My freshman year GPA sucked, and it’s dragging down my GPA.
I have a 3.5 unweighted total GPA, but I have a 4.2 weighted. I got 2 Cs, and a few Bs during my freshman and sophomore year. I have a story to tell colleges why I didn’t try, also. I have an upward trend, and I had a 4.5+ GPA my junior to prove I am a good student. I’ll continue to get a high GPA senior year, too.
My SAT is pretty average, I got an 1800. I’m going to retake it again.
Also, I do a lot of extracurriculars. I have over 100 hours working at the Boys and Girls Club. I’ve been in a few clubs in my school for over 3 years, like key club, feminist alliance club, link crew, etc. I’m secretary and vice president for a few clubs.
Also, I run a business at home. I really love to cook, and I started out with blogging. It ended up turning into a whole food business, and I work with sponsorships and people all over the world.
Is my low GPA dragging me down? Or do I stand a chance? (Female, Asian, California resident)
Your low SAT score will preclude UCB and Stanford for sure. Your GPA is probably also going to rule out those schools, but your strong Jr year might alleviate that worry. The test scores, though, just won’t cut it without major gains.
Do you have a chance? Sure. But keep in mind that even with absolutely flawless grades and test scores, you’re looking at a very low acceptance rate. In your case, while Freshman grades are less important at some schools, your test scores are not really in the average acceptance zone for very selective schools (2070-2350 for Stanford, 1850-2240 for UCB). You should certainly apply to some ‘safety’ schools as well.
Unless you have a definite hook (ex. recruited athlete) or have done something truly amazing (ex. Olympic medalist, made a scientific breakthrough etc.) then excellent ECs typically don’t make up for below average academic stats at the top schools. There are more students with top notch academics, great ECs, and strong essays, LORs than these schools can accept. If you want to throw in an application for one or two for real reaches that is perfectly fine but you must also come up with a realistic list of match and safety schools that are affordable and that you would be happy to attend.
Average Unweighted GPA for Stanford last year was 3.95. 25th percentile for SAT CR was 690 and Math was 700. As stated above unless you have some “hook”, Stanford is a Reach school for every applicant even with perfect SAT’s and GPA. There is no reason you should not apply, just understand the odds and focus on schools that fit your stats.
UCs and CSUs will calculate GPAs with 10th-11th grade course grades, although UC admissions readers will see 9th grade course grades. UCs also do not emphasize SAT/ACT scores as much, but being below the range still would not be a good thing.
