I have a 3.92 unweighted and 5.17 weighted and these are a result of my 1st quarter grades (but my grades will most likely stay the same throughout the years). I am a junior and I anticipate having straight As all year. I take 3 APs currently (and by the end of my senior I should have a total of 5-6 because my school doesn’t offer many) and the rest are honors level except math. I dance and I play softball and I am also active in clubs and stuff like that (president of the feminist club). I have a good amount of community service hours too but my only worry is test scores. Im leaning towards taking the ACT but I don’t test well in general and I will probably not get a composite score higher than a 30. Maybe a 25-30 is the range I am looking at but you never know I could surprise myself. Its really just the math and science that I do poorly on. I take it next weekend for the first time and I am hoping I do well. BUT, if I don’t and I score in the 25-30 range, what are the top schools that I could get myself into. Of course I am going to take it more than once and I tutor for it but I wanted to know with my grades and low test scores what schools I could get myself into? Also, if I got my scores up to lets say a 32 or 33, what schools could I get into? I was thinking about Barnard, Boston University, UNC Chapel Hill, Yale (I know thats a VERY big reach), UCLA, Georgetown, Tulane, Syracuse, U Michigan, and etc --> so please feel free to tell my chances on those schools and give some suggestions of schools I should look at and might be do-able for me depending on my scores. This has been stressing me out for a while so any answer big or small would help! thanks ps- I plan on going pre-med or maybe going into journalism (but probably pre med)
Have considered trying the SAT, or at least a practice SAT under test-like conditions?
Some students do better on the SAT than the ACT, so it may be worth finding out if you are such a student.
If you are not in-state for UCLA, there is no need-based financial aid.
Pre-med students need to be cost conscious, since medical school is expensive. Pre-med students also need good test taking skills, because the MCAT is highly important in medical school admissions.
How do you get 5.17 weighted GPA when the max is 5, and with only 3 APs?
A 30 is a really good ACT score! I’d go for it and try my best… You can still decide not to send it if it’s lower than say a 25. Plan on taking it 2-3 times with plenty of practice tests first.
BU and Georgetown are probably reaches. UNC Chapelle Hill is a big reach if you’re out of state. Very competitive. I wouldn’t go for Yale, too expensive and a pressure cooker. Don’t forget to check with your parents what they can pay. Also don’t forget the small liberal arts colleges (Union, Beloit, Macalester, Kenyon, etc.) There are some absolute gems out there, some offering generous merit aid.
Good luck!
Have you always had low standardized test scores relative to your class grades? If so, it may be worth getting evaluated for learning differences in the dyslexia/slow processing family. After eliminating test anxiety and poor test-taking strategies, learning differences are the next thing to check out. Identifying the reasons for your relatively low test scores, and learning how to compensate for those things is a lot easier to do while you are still in high school and will make your life better once you are in college.
All that said, lots of places will like your GPA. For places that don’t care about test scores, see the list of no test and test optional institutions at www.fairtest.org
Some high schools have exaggerated weighting systems that can produce 6.something GPAs.
That is why weighted GPA is meaningless unless the weighting system is known or explained.
The highest you can get in my school is a 6 but that’s very hard it requires a lot of AP or IB classes to be taken
You might want to look at some test optional schools. https://www.fairtest.org/university/optional