I have my GPA and nothing else to work for in high school. My SAT score is “okay,” but my GPA is the only real hallmark of my high school experience. Why? Because colleges actually care about that. But now even that is slipping from me. AP Calculus is a bust, AP Bio I have to result to self-studying, and I’m barely scraping by with Cs in those classes at this point. If I lose my GPA, I have nothing.
What would you like to study in college ? It is only a bust if you wanted to be a math major. Besides if you show a passion for learning & intellectual curiosity, you will do fine in college.
@Publisher I don’t know what I want to study in college. I’m doing the work to get it over with at this point and hopefully I can receive college credit for it.
I understand why you have a hard time believing it, @AsadFarooqui, but you are more than your grades and what college you eventually go to. You are. Focus on your classes, and keep working hard, but look at your outside activities. What do you enjoy doing? If you didn’t have to study, how would you spend your time?
@Publisher @ChezCurie I don’t really “enjoy” doing things for my own pleasure. I get my assignment, am expected to do the best I can, get graded on it, end of story. That’s how I am. This is how our high school education system has wired us to be. My parents would agree, and my AP teachers would especially agree since the whole point of AP classes is to prepare for the AP exam and get college credit, not to absorb the material and build a connection to it. There is no room for discussion or slowing down. Colleges look at your GPA as a measure of how you are able to handle a college workload over an extended period of time, unlike the SAT. I don’t bother with outside activities because I don’t see any value in them in my schedule.
@AsadFarooqui colleges want to see more than grades. Outside activities or extracurriculars are very important. Here is an example for you, the valedictorian of my D’s class had a 5.76 GPA and perfect SAT score but had no outside activities and frankly didn’t take many electives instead choosing to double up on AP science and math classes they ended up rejected by the Ivies and lots of other schools. Harvard told this person they wanted to see more than book smarts, they needed to see how they could fit into a community.
So I would say a few non failing grades should be the least of your worries. If you truly have no outside activities and no club activities I think that will affect your ability to attend college more than your grades. Activities can be what sets you apart from another similar canidate
@Boilermom Then why do high schools and college info meetings generally say you need a high GPA and SAT scores in order to be admitted? Why do they not put any emphasis on the ECs? Did Harvard not made those points clear enough to the valedictorian?
Look up any school’s Common Data Set. Section C-7 lists a bunch of factors and how important they are to the school’s admissions, from Very Important to Not Considered.
In your other thread you are asking about a drop in “senior year grades”. If you are a senior you are probably fine at this point. I assume you have applied to your schools and hopefully have some acceptances. A couple of C’s in AP classes won’t get you rescinded - just don’t tally D’s at this point.
@bodangles I looked up the Undergraduate Freshman common data set for SMU, the school I chose to go to, and they say nothing about ECs. Just SAT and ACT scores. You can see them for yourself.
I feel badly for you if you think you are defined only by your GPA. There is so much more to life.
And FWIW I suggest you read the admissions.sectio of the SMU website where the school’s holistic approach to.admissions is discussed.
Have you ever been on a college tour? All of the ones we have been on DO tell you that EC’s are considered. Also any school that says they have holistic admissions is looking for more than grades. That does not mean grades aren’t important but so are the other things. As for what was clear to the valedictorian, they did not do their research and never visited the school. They assumed that stacking their grades and being valedictorian was enough. It wasn’t until the interview that they were enlightened.
Try doing some more reading in the threads here, you will see lots of very smart kids asking if “these EC’s are enough” and most have many not just one. Although 1 that you are passionate about can be better than lots.
Also try looking at some of the schools you are interested in at their common data sets. There is a section on every CDS that tells if they consider extra curriculars as well as what else they consider such as work experience, volunteer work, residence, talent and more. It will also tell you how many students that school accepted that had lower gpa’s or lower test scores.
There are also lots of threads on here where you can see Top GPA/ test students who are rejected from top schools.
Another thing just as important as your grades and test scores is you application essays. Usually the best way to set yourself apart with your essay is to have a story to tell, a lot of times those stories come from things you’ve experienced not related to school or related to a sport you play or club or volunteer activity.
Here are 2 common app essay prompts that IMHO would be easier to answer if you have interests outside of school work
1)Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
2)Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
Looks like that school doesn’t participate in the official CDS initiative – that’s not the same format.
Here is the common data set page for SMU with freshman admissions info. Scroll to section C7.
While GPA is important, and stats in general (difficult classes, test scores) they also checked off the essay and recommendations as very important. Next most important are your EC’s, talents, and character.
You have been posting about your misery on a regular basis on CC, but while we can commiserate or encourage you here, you need to talk to your teachers and guidance counselor if you actually want to change things around. You might also see if your parents could get you a tutor.
You took calculus without passing precalc. I’m wondering if you are in other classes that were too advanced for your preparation?
Rather than asking “how can I mold myself into the perfect student for SMU?” you need to be asking yourself, “which college is a fit for where I am academically and will be a comfortable environment for me to live and study?”
They dont really Define you as a student. Yeah they help but there’s so much more. Because when people look at your application they want to see somebody that is not just about numbers. Like anybody can look at a number. But what would you add to their school? Extracurriculars help you and they help you gain experience because when you’re in college you’ll realize those are more important than a grade. Because they can help push you if you didn’t have the best grade in something. Where as you have no extracurricular activities you bomb a test or a class and then they have no reason to choose you for something. Take it from me.
I had a simple 3.3 in hs and got into school. After my first yr at Hofstra I had a 1.6 GPA. I transferred to Queens Colliked and I did direct admissions. The guy looked at my transcript and saw that and made a face but all he did was ask. Plus I did ECs in hs as well. It showed I was well rounded and most importantly human. I made a mistake and I can improve. You’re not just your GPA. You’re gonna be miserable in college if that’s all you think. Because college is also about networking.
It’s understandable that you are feeling a lot of pressure about GPA and test scores right now. But take a minute and zoom out to consider this: when you begin your career, nobody cares what your GPA was, or your SAT score, or even what college you attended. In the working world, you just need to be good at your job. So it’s true, “grades don’t define you”! Don’t forget about the the big picture.
Good luck!
@magtf1 If the working world doesn’t care about where you started your education, why do we high-schoolers still live in this ultra-competitive mindset? Can you have a 1.0 GPA and still have your high-paying dream job? If so, why don’t employers and companies emphasize that more often?
@AroundHere So should I avoid universities with holistic admissions entirely because my application is centered around my numbers? Are there Unis like that in the US? Genuinely curious.
@Laser14 That’s what I’m saying. So should I start aggressively stacking up the ECs when I see that I’m failing one or two AP classes? Will that be enough?