<p>So basically im one of those super average stuudents; Low GPA, Med-High SAT scores. My GPA is about 3.5ish maybe.. (+, - .1) Sat: 2190. Well anyways I am thinking about a nice liberal arts school (Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Carleton, Pomona, Wellesey) or perhaps a private school (Standford, Dartmouth, Upenn). So here is my question(s). First, Can I get it? Second, after you evaluate me, please share anything you know about someone you know that got in with low gpa and high SAT or vice cersa or whatever combination. </p>
<p>EC's: Captain of Speech and Debate team, ASB Leadership, some various awards , went to several camps. </p>
<p>-thanks
-underground</p>
<p>i don't think 2190 is competitive enough to balance out a low gpa. while people will tell you SAT doesn't compensate for low GPA, it kinda does. </p>
<p>Assuming that ~3.5 is unweighted, I think w/ an SAT 100 or so points higher + if your grades show an upward trend you will be a competitive applicant -- a competitive applicant meaning that you have a good shot, not that you will definitely be accepted.</p>
<p>thanks stambliark41, I appreciate your input</p>
<p>Underground, You can defintely get it!
I know plenty of people (including me) who didn't have what people consider the ideal stats for someone going to a Lac or private school, and we were all able to get into our schools of choice. So, trust me. You're defintely not hopeless.</p>
<p>As to sharing anything I know about getting in, I would say everything really comes down to how you market yourself to the college. If you make something sound boring (like you didn't even want to be in it, or you were only in it for the college resume), then you probably won't get accepted. e.g. "Captain of Speech and Debate team, ASB Leadership, some various awards , went to several camps". Jazz up every part of your app.</p>
<p>As to the particular cases:
1. girl w/ 3.6 and a 1340 got into Smith
2. girl w/3.4 and 1240 got into Smith, Johns Hopkins, UFlorida, and UMiami
3. girl w/ 3.3 and 1190 got into Emory, UChicago, UNC-Chapel hill, etc (i dunno the rest, but there was a lot)
4. girl w/ 3.8 and 1180 got into USC, UCBerkeley, Smith, UMich
5. girl w/ 3.7 and 1390 got into UPenn, Princeton, Smith, Cornell, NYU, and UMiami
sorry if there are no guys.......none of them really applied to those kinds of schools.....or if they did, they didn't get in, and didn't tell anyone about it......</p>
<p>lol, thank you so much Heathcliff. I jut want to know one thing, did any of these peopel have speacial hooks? And thanks for the tips for the apps. </p>
<p>-undergound</p>
<p>i'm not sure about your situation, it seems like it'll really depend on your ECs/hooks... i've known people that have gotten into the top ivy league colleges with either low SATs or low GPAs, but they've had amazing ECs. For instance:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>boy w/reaaaaalllly low GPA (at least for ivies), something like a 3.0-3.2, but had perfect scores on most standarized tests, did amazingly well with Mock Trials and math/science competitions, got accepted to harvard, yale, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>girl w/SATs in the low 1300s, 3.8 GPA, got into UPenn & NYU, but she did a LOT of stuff with business, DECA, FBLA, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>boy w/SATs in the 1200s, 3.9 GPA, got into Johns Hopkins & Carnegie Mellon, was really involved in computer science stuff, a lot of awards from competitions, etc. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Hope that helped you somewhat</p>
<p>Heath, the stats you posted are probably a shock to most CCers.</p>
<p>Did these people all go to your school?</p>
<p>killaerone: yeah we all went to the same school</p>
<p>underground: Like other admits they all did communtiy service, had numerous leadership positions in different clubs,awards, honors, played insturments, internships, sports, jobs, etc.</p>
<p>the only thing they had that would be different from other kids is that they were in a program that allowed them to experience 2 yrs of college (classes) before they graduated. BUT thats the same as being in any special program such as IB or AP or magnet......</p>
<p>Hope for the hopeless? Why not.</p>
<p>Georgetown = 21% acceptance ... 10% deferral acceptance rate (something like that, or was it 15%? not sure..)</p>
<p>1360 SAT, 3.875 W GPA, accepted at Georgetown SFS.. (arguably the hardest to get into..)... </p>
<p>First deferred, then accepted.</p>
<p>congrats buddy.. what a great school</p>
<p>600!</p>
<p>I got into carleton with a 3.2 gpa.</p>
<p>wow, thanks again for everyones input! hey IceNine, what was your SAT score? and did you have any EC's? </p>
<p>-underground</p>
<p>Does anyone know anything about the throwing recruiting requirements for the following schools? I do shot and discus in Track and Field and i can throw about 155-165 feet. Is this good enough fro any ivy league colleges to reqcruit me or stanford? </p>
<p>-underground</p>
<p>SAT: 1520
EC: Waterpolo, swimming, photography, tutoring</p>
<p>UG -- Amherst, Williams, Swarthmore, and Stanford are extreme reaches with your scores and GPA. Dartmouth is a reach. Pomona is probably a reach as well. Wellesley, Smith, Mt Holyoke, Scripps can give you a similar education and are more likely within your reach. The reason they are in reach is because they only receive applications from 1/2 the population, females. Many of the strong females will not apply for various reasons, so they must go deeper in the applicant pool to fill their classes. They are still top rated schools. </p>
<p>Stanford has a nationally competitive athletic program. The Ivies are far less competitive.</p>
<p>Essays and the application itself will be pretty much critical for you. Also, your first quarter grades and midyears count, a lot. Your chances are improved if you are not requesting finaid.</p>
<p>My son was WL at Carleton and Bowdoin with 1460/790/780/750 and a 3.6 GPA. He was accepted at UChicago, Brandeis, Case and Allegheny. No ED and was requesting finaid, very good EC's and rec's (the teachers gave us copies of them).</p>
<p>Apply wherever you want, but make sure you include some schools in the 35-40%+ addmissions rate - they are more likely to look at your app as a whole. Schools that reject 8 or 9 out of 10 applicants have to make the cut based on something, and your transcript is good but not uber-competitve. Bandit gives some good suggestions - I would add Conn College, Macalester and Colby as 50/50's.</p>
<p>Start contacting coaches regarding your prospects as an athlete. I don't know where they would put you at ivies, but there are many wonderful D3 schools where you will hopefully be a good prospect. Time to start talking is ... very soon!</p>
<p>Thanks Ohio_Mom, you were a very helpful. I will definitely start talking to colleges and start thinking about other schools. </p>
<p>thanks for the input, bandit_Tx</p>
<p>-underground</p>
<p>Good luck, UC. The focus, concentration and realism you have developed with discus is going to serve you well in admissions - and life!</p>