<p>Hey guys, so my junior year is about to end and it looks like I'll be getting yet another B in AP Calc, which is just really difficult at our school and I started out really good.... I'll stop crying now.</p>
<p>Anyways, so here is my situation: I go to a top 50 public HS, highly competitive and rigorous. But the problem is, I really should be doing better and my HS academic career has been largely a dissapointment. a 4.0 is anything above a 90 and 3.0 is 80-90, so I'm guessing that makes my 3.86 even worse. Despite that, I still manage to find myself in the top 10% out of 400+ students. </p>
<p>Freshman year I had a horrible english teacher who gave me 2 B's, and another B made it 3 B's... :(
Sophomore year I only took 1 AP class but I got all A's.
This year, my junior year, I took 5 AP's, got 2 B's 1st semester and about to get 1 more this semester. </p>
<p>I've pushed myself and took a relatively rigorous courseload, but I can't help but see the dozens of students who were able to get better grades than me and I feel like my grades will really pull me down. Besides the state school UIUC I'm aiming for upper-tier schools like USC, Michigan, Berkeley, UVA, NYU, and I'd like to take a shot at schools like Chicago, Duke and even UPenn... I know GPA is only one factor, but do I still have a shot with so many 3.95+ applicants?</p>
<p>You have a shot, so don’t cry. Focus on your academics, write your applications well, continue to succeed in your extracurricular activities, whatever they may be.</p>
<p>Take home message: be an interesting person. Colleges will see that, and you might find something exciting this December or next April.</p>
<p>Those grades shouldn’t exclude you from your target schools. If your school is really as rigorous as you say it is, then 3.86 and top 10% is perfectly adequate, perhaps above average. Given that your scores and EC’s are in line, there is no reason why you shouldn’t apply.</p>
<p>hmm I guess, but why should they accept me when there’s tons of people with far better GPA’s than me? And it’s a pretty big gap, I mean I’ve already gotten 6 B’s</p>
<p>You still have a fine chance, because colleges look at many other factors besides GPA. It’s quite possible to get into very selective schools with ~3.8 UW GPA (I did). If the rest of your application is better than that of someone with a 3.95, you stand a good chance of being accepted over them.</p>
<p>I get that GPA is not everything, but won’t I be at a significantly worse position because I had so many B’s? My EC’s are decent, maybe good enough for somewhere like Duke but with plenty of applicants with better GPA, do I even stand a chance anymore?</p>
<p>Of course you have a shot. That gpa is in the range. You need test scores in the range and great ECs + an essay thqat reaches out and grabs the readers.</p>
<p>That GPA is fine. Especially if it’s only from a couple of Bs and you’ve been taking a very rigorous courseload.</p>
<p>It certainly doesn’t disqualify you, but it’s not an asset either. To secure admission, you’ll obviously have to rely on SAT/ECs/essays. But your GPA is adequate for application to any college.</p>