I’m currently a junior at a highly ranked public school in Pennsylvania. My gpa is currently a 3.1 unweighted and a 4.06 weighted (my school weights out of 5.3). I’ve taken all honors courses throughout my high school career and am taking 4 APs this year. Though my GPA is quite low, I have a 1520 SAT score (1530 superscore). I am a part of many clubs including investment club, Model UN, and DECA (state qualifier). I have about 150 hrs of volunteering at a local senior living home and just started a job which I will continue into senior year (also worked summer before junior yr).
Based on my stats and ECs, what schools should I apply to? I know my gpa is low and my high SAT won’t offset that, but I am hoping to get into some highly ranked schools. I would also like to know my chances for state schools such as Penn State UP and Pitt.
I would like to apply to a business school to major in Economics or Management Information Systems. My high school does not do school rank. I can afford to pay a decent amount but wouldn’t want to end up paying over 40k. Highly ranked meaning schools in the Northeastern, NYU, or BU range.
My GPA is well below the average for the schools I want to go to but my SAT is far above the average. What should I do? Will I get into PSU and Pitt at least?
3.1 UW 1520 reads “smart but lazy” and makes admission to a “highly ranked” business program extremely unlikely, particularly where the 3.1 would put you in the bottom 10% or enrolled first year students. Something on the order of Baruch might be a match/slight reach and Fordham a bit of a reach.
Wanting to go to a top school is not the same as having the grades to get into a top school. Overall at UPitt, a 1420 is 75th percentile, a 3.24GPA is 3% and most would assume that the vast majority of students with GPA under 3.24 are either recruited athletes or other special cases.
If you want to go to a top school, you’re going to have to work for it. Spend two years at what you consider to be a lesser school or community college, get high grades that show you are willing to work up to your aptitude, and you’d have a chance at transferring.
Will your family get financial aid? Do you know your FAFSA EFC? Merit isn't going to be a thing for you at most places. Your named schools are well north of 40K a year.
I was in a similar situation, low gpa, high act. You are actually better off than me lol. I had a 3.4 w gpa (4.0 scale), 30 act. I wrote my essay on my struggles and extenuating circumstances regarding the 2 grades that made my gpa fall. I got into Penn State UP for Fall 2019. Don’t lose hope, apply DUS to increase chances, and have a good essay. I’m sure you will be okay for Pitt as well.
As for top tier schools like NYU, doesn’t hurt to apply, but it is not likely admission. However, crazier things have happened. For PSU, head over to that forum, there are so many knowledgeable people there who will be able to help you.
No one on here really knows how you will do and it is likely that similar schools will view your application in divergent ways. One piece of info that might be important is what sort of school you go to now. Another is whether your GPA is trending up–that can help a lot.
If I were you I would do several things.
Make sure to do as well as possible in school from now until you graduate. This will help your gpa, and might be important if you decide you want to transfer schools.
Do well on your APs. Signal that you pay attention in class.
Apply to a wide range of schools. It is hard to predict how you will do based on your unusual profile. You will raise your chances by applying to a lot of schools. Apply to pretty selective schools and less selective ones.
You may want to do state school for a year, get really good grades, and then try transferring.
My GPA will most likely remain unchanged. My weighted might increase a little bit but nothing significant. I did show an improvement from freshman to sophomore year. I go to a highly ranked public school in PA.
This is what I did:
I have a 3.5 weighted. which is approx 2.9-3.1 UW(my school doesn’t give UW GPA), and a 35 ACT
I got into: UMich+Bates College(top choice via ed)
advice:
a.) Have other parts of your application that really shines-- and start your essay rly early to show that.
b.) do well on ur ap exams
c.) apply to a wide range of schools—don’t hang on one tree