How do people with low GPA's get into IVY??

Pre-College Issues High School Life
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<p>How do people with 3.5 GPA's get into Ivy leagues?</p>

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<p>Unless they’re a recruited athlete or their parents paid the school 7 figures, they don’t.</p>

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<p>African American + Athlete</p>

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<p>^ Oh how cute.</p>

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<p>They might be admitted if their high school is notorious for grade deflation.</p>

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<p>What if you’re African american but not an athlete?</p>

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<p>People who get into the Ivies with low GPAs are one or more of the following: </p>

<p>1) African-American (Clarence Thomas)
2) Hispanic
3) Legacy (Just about every politician)
4) Athlete</p>

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<p>Pretty much that. 3.5 isn’t low though. 3.5 is plenty smart.</p>

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<p>Their parents are faculty members/adcoms at the school in question.</p>

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<p>OR, to be less cynical, because there is more on the app than GPA</p>

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<p>Yes, there is also a checkbox for your race on the application.</p>

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<p>^Exactly. People could get in if they:

  • Are a minority
  • Are a legacy (or parents paid a lot of $)
  • Have an EC hook (athlete, musician, etc)
  • Write outstanding essay(s)
  • Have excellent test scores
  • Have great recs
  • Are first generation to go to college
  • Have circumstances that explain a 3.5 gpa (ex: getting Cs Freshman year because of death in the family…)</p>

<p>That’s all off the top of my head. I’m sure there are others too.</p>

1 Like
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<p>Also, some really competitive schools have insane grade deflation so even the top students don’t have seemingly stellar gpas.</p>

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<p>Love the way some exhibit biases . . .</p>

<p>Legacy admissions is the most widespread affirmative action program around . . . article in Boston magazine some years ago quanitified Harvard’s: 3X as many admits through legacy than through all class/race based programs combined.</p>

<p>Second, as long as you pretend that grades mean the same at all high schools and for all living situations you can label “them” as getting in solely because of their status (e.g., legacy, athlete URM, etc.)</p>

<p>A 3.5 at a HS where 2% of students go to college from a student who works part-time with a single parent at home who doesn’t speak english as a first language is different than a 3.5 at a high achieving suburban HS with both english primary parents at home, etc etc etc</p>

<p>Third, consider the #s: Brown accepted 60 students whose grades put them below the top 10% of their class.</p>

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<p>It could be that rather than fretting about grade for 4 years, they tried their best and then actually did something significant with their life.</p>

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<p>Gotcha :D.</p>

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<p>go to phillips exeter academy</p>

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<p>TickGray _ Like what ? Can a famous actress with high visibility and a lot of money ? What is your example ?</p>

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<p>If i get mostly B’s would that equal approx. a 3.5? I have good ec’s and a heavy work course but if i have a 3.5 will i not get into a good school?</p>

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<p>“Good school” is relative. There are plenty of good schools that aren’t necessarily in the top tier. A good school is one in which you’re happy and learning a lot. </p>

<p>That being said, it is possible to get into even an Ivy League with a 3.5 (though very difficult and less common).</p>