Hey! So I know how this post is going to sound, just another rising sophomore obsessed with her grades, but I’ve been nervous lately and have had trouble finding advice.
Is having an unweighted GPA below 3.0 really The Worst Thing Ever? Mine is 2.7, but weighted I have a 3.4. My question is, and I know how much of a CC cliche this is, am I screwed? I don’t want to go to a great school, just a mid-level public college. I just feel like my GPA will be a huge setback.
Depending upon which schools you are targeting, you have 2-2 1/2 years to work on your GPA. Some schools do not consider Freshman grades and/or they are not used in their GPA calculations. Just figure out why you did not do so well Freshman year and get those grades up. Relax and enjoy HS.
There are 3,000 or so colleges in the United States. You will find a college (probably quite a few) that will be happy to have you. Also, what is your definition of a “mid-level” public college?
It really depends on the type of college you want to go to, what kind of ACT/SAT scores you get, what the rest of your background is (activities, personal) and what your major is.
My son had a weighted 3.45 and a 31 composite ACT (32 superscore) and got into a top 25 business program. He had strong extracurriculars and very strong teacher recommendations because of his personal character. This was his top choice for schools, so he was thrilled.
The best advice I can provide is:
-Use the online tools that provide a scattergram for ACT and GPA for admissions. They aren’t perfect, but I’ve found them to be useful direction. That will give you an idea of the types of schools that may be a fit. Our high school offers a service called Naviance, but you can find similar information online.
-There are many, many good quality schools that will fit your grades. They may not be at the top of the US News rankings, but you can still get a good education.
-Study for the ACT. Take practice tests. If you can afford it, hire a good ACT tutor. A good ACT or SAT score can help offset a lower GPA. Not at Harvard, but at many good schools.
If you are a rising Sophomore, you’ve only set 1/3 of your GPA. You still have 4 semesters of grades that colleges will see. Do the math, and you’ll see you can still make an impact. Even if you ahve completed your sophomore year, you can still make an impact before the grades go to colleges.
Finally, I know it may fall on deaf ears, but having just guided my son through this process and starting to take my daughter through it, finding the right fit in a college is really much more important than finding the school with the highest ranking. Academic reputation is one thing, but the strength of the program in your major, size of the school, cultural fit, affordability for you you and your family, clubs and activities, and ultimately how you feel when you are on campus are all as important as ranking.
Ultimately, the effort that you put into your college education and the effort you put into your professional career will be what determines your results. The name on the school will not be what ultimately drives your happiness or your success.
Work as hard as you can for now, set yourself up as best as you can, and then really explore your options to find the right fit.
Use the SuperMatch tool on the left. If you’re willing to work hard and persevere, you’ll be fine. Best of luck to you.
To be honest, it’s more that I’m worried that the schools I visit and like won’t match up with my mediocre qualifications.
The obvious step is to improve your grades next year.
I know that, I guess it’s just that I’m scared this will still give me a huge disadvantage even if I do.
You shouldn’t visit schools that are unlikely to accept you. That’s foolishness. When buying your first home, you don’t tour multi million dollar mansions and then visit homes in your price range – they’ll look shabby in comparison. You START with those in your range and MAYBE tour the fancy one to sate your curiosity.
9th grade GPA is not the whole story here, maybe not even the most important. College admission is based not just on GPA but also on the difficulty of your courseload and whether you took the courses they require (math, sciences, etc), among other factors. Your GC should be familiar with the colleges in your state, so make an appt to talk to them in the Fall to make sure you are on-track.
Lots of HS and college kids on this forum plan to improve, yet not that many succeed in moving the needle. There are 2 factors here, knowing how to improve and then actually doing it.
Even though in 12 years of schooling they will make you take lots of classes in which you have little interest, they never instruct you in how to learn effectively although that may be the most important thing of all! You’re just supposed to pick it up on your own. So you might be thinking that in the future you’ll read thru the book an extra time or two before a test, and try to take better notes in class. Yet these are 2 of the least effective changes. I suggest you read the book “Make it Stick” this summer which explains what research has shown about how to learn effectively. It has sections aimed specifically at HS and college students.
The 2nd factor is actually changing your behavior. People are good at making rational decisions for the future. They are going to eat healthier, exercise, and, yes, study more. So why don’t they? Because their long-run planning ignores the short-term distractions and temptations we all face. There is a picnic this weekend, a birthday party next week, and Fri nite is dinner with friends. And might as well finish that pie in the fridge and then start the diet. In 2 weeks you’ll really get serious about the diet, except 2 weeks from now a new set of distractions shows up. Repeat this a few times and half a year has gone by without losing a pound.
So even though you intend to improve your grades, and really mean it, you need to spend some time reflecting on this past year. Why didn’t you spend more time studying and sometimes not get your homework done? What did you do instead? The point here isn’t to berate yourself, its to understand the past and make plans for breaking the cycle in the future. That’s the key. Come up with ways, whatever works for you, to face similar temptations in the future but not succumb.
And, as per usual, mikemac nails it.