<p>How did you do it???</p>
<p>I. Hate. Boston.</p>
<p>Back on topic:</p>
<p>I got into my “top” school (the hardest academically, not the one I wanted to go to the most) with a 2.91 GPA and being ranked in the bottom 50% of my graduating class. I did get a 1420/1600 on my SAT though, 5’s on AP Gov/Pol and World History, and 800 on the World & US History SAT II’s. I never tried in high school and cut a lot of classes. The only activity I had was being the founder of the Rugby club.</p>
<p>My top school was NYU, by the way.</p>
<p>Man, this is confusing me. I want to go to NYU btw too. I just emailed a dude that had 3.9 GPA and all these good grades but he got rejected from there:/</p>
<p>EDIT: Are you going to NYU btw???</p>
<p>You don’t want to go to NYU. I live in the West Village. NYU students are messed up and a lot of them are seriously depressed (#5 in the nation, according to Princeton Review). It is not a typical college environment or experience.</p>
<p>I’m not going to NYU. I applied to NYU because I love living in New York, but I didn’t know much about NYU when I applied. Having stayed in NYU dorms (mostly Hayden) and hung out with my friends at NYU, I would say that I would have preferred to have saved me the trouble of applying at all. Too many weirdo hipsters who are all unhappy because they were “alternative” in Boise, Idaho, but then come to the Village and realize that they are nothing special. A bunch of snobs around here. Also the type of people who thought NYU would be like the set of Friends or something, but then realize that this city isn’t really designed for their age group or the things that college kids like to do. A lot of them regret it and would probably have preferred a more normal college experience.</p>
<p>Are there special cases of people without 4.0s (or even high 3.0s) being admitted to top tier schools? Of course.
But, like Manhattan said, you better be bringing A LOT to the table. What are your extracurriculars? Test scores? Volunteer work?</p>
<p>If you got through high school with a 3.3 or whatever and decided now that you want to go to Yale…you better readjust your expectations.</p>
<p>For the record, I got rejected from Boston College. My profile is pretty unusual and is clearly hit or miss.</p>
<p>You need a lot to bring to the table, basically.</p>
<p>Is that why you hate Boston?</p>
<p>I agree with LovelySarahG.</p>
<p>Go to Columbia.
My HS GPA was a 2.-something. I really don’t remember. It was down there.</p>
<p>I transferred in with a 3.7 - 3.9(?) (Again, I really don’t remember the exact. I’m one of the few who don’t pay attention to that stuff. I probably should start.)</p>
<p>Columbia wasn’t my first choice (transfer-wise), I actually wanted to go to CalTech but I never applied. I never even looked at their website or application. Heck, I don’t even know if they take transfers.
I had it in my head I wouldn’t get in anyway, so why waste my money and time. In hindsight, I wish I would have at least tried.</p>
<p>I have a friend at Princeton who had a 3.4 GPA and a 26ish? on the ACT. </p>
<p>But she was a recruited athlete. </p>
<p>She’s not doing too well there.</p>
<p>^^^ Lol that was sooo funny to read. It should be on fmylife.com</p>
<p>Very witty</p>
<p>Friend got into my top school with a 3.5 from a random, unknown private H.S. He did a bunch of ECs and was a URM though. People from my well-known H.S. got into “top schools” (not Ivies though…maybe Cornell once in a while; more like NYU, BC, etc) all the time with 3.0 - 3.5s. It depends on the reputation of your h.s.</p>
<p>You mean white people and Asians? Yeah, but with loads of extra-curriculars or athletic ability or something unusual about you. Or your dad went.</p>
<p>^ I find it strange that people think being white or Asian is a huge disadvantage.
The recruted athletes I know that go to Dartmouth and Penn are white and Asian. They didn’t do classes as hard as other people who got accepted to the school and they got around 2000 for their SAT.
You just need to be talented at something. Or else why would the school want you?</p>