GPA Concern

Applying to College
1

<p>My concern is how my GPA is calculated and whether it is a 'qualifiable' GPA for elite universities. I also heard that elite universities, or for that matter, many highly ranked universities use "unweighted" GPA's, as opposed to "weighted" GPA's. Would that work against me? </p>

<p>I got a 34 on the ACT, but from what I've gathered, the GPA reigns over that comparatively high ACT score, so that score is of no significant weight, right?</p>

<p>I also took the IGCSE course, a set of exams administered by the University of Cambridge. So, here are my IGSCE grades. And I am pretty sure that these courses qualify for the 'Honors' designation (would that change anything related to my UW GPA?) as I've seen the textbooks used in Honors' programs in a few American schools and, in comparison, the ones I used were tougher. Should I request my counselor to clarify that these courses are of a Honors designation, or will it not make a difference?</p>

<p>*9th Grade - IGCSE *<br>
English A<br>
Math A*<br>
Physics A*<br>
Chemistry A*<br>
Biology A*<br>
Computer Science A*<br>
Economics A<br>
Hindi D </p>

<p>*10th Grade - IGCSE *<br>
English A<br>
Math A*<br>
Physics A*<br>
Chemistry A*<br>
Biology A*<br>
Computer Science A*<br>
Economics A<br>
Hindi C </p>

<p>Total A's (and A*'s) = 14
Total C's = 1
Total D's = 1</p>

<p>Total no. of subjects in 9th and 10th grade: 16</p>

<p>I have also opted to take part in the IB Curriuclum. Is this also counted in the calculation of my GPA? (I really hope, because I've worked really really hard to get these grades)</p>

<p>*11th Grade - IB *
IB English SL 7
IB Math HL 7
IB Bio HL 7
IB Chem HL 7
IB Hindi SL 5
IB Eco SL 7</p>

<p>I'll be taking the official IB exams administered by the IBO in May 2011.</p>

<p>Thank you for the time.</p>

2

<p>Hey! First of all, number of subjects is not 16, but 8 :)</p>

<p>What are your actual IGCSE exam results? Those are from your IGCSE preparation classes, but what about real exams?</p>

<p>IB result is great, I am doing IB also and can confirm it is hard. Not sure what Ivies are aiming for though, no idea! But you 40/42 are extremely good.</p>

3

<p>^Hey thank you! But a few of my questions still remain unanswered</p>

<p>And, my 10th grade results are the grades I got on the ACTUAL exams.</p>

<p>I am still worried about my GPA. Are the IB grades included in it? And, is a UW 3.7 GPA ‘good enough’?</p>

4

<p>Basically you have nothing to worry about mate.</p>

<p>Your IGCSE’s are great, no one will care about C from Hindi really…</p>

<p>Also, since you are international seems like, universities will look at your IB predicted grades a lot(as they do in UK), and if you have 43/45 predicted you are basically extremely qualified, something like 10 5s on AP I would say.</p>

<p>So everything should be fine!</p>

5

<p>So, a 3.7 UW GPA is not bad? :(</p>

6

<p>BUMP.</p>

<p>Oh and no one may care about that C in Hindi, but it WILL be taken into consideration in the calculation of my GPA right? </p>

<p>And will my IB points be taken into consideration for the calculation of the GPA?</p>

7

<p>Regarding GPA and Cambridge University…a US student recently received an offer from Cambridge to graduate studies, but with conditions that he must have a GPA 3.9. The university in this case surely overshoot the mark, but I never heard about accepting students with lower than GPA 3.7.</p>

8

<p>Maybe graduate school admissions have different, and perhaps more stringent criteria for acceptance?</p>

9

<p>Depends on the grad school obviously. As you cannot compare Harvard or Yale’s criteria with, say, UCLA’s or Cornell’s demands, the demands at Cambridge and Oxford are far higher than any other institutions in the UK, and just as strict as HYPSM’s criteria.
Still, they ask for different things, like nearly nobody interested in the UK in the crappy GRE…</p>

10

<p>Ok, I see :)</p>

<p>SO, with these grades, can I get into an Ivy? Would my GPA be too low?</p>