HS Grade Disparity

Applying to College
1

Hi, I’m a rising senior. I’m worried about my college admission chances due to issues with my GPA.

I’ve heard of students with high GPA, low SAT. It seems that GPA can often compensate for downfalls in other areas of your college application, but not vice versa.

I attend a specialized high school and have a ~90% average. I think with all courses combined, that amounts to a ~3.5 GPA. The main issue I have is a large grade disparity. I have gotten 95-100 in AP classes, but have also gotten 70-80 several times in normal classes.

I’ve been trying to compensate for this with extracurriculars. I’m on 2 teams, 1 executive position in a chapter, and currently have a full time internship. I also have a ~1400 SAT score. I am interested in colleges like SBU, but I don’t know what else to do.

How can I improve my college admission chances?

Thanks,
Dan

2

Do as well as you can senior year - those grades (At least the first half) will be included in your application decision.

Strong ECs, essays, recommendations, etc. - things over which you still have control.

3

Why are you getting 70-80 in “normal” classes? You think they are beneath you? You think you can do well without studying? They are in subjects you are not good at? They are in subjects you don’t care about?

4

Good grades in classes you are interested in, and not-so-good grades in classes that don’t particularly strike you as interesting, can be a big red waving flag for attention and executive function issues. So if you think there’s any chance that you might have something like that going on, contact your guidance counselor and start getting help with it. You want that under control before you got to college.