Hello as I was worrying about my college acceptance I read that schools don’t only care about grades. Well, I have a 3.56 GPA, Very high SAT and ACT scores. I am applying for English lit and probably Psychology (double major). I am going to graduate with 9 AP’s, I work as a writer in a newspaper, I published my first novel and book of poems, I created my proper contest in school, I tutor students after school for free, I am going on one-month transfer next year to Brooks school, I play tennis and chess a lot, I participated in three MUN conferences and got best delegate in one of them, I’ve done a journalism workshop and was named the best candidate, I got the first prize at a Slam competition, I’ve done my summer school at Columbia University (3weeks immersion) and got a very good feedback, I write for an online cultural magazine and run an important blog that gets nice feedback, I also have my google sites demonstarting all the details tha concern me. Finally, I have a 200 pages portfolio that contains all of my nice writing. What do you guys think? Do I have a chance in Stanford, Oxford, Princeton, UCLA, USC or NYU? I need to get logical and meaningful feedback, thanks.
I am very confident that you will get into several very good universities. I doubt that Stanford, Oxford, or Princeton will be included in the ones that you get accepted to.
Have you run the NPC in each school that you are interested in and showed the results to your parents (or to whomever will be paying)? Have you compared your GPA and SAT and ACT scores with the 25th and 75th percentiles of the admitted students? Personally I would avoid any school for which your GPA or your SAT falls below the 25th percentile, not so much due to the issue of getting accepted, but more due to the issue of how difficult the school would be if you were to attend.
Yes, you have a chance to get into a “good college” but not necessarily the ones you listed. Except for NYU (I just don’t have the information to speak to that school), all of those schools will be long shots because of your GPA.
Well @DadTwoGirls I only mind getting accepted because the only reason my GPA is low is because I had some family problems and didn’t work at all, with that being said, I don’t think I’d mind about how hard the curriculum is. What does NPC mean though? and btw I just typed it wrong my GPA is 3.70.
@suzy100 Thank uu for helping
“What does NPC mean though?”
NPC is the “net price calculator”:
https://professionals.collegeboard.org/higher-ed/financial-aid/netprice
I’m not sure about NYU or Oxford, but if the grades that are bringing down your gpa are from freshman year you have a pretty decent shot at Stanford, Princeton, and the UC’s you mentioned. Now this is only if your gpa is about a 3.9 without freshman year grades as all those schools do not consider freshman grades. These schools however do include class rank and class rank includes freshman grades but as long as you’re still in the top 10% I think you will be fine. Good luck.
GPA won’t be the issue at Oxford, but you can’t do English and Psychology together (you have to choose one).
You will need 5s on at least 3 of your APs (including both Englishes if you go English and at least one/realistically 2 of Bio, Chem, Physics, Psych or Calc BC for psych). If you go for English you have to take the English Language Aptitude Test (ELAT); for Psych it’s the Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA). Examples of both are online.
You should read the course descriptions closely to see if you would really be interested in the course as it is taught (very detailed info on what you study each year is available online). The essay is an academic essay that demonstrates your interest in, understanding of, and aptitude/suitability for the subject and course, and references work that you have done in the area beyond the school curriculum.
With a GPA below 3.8, your options will be slim at Top 50 colleges. However, you could do serious damage at the 50-150 schools if your scores are high enough. Places like Utah State, CSUs, U of Minnesota, and Rutgers would love to have a student like you. Just give us more specifics on your SAT score.
You should have affordable safeties and matches first, because any university with a sub 30% acceptance rates will be hit/miss.
What’s your EFC? Can your parents afford it? Have you run the NPC on these colleges and
Note that these are very different in terms of selectivity.
Princeton and Stanford are almost impossible to get into. Sure, you can apply, but you’re rolling the dice.
UCLA: apply only if you’re instate or your parents have a quarter million saved for you in a college fund; EC’s don’t count for much: it’s holistic but it is mostly UCGPA X test scores, with the UCGPA weighted more than anything else, so probably cross it out.
USC: high reach but possible
NYU: one step down. Lousy financial aid.
Oxford: like all British universities, they don’t look at your GPA, only at test scores. However, the process is complicated and you can’t expect any financial aid.
If you apply to Oxford, you’d also apply to 4 other UCAS universities.
There are plenty of good colleges beside these.
For writing, Knox, Eckerd, St Bonaventure would all be safeties -you need those-, Mizzou journalism (#1 in the country) is a good match; Kenyon, Hamilton, Columbia for reaches.
What’s instate for you?