<p>I am wondering if anyone has located any metrics on average GPA of those admitted? My mom tells me every day that I have too low of a GPA for ANY IVY League school. My GPA is about a 3.86 Unweighted and a 4.4 Weighted. I am taking 5 AP classes this year and have taken all honors courses since Junior High. Where I messed up was my Sophomore Year, after a tornado wiped out my city and left many of us with close to nothing. I ended up with two semester Cs... What do y'all think? Is my GPA close to average or am I out of the question to an admissions board?</p>
<p>A 3.86 is good. Columbia, and pretty much every other school, looks at the applicant as a whole; not just GPA and academics.</p>
<p>Your GPA still puts you in the “qualified” range.</p>
<p>It’s hard to find exact statistics, but from what I know accepted students tend to average around 3.9 unweighted. Your 3.86 won’t hurt you much, especially given the circumstances you just listed. </p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>Make sure you state your circumstance in the additional section though!</p>
<p>I had probably a 3.6 or 3.7, never calculated it on the 4.0 scale. You will be fine. If you don’t get in, the chances that your grades “disqualified” you is pretty low.</p>
<p>@collegeguy97 I didn’t think about doing that, but if I did, would they frown upon pulling the “pity card?”</p>
<p>Write it so that it doesn’t seem like a call for pity but rather an explanation. Maybe event include how it motivated or strengthened you in the long run? </p>
<p>@PilotKhyle Okay, so here’s what you do. But first, adopt this mindset (good for traversing life from now on too.) Whenever you do something, think about the people involved. For your situation for example, the people are the college admission officers. Next, think from their perspective. What would they think when they look at whatever you put down? This is kinda like working backwards, a hugely helping strategy… Okay, so my advice is if you don’t want it to sound like the pity card, don’t put it in your essays. Put it in the “additional information” section. It is an extenuating circumstance, because, come on, fricking tornado. You might also want to sound as straightforward as possible and non-apologetic. Yes, the admission officers will want an explanation for your GPA discrepancy. “Hey, this kid has straight A’s. Oh, he got two C’s this one semester. Oh, nevermind, there was a fricking tornado.” I also hope you work things out with your mom. As someone with a tiger mom that never gives emotional support, I understand firsthand how infuriating your circumstance might be. So either she has to stop beaching about your grades and let you focus (unlikely), or you overcome it. Don’t be complacent after though! I hope you feel much better now 
</p>
<p>Thank you guys very much! Your advice is greatly appreciated!</p>