So I am currently a senior, and I’m confused by what I’ve read multiple times about extracurriculars. My gpa isn’t that great, it is around a 3.6-3.7 UW, but I go to an extremely rigorous school and the low gpa is mainly because of my freshman year. I’ve read that to compensate for a low gpa, a student might want to have better test scores and “outstanding” extracurriculars? My ACT was in the 30-32 range, and I have multiple extracurriculars, but I don’t know if they’re amazing or anything. Could someone please clarify? I’ve volunteered during the summer, won regional awards through clubs, and I have had multiple internships. Could someone please clarify?
Clarify what? Good ECs do not make up for below standard academics (unless a person is a recruited athlete). The positive is that your GPA has shown improvement through your HS years. In general, you should look for schools that match your academic stats and put in a few reach and safety schools – all schools you apply to should be ones you would be happy to attend and should appear affordable.
Clarify what would be a good EC…
GPA and ACT/Sat scores are still the most important thing in college admissions.
To see how important ECs are to a given college, then go to the “Common Data Set” for that college and look in section C7.
For a state school, like Rutgers, GPA/SAT/ACT is considered “Very Important” but ECs are merely “Considered”. For state schools they mostly admit by your “numbers”.
But for a Private school, they admit “holistically”…they take into account various factors.
For Case Western Reserve University, for example, ECs are “Very Important”.
I agree…find schools that match your stats. There will be many very good ones!
@bopper thank you!!