<p>It's junior year and I have a feeling that for the entire school year, I'll only be able to maintain around a 90 average, which comes out to a 3.5 unweighted GPA. I heard that many good universities require higher grades though, and unfortunately I won't have that. I'm not putting my bets on getting higher grades because it seems like I'm always the A-/B+ student and there's really not much that I can do about that. </p>
<p>My course load isn't that rigorous - I've taken a handful of honors classes and a total of 3 AP classes so far. Next year I'll be taking 3 more. </p>
<p>And I have close to no ECs. I volunteer at a hospital and at the library, I have one year of Model UN and a portfolio of computer programs/games and websites. </p>
<p>I see people on these forums with 4.0 GPAs, perfect SAT and subject test scores, huge lists of ECs, and on top of all that they also have a lot of community service hours, they have jobs, babysit, tutor, have tons of awards, etc. I don’t have any of that. Compared to the people here, I feel like a below average college applicant.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that what you see here on CC is a VERY distorted view of reality. For one thing, those posters who don’t have excellent numbers/EC’s tend not to post as much, most probably because they feel inferior. Also, on occasion, those who do appear to have great stats are actually lying about some of them. I’m not saying that everyone who posts outstanding stats here is lying, but I have seen a couple of suspicious looking profiles. </p>
<p>On top of all that, the posters on these boards constitute a very small percentage of the total number of students in the country, most of whom are definitely not as academically motivated. So while reading through chance threads and such might be really demoralizing, keep in mind that not every applicant to every Top 20 school is like that. Just pursue what truly interests you, get the best grades you can (it doesn’t have to be a 4.0 if that’s not within your ability), and write great essays. Colleges want passion more than anything else.</p>
<p>You are not. If you are thinking about top twenty schools, like a lot of people on CC are, then yes you would be a below average college accident. However, there are literally thousands of schools at which you would be near the top of the applicant pool. You have a 3.5 GPA on what sounds to me like a reasonably rigorous schedule at most schools (many of the kids on CC with lots of APs have freshman year ones available with little to no pre-requisites and block scheduling that allows them to take twice as many APs in a year as they take at any given time). Your volunteering and independent computer work (which is pretty cool btw, I think) are not terrible ECs by any means. You don’t have a shot at HYPS or similar tier schools (though I don’t know the rest of your stats/profile, you may), but you will have literally no problems getting into a high quality school. Don’t worry so much, CC is not representative at all of the average college applicant. Just do your best.</p>
<p>Ohhhhh that’s it ntktop, you have HYPSMC syndrome. Sorry, didn’t realize that earlier.</p>
<p>I have pretty good grades but I’m trying to avoid that syndrome, so I only applied to 2 of those 6 schools unlike the countless others who apply to all 6 (never understand why people do that).</p>
<p>Edit: If I come across as rude I’m sorry. What I am really trying to say is don’t worry, enjoy your life and you’ll get in plenty of colleges</p>
<p>What should you do? Take Statistics so you don’t QQ as much about something you don’t know anything about, you giant QQer. Most people that are posting about their info do so because they are bragging. No wonder you see mostly crazy stats if only people with crazy stats post.</p>
<p>I’ve read (over and over again) that colleges would like to see someone go “deep” with a few certain EC, then to do everything.</p>
<p>Sounds like you’re really dedicated. HYP+ more isn’t always the best choice for you. Besides Stanford and Waseda (private school in Japan), my 2 favorite schools are Emory and Carnegie Mellon. They have the subjects I’m interested, and have a good alumni record. So I’m happy :)</p>
<p>I wouldn’t call you a below-average “college” applicant. Surely you must know that there are thousands or universities that accept kids like you. They simply may not be HYPSM.
I don’t believe you have any problem. Like some other posters have stated, getting in to colleges isn’t about getting in to the best college. Rather the best one for you, and that can depend on that individual. Don’t be frustrated with yourself. Know your limitations and your strengths. And expand on the latter as much as possible. In the end I’m sure you’ll end up in a place best suited to you.</p>
<p>I am in the same boat as you - I’m a very smart individual, but my grades don’t show it. I went to a pretty well respected private school and all my classes are Honors and AP. Unfortunately I’m pulling a 3.45 after my Frosh/Soph year. I’d have like a 3.9+ at the easy public school. And my dream school puts all the decision on your UW GPA!!! :(</p>
<p>I think it’s faulty logic to assume that your GPA would be a lot higher at a public school. Publics offer honors and AP classes as well–in fact, usually more than smaller privates–and the regular level classes you can take tend to not look fairly impressive (at my school, think horticulture and weightlifting).</p>
It’s a well known fact that this school is more prestigious than my public school in just about every category. Kids at the public school get hardly ANY homework each night…imagine all that extra time devoted to more studying.</p>
<p>Don’t be fooled by the overachieving profiles of the CC community. Your gpa is fine, assuming you’re not aiming ivy league, stanford, georgetown, etc.</p>
<p>Even parts of thetop 20 is within reason with a 3.5 GPA, especially if numerically it’s around the 90’s and shown that way (or A-'s, even B’s).</p>
<p>Probably not Harvard, but some “lower-tier” ivys and LACS, etc, aren’t completely unreachable with a 3.5 (i’ve seen quite a bit of cases for these, just not like Harvard/Stanford caliber).</p>
<p>Don’t worry, i only have a 3.652 unweighted gpa (9-12). Its only junior year! We still have a whole year to get it up (mine will go up to at least a 3.74). Just work hard and try not to stress/procrastinate, especially if you really want to get into upper-ivy/ tier 1 schools.</p>
Sorry, didn’t realize that earlier.</p>