holistically. Take my word for it, I attend a top 20 school that was a reach for me. Like you, I got some B’s in high school, but something high school kids need to realize is that counselors are much more impressed by someone who challenges him/herself, receives adequate grades and most importantly does something to help his or her community. It really is not all about the grades. Hope this helps; good luck applying!</p>
<p>I was in a similar position, where my GPA was not very good but my test scores were all very high (although I started with a weak freshman year and came up to phenomenal junior and senior years), and I was rejected from almost every school to which I applied. I had a 2330, 35, and mostly 790s on my subject tests, all 5s, and a 3.98 at the end of my senior year and didn’t get into Stanford (where I have legacy through my father and grandfather), M.I.T. (where numerous family members have attended, although none to whom I’m directly related), Harvard, and Dartmouth, and was wait-listed at Harvey Mudd and Pomona. I was, however, accepted to Washington University in St. Louis and Reed College so I would say, based on my experience, that the G.P.A. is very important to the top ten schools and a little less important to the ranked-10-through-20 grouping. I also know a girl who had a 4.2 but low test scores, an easy senior year, and mediocre E.C.'s who got into Stanford, which seems to support the grades thing. Then again, I also get the impression that it’s entirely random as long as you’re in the proper league (which it sounds like you are), so you might as well try hard and apply anyways.</p>
<p>wait, how is a 3.98 low? Do you mean weighted? </p>
<p>Thanks guys. Yeah, I’m applying everywhere and hoping the arrow lands somewhere good. Hopefully it won’t be a waste of money. </p>
<p>It’s just frustrating knowing that you could have done so much better at a different school. More frustrating knowing that you shouldn’t brood on the past.</p>
<p>Scattergrams are a schools charts that show GPA and scores of it’s accepted and rejected applicants at different colleges.</p>
<p>Throwing a lot of darts at top colleges in hopes of getting into one is not a strategy that usually works. You can end up spending a lot of time on supplements for schools you have no chance at and not give proper time to those where you do. It’s a good idea to accept reality and apply accordingly.</p>
<p>If for example you are a full pay applicant, focus on schools near the top that are need aware, your SAT score and ability to pay will really help this year.</p>
<p>haha not everywhere, but places I actually want to go. And have a shot at, if they do not put a lot of weight on the GPA. Highest reach is Columbia. Lowest is OSU. </p>
<p>Hmm I think my school actually does have those. I’ll have a look-see.</p>
<p>Can you elaborate on this “great everything else?” The term “great” is fairly subjective and some details may help us get a better idea of where you’re at (though obviously none of us know for sure, since we’re not AOs)</p>
<p>I am something similar right now with about a 3.5 gpa but with a chance of a 3.7 or even a 3.9 if i try hard enough. Ive heard stories where kids got less than 3.0 and got into amazing schools like Emory or Umich
Maybe if you do really well next year, that will balance things out. 3.7 is pretty good if you look at averaes, the only thing is the opposite trend. Carnegie mellons average is 3.54</p>
<p>Sorry if mines is off topic, but ummm… how do you start a thread?</p>
<p>haha you go to the category you want to post in, like college admissions or whatever and look towards the top of the forum, it has a “start new thread” button</p>