I hope to go to a top 20 university but my GPA is below average . I am someone who is more invested in my clubs more than my academics. I am currently president for 3 clubs while working 2 jobs in which I am a manager in one of them . going into the college apps i realized that my GPA wont carry me so i started focusing my attention more towards my clubs. Was this a smart move ?
Club leadership and participation will never offset a “below average” GPA. The truth is that students who get into top 20 universities have top GPAs AND extraordinary leadership. In fact, most students with top GPAs and extraordinary leadership are still rejected from top 20s.
Instead of trying to get in someplace unattainable, why don’t you tell us your GPA, test scores, and other relevant information so we can try to help you make a realistic list of colleges that are a good fit for you?
School Demographics:
Public School
60% of student body is economically disadvantaged
99% of student body is a minority
NCAC school ( Academy based)
Early college program( Dual Credit)
only 1 student in history got into an Ivy league
2 students were US presidential scholars in the past 2 years
Intended Major: Health Administration, minor in International relations, Public Policy while in a Pre-med / Pre- Physcian Assistant path
Stats:
I am currently a upcoming junior,
I am part of the Academy of Health and Sciences
I have completed 24 college credits and have a 3.8 college GPA
In high school i have only taken 2 honors and 3 Ap classes
my unweighted GPA is a 3.8 and my weighted is a 4.0
( my school doesn’t weigh honor classes).
Took many classes focused on the health field such as Biotechnology, Clinical Health, and Human Psy
Standardized Testing:
have not taken any, scheduled to take the November SAT
Extracurricular:
-part of college honor society( Phi theta Keppa)
-have 2 research published one with my states medical school and another through Rutgers University
-President for my schools AVID service club, HOSA, Model UN
-Part of my schools Advisory Board( Represent students to industry partners)
-Student ambassador
-Tutor( teach social studies and biology from 9th-12th grade)
-Created mentor ship program through AVID service club, planned schools first ever special ed prom
-Created a sex-ed program where we thought 5-8th graders about puberty through HOSA
-I am an advisor for Model UN as my school is the only public school participating in model UN in my state, so I took on the task and recruited different public schools around my states to participate as its is a club dominated by private schools
- I am a manager at Five Guys
-I am an employee at Pieology
-In my free time I like to learn languages( ASL, Russian)
Don’t shift the focus away from your academics. You need both to be competitive for top colleges. A dip in gpa junior year would be a red flag.
Your GPA is not bad, but I agree you need to stay focused on grades. Do you have any grades below a B?
Agree with the above. Adding that you want to target taking five core courses per year…the courses you mentioned above do not sound like core courses.
So, four years each of English, soc studies, FL, math, and science (including bio, chem, and physics).
OP wrote:
“I hope to go to a Top 20 university, but my GPA is below average.”
This statement needs to be clarified. Is your GPA below average for your school or for your targeted colleges & universities ?
What is your class rank ?
Are you an URM (under-represented minority) ?
My impression after reading your post #2 above is that you may not have an accurate perspective regarding your standing & accomplishments. Based on the information shared above, you appear to be a strong candidate for admission to several “Top 20” schools.
If you have to work in order to help support your family, then that should be r noted on your college applications–it is a positive.
No i do not have any grades lower than a B, my B’s are my math classes
Also I take about 11-13 classes each year, as I have 5 of my main course classes which are the gen ed requirements such as ELA, math, SS, and science and I have 2 electives which i fill up with health related classes. Each semester i take about 2-3 college classes .
No I am not a URM as I am Filipino(Asian), but I do work to help support my family and I will be a first gen .
I was wondering if you could elaborate on your comment about
" My impression after reading your post #2 above is that you may not have an accurate perspective regarding your standing & accomplishments."
Aim for schools that make financial sense and not based solely on rank.
Willing to bet that no “T-20” has a Health Administration major.
Perhaps look at the Global Health major at USC. The major includes many courses in international relations/public policy and covers the bases of core courses required by premeds.
Your GPA seems fine. Focus on academics, and colleges really like to see improvement as high school goes on. College admission is basically a lottery as there are so many amazing students applying to every school. A high ACT/SAT will be important, and have a range of schools on your list, not just a bunch of top schools and a safety. PLEASE have a range and include some schools in the middle! 
First gen coming from an economically disadvantaged school will help. What is your family’s financial situation? Will they be helping you pay for college? The finances have to play a big role in developing your list. Also, what grade are you in?
Agree that you will not find health administration in any top 20 school. That’s more of a graduate degree. For applications to top schools you should demonstrate intellectual curiosity outside of a narrow career path.
I am currently a sophomore going to be a junior the next school year, My family situation is that both of my parents work as nurse aides at the hospital where their gross income combine is 85,000k+. As for finances my parents are not that ecstatic of paying out of state tuition or me moving out of state, they prefer me to attend my states university.
I planned on moving out with the money i have saved up working and financing my own college education by going community college first then later on transferring to one of the top 20 schools .
It seems that you might want to sit back and rethink your approach at this stage, before you hit the critical junior year. First, responding to the specific question you asked, it would be a mistake to focus your attention more towards your clubs and less towards your academics - or, in any event, taking that approach isn’t going to be helpful to you in the college admissions process. Your GPA is very strong and your resume overall is impressive, so there should be a lot of possibilities open to you. You say you want to major in Health Administration, but as others have pointed out, that’s not a major you are likely to find at a T20 school. International relations/public policy you would find at many T20s. If you are serious about Health Administration, you might want to look at larger schools and see if there are schools where you would be eligible for financial aid. If you decide to put off Health Administration until graduate school and focus more on IR/public policy as an undergraduate, the pool of schools would be larger and you might find a great school that also would be willing to provide you with very substantial financial aid. I think you need to study the financial aid issues very carefully at this stage. If you follow your current strategy of doing community college first and then transferring, you may find you are not eligible as a transfer for any merit aid, which can be a very important piece of the puzzle, and trying to pay for even two years at a T20 by yourself and then going on to graduate school could become very expensive and likely impossible. If you can be more flexible in the schools you will consider, you might be able to find a great school that offers the majors you are interested in and provides you with a great financial package. If you have access to a capable advisor at school, that might be a good place to start brainstorming about options. Otherwise, the people here will be happy to help.
Look into schools with strong public health majors and pre-health advising to fill out your list. Focusing only on T20s is unlikely to be affordable. A school like Emory that meets full need, may be good to have on the list as a reach but a state school or lower ranked LAC known for generous scholarships, is more likely to be affordable.
Look at Amherst, Bowdoin, Davidson, Pomona, Rice and Swarthmore for viable reach schools (and Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford for lottery reach schools) that will meet full need with no loans.
As you do, pick out the schools you find most interesting to you- and then research ‘schools like X college’ looking for match and safety schools to add.
If you are female, you sound like a great candidate for Barnard.
Depending on what you consider to be “top 20” (universities? LACs? both?) there are a lot of very strong colleges for which you look to be good odds on full scholarships that could leave you with no or low (~$20K) debt.
Look at the STAMPS scholarship schools (https://www.stampsscholars.org/our-program/partner-schools/)- the program is great both financially and in the ‘extras’ that go with it.