I’m currently a sophomore. This means that next year I will be taking full IB courses. I don’t know if I’ll be able to make a straight 4.0 throughout my junior yr. Should I be extremely worried? Will Ivies put less thought on my gpa because I’m in IB?
No. Not when there are students in the IB program with a 4.0 applying for these colleges.
I had a 4.35 cumulative (freshmen to senior year). My school grades a A- as a 3.7/4.7 weighted. Junior year I had a 4.7 GPA. Was rejected by every ivy league.
@ANormalSeniorGuy damn. Did you have good extracurriculars ,a good essay, good recommendation letters, and good SAT/ACT scores? Your situation just seems hard to believe.
It is not hard to believe at all.
You can have all of that and more and still get rejected.
Agreed. Every year, each Ivy League school rejects applicants with 4.0 GPA’s and perfect ACT/SAT scores, while accepting applicants with lesser scores. Stats are only one part of the application.
@digitalreform yep to all. 10 years of classical double bass, toured internationally and was all state orchestra, even was principal at many orchestras and second chair at Stanford’s official collegiate orchestra. ACT of 34 and many of my recs said I would be famous one day. Its very easy to believe
@dgitalreform Brown (a “lesser” Ivy) rejects 7 out of 10 valedictorians
You shouldn’t be worry too much about GPAs of students who are not in your school. Colleges will compare your stats with the stats of your classmates (and with those of from previous years of course). GPA stats changes from one high school to another. For example, no student got a GPA above 3.85/4.00 in my kids school in the last decade.
Furthermore, as the others pointed out GPA is not the only important thing and even with a perfect GPA with the most challenging coursework, getting in to an Ivy+ college is quite hard.
Just being in IB doesn’t mean your GPA can be low. It’s a hard program, and I know from personal experience, but I was able to get a 4.0 UW, and a 5.4 W, and got into decent colleges (with other good stats) but not any ivies.
No? Is IB that much harder than AP classes? Coming from an Australian student which also allows students to complete IB, the content isn’t that much more difficult…I had the assumption AP classes were harder than IB.
From a US college admissions perspective, they are equivalent. The actual difficulty of any class depends in large part on the teacher.
Scoring a 7 in a HL class is significantly harder than scoring a 5 in an AP in the same subject.
I had a 3.5 in IB(DP) and I really think it’s the reason I got mostly waitlists/rejects. No one in my entire IB class got into an ivy this year and we all have similar GPA’s and are at the top of our class so just some experience here.
I just got elected as the Vice President of my school’s Model UN club for next year (my junior year). I’m also going to be the vice president of my city’s gavel club. I’m also going to receive an academic award from a fraternity at UNF. I’m also an immigrant. Will this help? My school is a VERY difficult magnet school that is ranked high in our state. I think that getting my gpa to a 3.7 and getting a great SAT/ACT score should improve my chances. I’m already in the top 12% of my class and very involved in my community. I have heard stories of people with a 3.5 getting into schools like Cornell so…
I don’t think getting a 3.5 is a death sentence per say. Other things are considered.
I’m in the IB program, and I’ve also taken 7 APs on top of that. I have a 4.0 unweighted, 5.4something weighted (really inflated tho) and I’m valedictorian. I played two varsity sports, had some leadership, an internship, good recs, decent scores, and ultimately I was rejected by Princeton and Stanford (which I know are like the two most selective schools). Basically what I’m saying is GPA won’t get you accepted or rejected into a college necessarily. Like other people said, you have to have good ECs, essays, and recs, but even then you’ll never really know if you’re guaranteed an acceptance. I think your chances will only really be swung in your favor when you have a hook (URM, first gen, low income, recruited athlete, legacy, etc.). The ECs you listed sound nice, being an immigrant could possibly be a hook for you. However, I don’t think you should get caught up in the Ivy League name. There’s a lot of great schools out there that offer just as many opportunities (sometimes more depending on your major). After just going through the college application process, my advice to you would be to visit the schools you’re interested in and really understand what they can offer you in terms of your major or what you want to do. If an Ivy League school seems like the perfect fit for you, then that’s great! But Ivy League admissions are pretty much crapshoots for most people, so make sure to keep your options open by applying to match schools.
Here’s what you should do.
Find two colleges you likeand can afford (run the NPC) where your weighted GPA places you in the top 10%. That could be UNF, FIU, Flagler… If you want colleges further north people here can suggest good colleges where you’re pretty sure to get in.
Then, find 5-6 colleges you like and can afford (run the NPC) that admit about 40% students.
Once you have those 7-8 colleges, add as many reaches as you want.
Are you first-generation (neither parent got a college degree)? Are you lower income?
Is your school rural or inner city?
Is English your second or third language? Were you born in the US or brought here?
The Ivies could fill every class with nothing but applicants attaining 4.0 GPAs and 36 ACTs, but they don’t. Elite schools don’t want robots. They want their classes to be filled with future Nobel Prize winners, Academy Award recipients, and Rhodes scholars. Creatively and socially dead people are far less likely to achieve any of these goals. In response to your inquisition, I’d say yes. While a 3.5 GPA certainly isn’t going to help your chances, it wouldn’t be the only reason you aren’t admitted to an Ivy.
@MYOS1634
I go to a public magnet school. (i guess its in the inner city because it is in a poor neighborhood)
I was not born in the US. Engish is my first langauge but I understand my native tongue.
My parents are seperated and my mom works two jobs to provide for the family, but we are not poor, just trying to make it.
My mother has a bachelors and my father has an AA, so I’m not a first generation student.