I'm screwed, where should I apply? Disproportionately low GPA, high SAT!!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey guys!!
I don’t fit the profile of any school, so I’m really confused - where should I apply?
Of course, I want to go to a top school like UChicago, but I know for a fact that those type of schools are major reaches with my GPA. Any suggestions? I live in California, by the way!

Here are my stats/extracurriculars/etc:
GPA: UW 3.2, W 3.35 (LOL hopefully better with senior year 1st semester!), school doesn’t rank! (luckily)
UC GPA: 3.55
SAT: (single sitting) 2330 - 730 Math, 800 CR and Writing

Course rigor: pretty hard throughout (school is known for its rigor)
Senior year schedule: AP Econ/Poli Sci, AP Computer Science, Advanced Journalism, AP Lit, AP Stats, AP Spanish (I skipped a year of Spanish, if that makes any difference!)

Extracurricular:
Tutoring peers and children, mentoring 5th graders, helping kids with foreign parents in English, computer/business internship, a few clubs and board positions, science fair, national history day, 365 community service/volunteer hours

Awards: National History Day county blue ribbon, national spanish exam Gold 97th percentile, ap scholar/national merit whatever

Essays: (for the ones I’ve written so far) brilliant, I hope!
Rec letters: brilliant
Ethnicity: I would fit under the “Asian American” category.

For my common app essay, I wrote about why my GPA is so horrendous. It’s not exactly a good excuse (I was unmotivated and didn’t care and then went through something that motivated me), but it’s a pretty well-written essay.

Thanks in advance! :wink:

2

@MiniLion specifically what ap classes did you take and what is your intended major?

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@MathFan21 We can only take APs in 11th and 12th grade at my school. My 12th grade schedule is above, and in 11th I took psych, lang, and environmental! My intended major is computer science, but I’m considering applying for psych and later switching to improve my chances.

4

UCI/UCD-Mid Reach
UCR/UCSC-low reach
UCM-Match
UCLA/UCSD/UCB-High reach

UCs are very gpa oriented, try some privates maybe?

Chance Me?-http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/18982775#Comment_18982775

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@MathFan21 Do you have any private schools in mind? & sure!!

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Use the SuperMatch tool to find schools where a 3.5 is average. Those should be matches for you, given your SAT. It will take some tinkering with size, public/private etc. to narrow down your choices, because there are many good choices in that range. Also apply to at least one where a 3.2 is average; that will be a solid safely.

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Are your essays memorable? Do you open with a strong hook? Are they very conversational? Does your personality shine through?

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@ClarinetDad16 Yes, my essays are definitely strong!

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Don’t get discouraged from applying to the UCs. While they are GPA orientated, if your essay is about your life experiences, then that could negate your low GPA. But I agree with the other replies, get some safeties and matches for your GPA on your college list as well.

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I’d like to see your AP scores, because they could be indicative of a tough grading system (which is the opposite of many inflationary schools today), more so than your SATs. Your EC’s could definitely use some work, but your community service is impressive–can you talk more about that?

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@minilion you didn’t answer my questions. The essay strength are not judged by simply I like my topic, my grammar is correct, and I wrote them just like I write as I was taught for standardized testing.

Trust me I have reviewed countless essays that kids thought were great college essays. But they were not good, at all, because when asked the questions I posed above, the answer to each them was no.

I wish you luck.

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I feel like your Common App essay won’t sit too well with some schools. It sounds like you wrote a 500-600 word excuse essay. Remember that one test won’t make up for 4 years of hard work.

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UCSB loves high test scores, so I think you have a good chance there. You should apply to more colleges that care more about test scores than GPA.

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I would recommend you change your commonapp from a GPA excuse. Use your counselor recommendation and the additional comments section to explain the GPA. Instead use the commonapp essay to demonstrate your passions. For the UC schools, they generally do not factor in 9th grade GPA, so this may help you.

15

OP, have you already sent your CA essay to your schools? I agree that your topic would be hard to pull off. We are not admissions reps but I don’t think that they really want to hear about how unmotivated you were and now you are not. There are a lot of kids that were unmotivated in the beginning of high school.

Did you apply anywhere EA or ED?

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@ClarinetDad16 Yes, my essays fit your description! I have also revised them with my English teacher and aunt, who is a writer.

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I do see your points about my essay not faring too well with admissions officers. I just want to clarify that I did not write my essay in a “feel bad for me please” sort of way; I mostly described the experience I went through, which motivated me and led me to enjoy school and academic subjects. I did not mention anything specifically about my grades in the essay. Do you guys think that’s a little better?

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I haven’t submitted any applications yet, but the UC app is due in 3 days! :slight_smile:

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@strivingforanivy My AP scores, tbh, are not that great. I got a 4 in psych, 4 in environmental, and 5 in lang. My community service is from my extracurriculars and community service clubs at my school!

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The CA essay isn’t meant to explain your flaws or just wax on some change you say you went through. If you improved, they’ll see it on the transcript. You have to remember this is your presentation for a admit, not some soul bearing convo.

Whether it works or not is going to depend on how you presented it. They need to see the attributes they want.