Hi all,
I’m a rising senior who is looking for some advice considering my stats. My gpa is a horrible 2.76 unweighted, and my ACT is an OK 32.
First of all, there are two reasons for my gpa being as low as it is: one, diagnosed depression and anxiety, and two, my earlier aspirations to become a musician. My gpa sunk a lot in sophomore year (I think that year was a 2.3 UW or so), but in junior year it has been going up steadily (3.5 UW or so). My school only offers honors and AP courses, so there’s that, too. As for becoming a musician, my dream was to become a pianist until my junior year, which did mean I cared a lot less about my academics. To get a sense of my achievements in that area, I’ve played Liszt’s feux follet at age 13 in carnegie hall. However, my interests now lie in the natural sciences and/or engineering, which is obviously a big shift in focus.
As for my ACT score: I took it the summer of my sophomore year, without much studying… I’m very confident I can improve my score when I retake it in September.
Obviously, I don’t hope to get into Ivy leagues. However, my current list of colleges that I would love to attend including extreme reaches are: JHU, Carnegie Mellon, NYU, CWRU, Lehigh, Drexel, Purdue, BU, and WPI in that order. I will supplement the list with more safeties later on.
I want to apply to JHU with early decision, but would that hurt me as my senior year grades will probably play a critical role in admissions?
I would appreciate brutal honesty on what I should expect. Please tell me if you want any additional information. Thank you for reading.
So, I am wondering, what is your weighted gpa (that is, if you took AP courses)? Yes, your gpa is low enough for you to be in a pretty risky places for all your schools but your academic rigor could play some role in your application. Also, if you do apply early, it is a way for you to tell JHU that it is your number one choice. Your senior year gpa will not raise your chances by a whole lot, since admissions mostly look at your senior year information to see if you are still challenging yourself. But do NOT go overboard with the amount of AP classes. As far as raising your chances for any of those schools, I would recommend you spend a lot of time on your essay and explain your exact situation. I do have to say, do not ask for pity; simply state your situation in a well-written manner with a good balance of pathos. As a current NYU student, I cannot say that you have a great chance. But spend a lot of time working on your application and do not give up!
Hi 5skyhan,
Thank you for your reply. I have taken 2 AP courses, Calculus AB and Physics C Mechanics, with 5s on both tests. It sounds like a low number, but my school does not offer electives until junior year, which include AP courses.
You should consider starting at a community college, knocking out your prerequisites and proving you can do really well at college. Then apply / transfer / graduate from a target school.