Will having 3 B+s, a B, and a B- in my high school career (when everything else was an A- or higher) prevent me from getting into an elite school? My top choice is MIT and I have a 2080 on the SAT (1420 m+CR), and a 33 composite score on the ACT (but only a 17 in Writing). My top choice is MIT, and I’d also like to apply to Yale. Can I get in either place with those grades? Weighted high school GPA with only freshman and sophomore grades is 4.27 on a 4.25 scale.
Unfortunately, MIT and Yale might be extreme reaches. Many students with perfect GPA’s get denied, and an SAT score of 2080 is below the median. However, it depends on what your extracurricular activities are. Are you legacy? Are you first gen? A lot of other things factor into college admission as well.
Yes, I retook the SAT in March; still waiting on my score.
Grades matter, a lot.
I do think MIT/Yale are extreme reaches for you. 2080 is a bit low, check out MIT and Yale’s common data set/freshman profile to get an idea.
You took SAT in March and haven’t gotten your score yet? That’s strange.
Just like what stanforddreamins said, lots of things matter but from what you have written I don’t think MIT or Yale will accept you. You have a very slim chance, try your best and apply to schools in your range, there are hundreds out there that provide quality education.
@Hamlin Yes, it was the new SAT, which apparanetly takes much longer to grade :/. And the grades aren’t great I know, but the standards at my school are so much higher than at a lot of other schools. And yes, many non-grade things matter. I’m a writer, so I’m hoping I can write a good enough essay to impress them.
Plus my uncle went to Yale.
Basically I need to raise my SAT score though.
On the bright side, if all else fails, I think I have a good chance of getting into my dad’s school via the very thing I hate most about the college admissions process (well that and the fact that you can literally buy your way into Harvard for half a million dollars - what the heck?).
stanforddreamins, MIT does not give any preferential treatment to legacy-moot point for MIT. I won’t comment on Yale but based on what I know about MIT’s admissions, there is not enough information to know (which is true about chances anyway but especially with this thread). It is not true that a few B’s would necessarily take a student out of the running. And, in contrast with what others have mentioned, the fact that many students with perfect grades and scores get rejected is irrelevant for MIT since they are not looking to accept perfect grades and scores. They are looking for students with outstanding achievements and/or creativity, etc. See http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways
@lostaccount Thank you.
Also, it takes rather more than $500K to ‘buy’ your way into Harvard…
I think you are aiming very high. Your Match school perhaps ranks in thirties not in the top three!