My current gpa is a 3.84 UW and a 4.7 W, and I received a perfect 4.0 during both my sophomore and junior year. The reason my UW gpa is a 3.84 is because I received a 3.54 during my freshman year, however I was able to make a 4.0 during second semester of freshman year. It’s really the 3.1 I got during first semester that is dragging my gpa down.
Stanford is my dream school because my dad went there and I look up to him a lot, however if my gpa is simply too low to even be considered please let me know and be brutally honest because I am average that the average UW gpa at stanford is 3.96.
For reference I’ve taken
These classes as APs: Gov, Micro Econ, APhug, APush, APes, AP Calc AB, AP Stat, AP Spanish, AP Lang, AP Lit
These classes as honors: All of my classes except 2 in freshman year and 1 in sophmore, with 2 of them being electives.
I’m aware that gpa isn’t the only thing that matters but I’d just like to know if my gpa prevents anything else from being considered.
All anyone can say is apply and give it your best shot.
That said, I would strongly encourage you to not set up any one school – especially a school with an admissions rate under 5% as your “dream school”. There are more worthy applicants than spots available. Understand that you can have a wonderful experience and make all your dreams come true at many many different colleges.
FWIW my children did not attend my alma mater and I am incredibly proud of them both.
I think I have read that Stanford doesn’t consider freshman year grades - maybe someone here can verify that?
If that’s true, then your GPA is fine.
However, with a 4% acceptance rate, Stanford is a longshot for anyone, even those with perfect GPAs and test scores. Give it your best shot, but make sure you have some other schools you love and would be happy to attend.
Do you have an idea of your relative rank? How many and what kind of kids get into Stanford from your HS?
The fact that it was first semester of freshmen that dragged you down is a better factor. I did see something on a consultant’s website that Stanford excludes frosh grades, but in the Stanford Admissions site, they require a 4 year transcript.
Bottom line, I don’t think you are out of the running. Do you have test scores or are you going TO? So shoot your shot but have other schools on your list that you would be happy to attend that do not have single or even low 2 digit admissions rates.
My class doesn’t do school rank so sadly I have no clue. We had one year where 3 students were admitted but I don’t know much beyond that, and I will be adding my SAT score to my application (1580).
Stanford is a reach for every single applicant…unless you have donated millions of dollars to fund a building or something like that.
Acceptance rate is 5% or less. Apply and see. If you don’t get accepted, you will be in the same company of the other 95% who get rejected annually. Many, if not most, have stellar stats, and some are legacies.
The acceptance rate for legacies is about 15% which is still very low…and as you can see…it’s not 100% so your legacy status might help…but it won’t guarantee admission to this college.
So as others have said…apply and see. If you don’t get accepted, you will never know why.
I agree with pretty much all of the advice that you have gotten already. There might be three main points.
One is that your first semester freshman year of high school is not likely to matter. I have also heard that Stanford does not consider freshman year grades.
The second point is that Stanford is a reach for everyone. If you get in that is great, but it is not likely even for a very strong student such as yourself.
The third point is probably the most important. You should be looking for a university that is a good fit for you. I got my master’s degree at Stanford and loved it. However, just because it was a good fit for both your dad and I does not necessarily mean that it is a good fit for you.
I suppose that one additional point is that even if you do not get accepted to Stanford it will still be there if you are considering getting a graduate degree (such as a master’s degree) in the future. Also, I am impressed by your SAT score. Good job! However, Stanford is still a reach (even with legacy status).
It does sound like your very good results up to now will help you get accepted to multiple very good universities. Whether Stanford will be one of them none of us can accurately predict.
Thank you for the replies! I definitely I am not getting my hopes up for Stanford as it is a massive reach but I think I just need to snap out of the mindset of not wanting to be an embarrassment to my parents. Especially since my dad attended both UChicago and Stanford, and I want to be someone he can feel proud of.
Admissions stats these days are completely different than when your parents went to college. They are much, much more competitive. It’s apples and oranges.
If you haven’t yet, identify some of the key features you desire in a college – could be things like location/setting, majors, curricular style, class sizes, food and dorms, social/sports vibe, and obviously cost – and make a list of other schools that check most, if not all, of your boxes. Make sure that at least one of these schools is a safety (admit rate over 50% and your stats are at or above their 75th percentile scores/GPA). Obviously, make sure all the schools are affordable.
Not to beat a dead horse, but Stanford is extremely hard to get into. You might get in, but it’s more likely that you won’t – so make sure that you have a list of other schools that you’d enjoy attending.
You certainly have a chance but it’s an extremely hard school to get into. I wouldn’t worry at all about your first semester freshman grades. If you’ve had a 4.0 since then they aren’t going to care about that first semester and if you don’t get in it won’t be because of that. Just as an FYI, I was valedictorian, had a 4.0 unweighted with all the hardest classes, high SAT, outstanding EC’s etc and applied REA and didn’t get in. My high school sends 1-2 students to Stanford each year and my friend who got in this year actually had 2 B’s on her transcript Fall Semester Senior Year plus a boy got in for sports. What I’m saying is that it’s hard, but also I don’t think you’re freshman grades will be the deciding factor. Good luck to you!
If it is your dream apply. But also develop a list of other schools that sing to you and you can see your self at. Stanford is a reach for every Stanford student. I think the think that helps is the application materials Why Stanford, what you are passionate at. Make the AO visualize you in the incoming class. And just as an aside Stanford and UChicago are very different schools. So maybe figure out if both are a good fit for you. Parents will always be proud of their children.
Oh and I forgot to mention I would probably apply early action, although I’m not sure if that would be a great idea because my gpa could potentially go from an 3.84 to an 3.86. I’m not sure if this would make a noticeable difference though.