High SAT/ACT, very low GPA. where do i apply?

<p>I don't know what schools to apply to with these stats. Are there any really good schools out there that care more about testing rather than GPA?</p>

<p>SAT: 2160 - 660 Reading, 730 Writing, 770 Math
ACT: 34 - 35 Math, 34 Reading, 33 English, 32 Science</p>

<p>cumulative GPA: 3.13
--ADD went undiagnosed/untreated up until November of Junior yr. After meds 3rd quarter GPA jumped to a 3.5 and my 4th quarter GPA to a 3.7</p>

<p>Extracurriculars: very good, but i dont feel like listing them. most significant i guess is that im captain of the debate team.</p>

<p>would like to major in polisci or IR</p>

<p>forgot to mention: im syrian. could this be a hook?</p>

<p>is there a school for you? undoubtedly. you have a lot here to recommend you and a good story to tell. </p>

<p>since you know more about yourself and your desires than I do, have you punched your stats and prefs into the SuperMatch that can be accessed thru the button in the left column of this page?</p>

<p>are you an international and where do you live now?</p>

<p>Fortunately, admissions can be somewhat holistic. Good scores and ECs can make up for weaker parts of your application. Also, your ADD can be mentioned both in GC’s rec and common app’s additional info section. Your improvement will be noted. Is this GPA unweighted? What is the rigor of your course-load? I will try to get back to you with some schools and hopefully others have some suggestions. Any other info about college preferences would be helpful. </p>

<p>3.13 is above average, not very low. Just saying. Pretty sure a 2.8 or 2.7 is the average high school GPA. </p>

<p>Do you need financial aid? If an international student, this could play a huge role in admissions, but it will play a role regardless. And yes, as those above have mention there is of course a school out there that is a good match, you just have to narrow down your options</p>

<p>jkeil911: i havent tried supermatch. never heard of it. im domestic – parents are from syria</p>

<p>sw0206: GPA is unweighted, my school doesn’t weight GPAs. my courseload is pretty hard but not ridiculous. although next year it will be – they cited my improvement and are letting me take 6 APs – gov, macro, micro, english (lit), bio, calc AB. </p>

<p>ECs of note include a ton of debate awards, intern and a congressional office, IR program at yale, semifinalist at a business competition. honor roll junior yr</p>

<p>probably won’t need financial aid</p>

<p>other scores maybe worth mentioning:
730 Math II, 630 Literature
5 AP lang, 4 APUSH (I got rejected from both of these classes but took the AP tests anyways) and 3 on AP physics mechanics</p>

<p>BadgerState: I guess a 3.13 isn’t horrible, but it’s certainly not where I want to be if I plan on applying to competitive schools (which I do)</p>

<p>There are a lot of colleges that would love to have you. Your GPA might hinder you somewhat but honestly tons of kids go to good schools with lower stats than those, a lot lower. </p>

<p>The Supermatch engine is on the left of this page. Run that and repost.</p>

<p>Supermatch says: Winona State, Meredith College, Evergreen State, and Western Michigan.</p>

<p>are you a domestic or intl student?</p>

<p>Tell us more about the kind of schools you like…</p>

<p>big?
small?
quiet?
rah rah with sports to watch?
rural?
city?
weather preference?
anything else?
are Catholic schools ok (they dont care what your religion is…even if you are Muslim, Jewish, whatever…or even nothing.)</p>

<p>domestic. and honestly i dont care. academic record is most important, everything else is trivial. </p>

<p>OP, a suggestion: you have 3 APs, I think; taking six next year is a recipe for spring semester collapse. Take 3 APs; that’s plenty to convince colleges that you’ve taken a rigorous course load. What’s more important than anything at this point is your fall semester GPA. It should be above 3.13 minimum. If you take 6, you will hate yourself in April when the college lottery is over and you still have 6 AP courses to grind thru while your friends are partying like they’re already done high school.</p>

<p>Well my reasoning was that the tough courseload would add on to/justify my upward trend that i want colleges to see. i know its going to be crazy hard. im a little bit worried about that actually, you hit the nail on the head. my plan is to drop Econ if it gets to be too hard. </p>

<p><a href=“http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/”>http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/&lt;/a&gt; lists some schools with large automatic merit scholarships for your stats. For example, Howard (in DC, may be convenient for a political science major) offers a full tuition scholarship for your stats.</p>

I think you’ve got a great shot! And the whole ADD being undiagnosed sucks, huh? I just got diagnosed with severe ADHD in December, and I’m a senior. But I got a scholarship anyway, so I think you’re a shoe in for good schools.

Look at the Colleges That Change Lives. They are good liberal arts colleges geared toward the B/B+ student although some schools now become slightly more selective due to increasing popularity. Don’t be fooled by the lack of prestige, they are solid schools. These schools cover the entire US and include: Whitman, Beloit, Union, New College of Florida, Hendrix, College of Wooster, Hampshire, Willamette, Earlham. I’m sure if you give more parameters, other more experienced and knowlegeable posters can suggest schools as well.

OP, my daughter went through this exact thing… except the undiagnosed ADD also caused major depression and other serious health issues. It was not diagnosed until the end of junior year. Her GPA at the time of applying to colleges was a little under 3.5, with 2100 SAT and 720, 790 SAT2s. She wrote a short paragraph about it in the “additional info” section of the Common App, and I know that her teacher and guidance recs also addressed it.

I think the key to her admissions success was twofold: one, she really turned around after the diagnosis and her teachers were extremely impressed; I know they wrote about how well she overcame the problem. Two, she applied to schools with more holistic admissions (small LACs) who did take the time to examine her whole applications, not just the numbers.

Also, once she had the diagnosis and knew what was wrong, she was able to learn tips and techniques to compensate for her weaknesses, which really helped. She’s doing very well now in college.

I agree with the suggestions to look at Colleges That Change Lives. Depending on your financial need, there are some excellent options there. My D was accepted at Hampshire, which I think is one of them. Also try Bard College, especially their IDP early-decision program. I’m assuming you are male, but if female definitely check out Smith, Bryn Mawr, and Mount Holyoke.

Good luck!