GPA's, Colleges, and the opposite of most people's problems

Applying to College
1

Hello all. I’ll try to be as concise as possible, so essentially, here is my problem.

I am a Freshman (soon to be Sophomore) attending one of the best Public Schools in the Northeast, if not the entire country. It’s pretty wealthy, so that may account for some of our college admits, but just for background, we are sending 6 seniors to Havard, 7 to Princeton, and 4 or 5 to yale.

Freshman year has been very educational and interesting, but due to some extenuating circumstances (not to mention a few terrible teachers), my grades have been fairly poor (around a 3.6/3.7 depending on finals). I am taking the most difficult courses available in every subject(our school doesn’t weigh GPA’s), even those which aren’t my forte. Now, the typical CC post would go something like, “waht does it take to get into HYP,” etc. However, I;d like to think my situation is somewhat different.

I like to entertain the idea that I am an intellectual- I actually love learning- I spend my time reading, writing, researching,etc. and not to brag or anything, but I think it’s paid off. My dean and teachers recognize that I’m smart, and I especially excel in the social sciences and english. I have enjoyed sucess on the Debate Team, been the most widely published Freshman in our school paper, been one of only 3 Freshman to make JV soccer, been a member of 3 other clubs, and taken an extra independant study in addition to all of that. There’s a lot more on my plate too, for the future.

That said, here’s waht I’m concerned about: that by the time I get to college apps it’ll look something like this:

high SATS (2300-2400) (especially with the added writing section)
Amazing Extra Curriculars (aforementioned, along with some other possibilities)
Decent/Lower than most admits GPA (3.8-3.95)
and, as everyone does, I’m expecting Solid/Outstanding recs

Basically, am I screwed because of a low GPA? Will colleges see past the numbers and actually consider that I may be more deserving than some of my peers who recieve better grades? Or will they just throw the app in the garbage because most people have better GPAs?

If that is the case, what can I do to raise my GPA- take lower classes, summer courses, etc.?

Any feedback is much appreciated.

2

<p>Generally, colleges often overlook SAT, but not as much for GPA. One observation is that H and P accepts a handful of people below top 10% class rank, while Yale and top UCs rarely do so. Therefore, it is possible that another part of an app can compensate, depending on school. </p>

<p>I think since you are from a school with a large number of top school admits, it would be best for you to look around for "example" HYP applicants. Your main concern seems to be GPA, but that is the hardest criteria to judge on an internet forum, especialy with no ranking, since every school's GPA is different.</p>

3

<p>Try to keep your GPA as high as you can. A number of colleges will look at grades from sophomore year on--Stanford and the Univ of Calif, for example. But the fact is that it is hard to "compensate" for a lower GPA with other things like SATs, etc. (great arm for throwing the long bomb comes to mind as a great compensating factor. . .)</p>

<p>You will have greater success in the college application process if you don't focus solely on HYP. Someone I know who sounds a little like you looked at schools like Reed and University of Chicago--intellectual, quirky, essays count for a lot in the application process. He'll be attending Reed in the fall.</p>

4

<p>Is a 3.8-3.95 actually low? Because if it is...well then I'm screwed. And I don't even want HYP...</p>

5

<p>I really cannot tell how you're "different" from all the other very smart freshman on this board trying to figure out how to get into HYP. </p>

<p>Also, I can't see how you can predict such a high SAT score. Don't be so overconfident. Those are not "amazing" EC's either...they're the ones those tired adcoms see each and every day on thousands of applications. </p>

<p>"I like to entertain the idea that I am an intellectual- I actually love learning- I spend my time reading, writing, researching,etc. and not to brag or anything, but I think it's paid off. My dean and teachers recognize that I'm smart, and I especially excel in the social sciences and english. I have enjoyed sucess on the Debate Team, been the most widely published Freshman in our school paper, been one of only 3 Freshman to make JV soccer, been a member of 3 other clubs, and taken an extra independant study in addition to all of that. There's a lot more on my plate too, for the future. "</p>

<p>That's great, you've got the right attidude...somewhat. You "like" learning, well so do the thousands who will apply to where you probably will. You're "recognized as smart" well, so are those other couple tens of thousands. You excel, you do clubs, you do other stuff...well so do they.</p>

<p>I'm just giving you an "early taste" of reality, something that most people on this board try to refrain from giving you unless you're a junior, because you're too young. Don't take it in any way personally, but it's the admissions game, and those are the rules. Heads up, you're on the right track, but you're just another brick in the wall, to put it bluntly.</p>

6

<p>tami-</p>

<p>you have obviously miscontstrued what I meant. Most people's problems (as seen by the dozens of threads about extra curriculars) revolve around the fact that their grades are solid, but their EC's need improvement. My situation is the opposite- my grades are the problem, whereas (and trust me, im not going to post my entire EC history) my accomplishments out of school are far beyond what many have who are accepted into HYP- I know this because our school sends a good 15 kids to those three schools alone every year, and most do not come close to the amount of involvement which I have. So yes, while Adcoms do read the same things over and over again, 1) it's different in my school and 2) by Junior year I will not have typcal EC's.</p>

<p>Beyond that, my basic question is if I am seriously hurt for a bad freshman year.</p>

<p>oh, and Elle- I have heard great things about UofC, and it's definitely somewhere I'd be interesting in learning about. Basically, I plan to shoot for the highest, and after that, aim for schools like UofC and good lib arts colleges (Smith, Williams, Swathmore)</p>

7

<p>what HAVE you done in debate? depth of involvement/achievement? I'm interested (not on hs debate circuit, on college)</p>

<p>Essentially, what is so impressive about you? I, for one, would like to hear it.</p>

8

<p>Adcoms go through the applicant in sort order by state and high school. That way they see all the people from your high school at the same time, and pick off the ones from the top that they want to accept. This is a common problem at your type of high school and it is good that you are recognizing it. I think you need to apply to colleges that other people from your high school are not applying to. If everyone in your school applies to schools in the Northeast, then you should apply to California schools like Pomona. I'm sure that your high school has a great guidance counselor, and I'm sure that he/she will understand your problem. They will know the best way for you to market yourself.</p>

<p>This is assuming that the trend continues after freshman year. If your gpa comes back for sophomore and junior year, then you probably don't have that big a problem. As long as you don't have any C's in freshman year, the adcoms will probably not put too much emphasis on freshman year. Ask your guidance counselor about that too. Your kind of high school has the kind of expert help that you need.</p>

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<p>Dufus- thanks for the advice. I actually am interested in Oxford, since I am a humanities and social sciences type of person, but given some of the recent information (lack of funding, among otehr things) my interest is waning somewhat. The real problem is that with so many legacies at my school, it's really requiered to be above and beyond, considering that some of the legacies are qualified in their own right, even without their parents (or in some cases, grandparents, and great grandparents).
Pomona is a terrific school for philosophy, and as mentioned above, U Chicago is also brought up a lot. Of course, for humanities people, Yale is the holy grail,so this was kind of aimed more towards the really difficult schools to get into (Yale, Harvard, Columbia).</p>

<p>ebonytear, since you posted a policy response on another thread, i would assume you're a policy kid..basically, I'm a freshman, so I haven't had a ton of oppertunities yet, but I've had some early success, notably, qualifing for nationals in US extemp (I extemp part time as well as LD). At various CFL tournaments, I have done very well in varsity extemp (1st,3rd,5th) and LD has been pretty good too, but it was all in JV so it doesn't count for much. Next year, with more oppertunities, I should really begin to do well...</p>

10

<p>My advice is lighten up sraid7777. A 3.8 GPA or above will put you well in the running at most any school, especially if you are taking the hardest possible classes. Also, you applying to the same colleges as others in your school should not hurt you at most top colleges (contrary to what has been previously stated on this thread).</p>

11

<p>Refer to "The Gatekeepers" by Jacques Steinberg or "Admissions Confidential" by Rachael Toors or other guides as to what happens when a high school like Harvard-Westlake, Thomas Jefferson School of Science and Technology, Deerfield, St. Albans, or Montgomery Blair Magnet School has twenty or thirty students apply to each of the Ivies. According to everybody, adcoms look at everyone in the same high school at the same time. If your high school only had two students apply, this isn't a factor. If your high school has a large group apply, then they obviously can't take everybody no matter how great everybody may be. They don't necessarily take the top, but they are very consious of taking the ones that will seem to make sense to the GC's and parents at the schools. They particularly don't want to alienate the GC at that high school for fear that he/she will start steering the top applicants to other schools. (The OP seemed to indicate that they already knew this.)</p>

12

<p>Lighten up, you're a freshman, things can change. My freshman year I screwed around, didn't even think once about college, and got like a 3.4 gpa. Sophomore and Junior year, I worked my ass off and pulled a 4.0. Colleges often (not always) cut you a little (only a little though) slack for your freshman year. I suggest you focus on doing really well in all your classes, do take a few honors or AP's and stick to your strongest EC's, colleges want to see dedication and leadership more than variety. Good luck!</p>