I just finished my sophomore year in high school, and have taken the ACT and got a 34 (I still have a couple chances so maybe that will improve), and at the rate I’m going right now, I’m expecting my unweighted GPA to be 3.75+. I take mostly AP courses (the exceptions being “standard” classes that my school requires, such as PE, music, etc.), however, I am not within the range of top 20 students out of my class of 850 (we are ranked with weighted GPAs, so it is often a matter of students who have advantages by skipping classes, being fluent in a foreign language, etc.)
I am aiming for the top 30 universities in the US (UCLA, Michigan, NYU, USC, long shot being Duke, etc.) What are my chances? And if you have any other suggestions for what colleges I should consider, please help!
Thank you so much.
you definitely have a shot depending on your ECs. definitely make sure your gpa is as high as possible
Where is your home state and what is your intended major? 3.75 is a little bit low for UMich but it may depends on your course rigor and school profile.
You are done with the ACT. Try to work on your GPA and EC’s. You really will be a good candidate.
@billcsho I am from a large public school in Texas and I want to major in engineering. 90% of my classes are honors or AP. I think my school is known for it’s competitiveness, but again, I am not in the top 5% of my class. Thanks!
Applying for engineering schools makes it easier - you can quickly eliminate most of the top 30 list and work on the top 10-15 engineering schools. Visit some and that will help your further cull the list. Fortunately, you already have a top 10 in UT Austin. Do you think you will be able to raise your GPA for auto-admit? That would take some worry out of your college decision.
If your ACT math score is not a 35 or 36, you might want to take it again.
By the top 30 universities, do you mean all the Ivies and schools like that?
I agree with the above, your GPA is a little low, and class rank also matters a lot- try to get that up if you can. A 34 is a great score but then again at the top schools, you are going to have people with 35s and 36s.
What kinds of extracurriculars do you do? That could definitely make or break you.
@TooOld4School @pineapple86 I am in varsity speech and debate (will do all 4 years), president of activism/feminism club, started program to tutor lower income/underprivileged kids, volunteer hours will be 500+ by graduation, member of school’s highest orchestra. I make auto admit for Texas schools, which is good because I have UT in my list.
And I guess I’m aiming for top tier schools, but am definitely keeping my options and mind open and will consider any good schools.
Oh also, it is unlikely that I will be applying to any Ivies. If I do, it would be just for the sake of it.
For UMich CoE, it would be a low reach. Your ACT is fine which is at around the 75th percentile, but your GPA is weak. Their admission average is 3.9 and they value more on GPA than test score. Their admission rate from OOS would be below 20%.