Got a 79... Not so stellar GPA. Anyone have guidance?

College Search & Selection
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<p>Well guys, I'll make this one short. These reports also include fluff grades, like gym, etc.</p>

<p>Freshman Year (1 honors) = 86 UW
Sophomore year (2 honors) = 92 UW
Junior Year (3 APs) = 90.4 UW -- includes a 79 in Precalculus! Ouch!!!
Senior Year (4 APs, but easy APs)</p>

<p>AP Scores: AP Language (5) AP Biology (4) AP US Gov (5) AP U.S History (5) (Self-Study)</p>

<p>Those are rough estimates, but my final unweighted GPA is somewhere around an 89.7 and yes, it hurts :'(</p>

<p>My weighted GPA is a 91.1, so that means something like a 3.47 UW, 3.6 W</p>

<p>I was really hoping that my senior year grades would count, but I just discovered they didn't. If they do for Regular Decision, it'll be like a 3.5 UW and a 3.65 W</p>

<p>Anyway, I got a 33 on my ACT, and a 2080 on my SAT but I think I'm only sending the SAT score.</p>

<p>I'm planning on retaking two SAT II subject tests, Biology and USH in October before Early Decision.</p>

<p>My extracurriculars are good, I have multiple high officer/leadership positions for state Youth and Government programs, Regional Model UN programs, and am part of the school board for Speech/Debate, and Business Leaders of America.</p>

<p>I'm planning on applying early decision to Johns Hopkins, Cornell, Tufts, etc. </p>

<p>If that doesn't end up working, the absolute priority will be money. Can I get a good financial aid/merit scholarship deal at places like Northeastern, U Richmond, etc. if my family income is <70,000 (but will likely drop) and I have a 3.47 UW GPA and a 33 ACT?</p>

<p>Thanks!!</p>

<p>P.S: Does Essay/Recommendations/SAT IIs have an impact on merit deals?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>You can only apply early decision to one school, and if accepted you must attend unless they don’t give you a financial aid package that enables you to attend.</p>

3

<p>Why only send the SAT score? A 33 is better than a 2080.</p>

4

<p>Another reason to send the ACT is that some schools don’t require SAT II if you submit ACT. </p>

<p>For merit aid see:</p>

<p>[thread=1348012]Automatic Full Tuition / Full Ride Scholarship[/thread]</p>

<p>[thread=1461983]Competitive Full Tuition / Full Ride Scholarship[/thread]</p>

<p>If your family income is under $60,000 you should check out Questbridge. You should also run the NPC for the schools you’re interested in.</p>

5

<p>Your GPA is going to make it very difficult to get into any of the highly competitive schools that you have listed, although the admissions process is always a mystery. And yes, you can only apply to one school for Early Decision.</p>

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<p>Ah, I’ve made a few errors in my original post. </p>

<p>1) I am aware I can only apply to one college Early D, I’m just listing the colleges I was considering to select for Early D</p>

<p>2) I meant I’m only sending in my ACT score, yes</p>

<p>3) Even with my sub-optimal GPA, would I be able to get some decent merit aid deals? (Maybe at RD once I get my HS GPA to an UW 3.5 and a W 3.6-3.7)</p>

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<p>You should now focus on schools that are more matches and less reaches for your GPA.</p>

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<p>For Merit Aid or just in general?</p>

<p>If there was a school that was a match for my GPA, would it be safe to assume I’d get good merit aid there because of my disproportionate ACT score? Or would I be disqualified because my GPA is a match and they’re looking for students strong in both suits?</p>

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<p>In general you get most merit aid when you are 75th percentile and above and have a good gpa. A match isn’t 75th percentile and above.</p>

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<p>I’m under the assumption though that most people with an 89-90 unweighted GPA do not have a 33 ACT. Would I still get Merit aid?</p>

<p>My brother, for instance had a 2200 SAT and a 92 weighted GPA and got a good amount of Merit Aid at a few schools, my GPA is a tad bit lower but would the principle not apply?</p>

<p>e.g: Drexel and JMU</p>

11

<p>As long as your ACT is 75th percentile, I do think you will get some merit aid. Your gpa will just determine how much merit aid they will give you. I’m unaware of those schools, but a ~3.5 gpa should get decent aid if your ACT is 75th percentile.</p>

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<p>Do you know if your first semester of senior year GPA is factored into your HS GPA for regular decision?</p>

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<p>Whether or not to factor 1st semester of senior year into admissions decision is probably an individual school’s decision. Regardless of what they say, I’d still work very hard to keep the grades up.</p>

14

<p>Just averaging your yearly UW GPAs and putting them on a 4 point scale, it comes out as ~3.58. A 91.1 W would be ~3.64.</p>

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<p>Teskeyben, I took all my classes and the credits and on a scale out of 100, it came out to an 89.7 unweighted – I believe that is a 3.47, because a 90 is a 3.5 I believe</p>