(My senior is specifically interested in Boston College and UNC Chapel Hill) but generally, do schools give more weight to one or the other? In my kid’s case he went to a competitive HS, took all academic electives & honors classes plus 7 AP classes but will be finishing Fall senior semester with a cumulative HS GPA of 3.39 (50% of 600 graduating class) yet he got a 33 on the ACT twice. His school doesn’t give extra credit to honors & AP- it is assumed you take classes that challenge you. Does he stand a chance in a world of kids with GPAs of 4.0++? Thank you.
Google Common Data Set and look at section C7. Most schools give more weight to GPA than scores. Your best source of how your student might compete for different schools is your Guidance Counselor and, if your school has it, Naviance.
If 3.39 is a weighted GPA, then your child unfortunately won’t stand much chances at Boston College and UNC Chapel Hill. Boston College and UNC CH are selective colleges (especially in Engineering in UNC), and test scores won’t really make up for low GPA.
As Erin’s Dad noted, use Common Data Set to see what factors each college considers, takes as important or as very important, and it will help you narrow down the school options.