My weighted GPA is a 3.9 and my SAT a 1580. Is my GPA too low for an Ivy League school? Low enough that admissions officers might just toss my application?
What is your unweighted GPA?
@DadTwoGirls I don’t think my school uses unweighted. On Naviance next to “unweighted GPA” it just says N/A.
Not necessarily. But if you are unhooked and without a special talent you will be in a pool where 10% or less of the kids are accepted.
@minimickey Ah okay thank you for the help. I’m an aspiring writer so hopefully I can make myself stand out with that
You can calculate your unweighted GPA yourself.
Otherwise, we can assume that you took all hard courses that give +1 weighing, so we can assume that your 3.9 weighted comes from an unweighted 2.9.
What do you write? An ivy degree may not be the best career move for all writers. For creative writers, there are some good ivy programs (columbia, brown, yale, Princeton), but, as you may know, creative types often find their own paths away from traditional channels. If you’re wed to an ivy degree, try to get published - the more prestigious the publication the better. Failing that, edit your school lit magazine and make sure you give your own works a prominent place.
2.9?! That is so bad.
My first choice of college that I’m considering right now is Emory University because I heard their creative writing program is great. But I just also want to apply to Columbia and UPenn (Upenn’s Kelly Writers House) as reaches of course, but wanted to make sure my GPA wasn’t so out of the range I shouldn’t bother
Calculating your unweighted GPA is a simple application of elementary or middle school math.
Look at your academic record. For each graded semester, add A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0. Divide the sum by the number of grades.
The poster was just guessing a 2.9 because you gave us nothing else to go on. You should be able to calculate your unweighted GPA by yourself. Just calculate a GPA for your grades as if you were taking no weighted classes. It’s a simple algebra problem. For someone who is planning to apply to Ivies and has a 1580 SAT, it should be a pretty easy exercise.
Once you understand your GPA in proper context, consider a range of schools that might be suitable for your interest in creative writing:
https://contently.net/2014/11/06/resources/tools/training/10-best-colleges-creative-writers/
https://www.flavorwire.com/409437/the-25-most-literary-colleges-in-america
Kenyon, for example, might be one school to research further.
I’ve calculated my unweighted GPA at about 3.75.
Your gpa is not too low but like lots others you will need something to set you apart from the thousands and thousands of other applicants with great academic records if you want to have much more than a vanishingly small chance at an ivy
There’s no harm in applying to a few schools at an Ivy level of competitiveness. But nobody can tell you whether your application will resonate enough to be chosen over other candidates with similar qualifications. Do your best on the applications and realize that the odds are still against you. This would still be true if your GPA were higher!
You’ve already identified your super-reaches of interest, so your best use of energy now is finding matches and safeties that you could also be happy with. Kenyon, Hamilton, Sewanee, U of Iowa, Oberlin, Wesleyan, and others in the links posted above - look at these closely and try to project, not just where you want to be proud of going, but where you can see yourself thriving and doing your best work once there. Be open to the possibility that a non-Ivy might even emerge as the best fit!
Also consider finances. Nothing can kill a budding creative career like student debt.
@galactoc, please, do yourself a favor and read @lindagaff’s thread on this forum, “why it’s so hard to get into an under 15% acceptance rate school.” Please dont’ put so much pressure on yourself. Where you go to school doesn’t define who you are and what you can become. Please have your parents read the thread too.
USA Today offered Emory high recognition for its creative writing program in 2011:
http://www.emory.edu/EMORY_REPORT/stories/2011/05/campus_usa_today_best_college_writers.html