<p>I go to one of the top ranked public high school in Connecticut and I'm wondering how colleges will see my mediocre GPA. I take a lot of APs and just received my national merit semi-finalist status but I've always had mediocre grades. My grades have hovered around the B+/A- range and I'm not really sure which schools I should apply to. Basically, I'm wondering if my bad GPA will be overlooked because of the school I go to.
Furthermore, no matter what I do my grades have never been a good representation of what I'm capable of. For instance, I got a 5 on the world history ap exam as well as a 780 on the subject test but in the class I only received a B. Similar things are happening in my other classes and I'm wondering if colleges will view this as laziness. It's not that I don't try it's just that I can't get good grades. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>The high SAT and AP scores will help in determining your preparedness for college-level courses. Admissions officers understand that schools and teachers vary in terms of difficulty, so they will certainly be understanding, especially since you seem to have high test scores. However, your high school transcript is a crucial aspect of your application, so be sure to continue taking the most challenging classes you can and working hard in them.
Do you have great SAT/ACT scores and good extracirriculars? If so, I’d say that you have a shot at very selective universities.</p>
<p>Your grades and rank will be viewed in the context of your school. For instance, if your school is an Ivy feeder then being in the middle of the pack may still be good enough.</p>
<p>I play sports and work 8hrs every week; but I feel like the only thing preventing me from getting into these good schools is my GPA. When I get home at six I have no motivation to do work and then the work I do finish is hastily done. Do you guys have any tips for my work ethic? It’s weird because I know how important college is, yet I still can’t sit down and make myself do work.</p>
<p>So your problem isn’t simply that your classes are hard, but that you don’t do your work. That’s a different matter entirely. It’s about sitting down and making yourself do it because you know it’s important to your grade, or not doing it and accepting that you probably won’t get in to the schools that may have accepted you under other circumstances.</p>
<p>If you can’t handle working and school, don’t work. </p>
<p>I tried to do track and school but I couldn’t handle it. I don’t know your financial situation, but me working would help pay some bills. But my mom wanted me to focus on school work. </p>
<p>Also, I’m not sure how colleges will view your GPA. They know that some schools have more APs than others, but i dont think they’ll say “oh it’s okay that s/he has mediocre [your word] grades because s/he goes to a rigorous high school.”</p>
<p>Why? Because unless your first in the class, there are people who go to your school who pull better grades, so what’s your excuse? You don’t HAVE to work. </p>
<p>I am in no way trying to degrade or discourage you, but that’s how I feel colleges will react. May not make perfect sense. </p>
<p>Good luck though, I understand how you feel! :)</p>
<p>I do a sport and I know that if I undertook another obligation in-season, I would never get all of my work done. If you need to allot more time for school, do so.</p>
<p>What’s your class rank? That tends to provide colleges with the best perspective of a seemingly sub-par GPA.</p>