2.6 uw from freshmen year as i failed geometry/ended honors bio with a C, had just moved from india and was bullied. Sophmore- mostly B’s in core classes and as a junior i am in ap stat apush ap lang spanish 3 pre calc and physics with 3 A’s. nextyear-senior- ap calc/econ/physics c/internship/lit/environmental, 1520 on the sat although i will retake it. current uw average is around an 86.i also was in envionrmental club, red cross,book club, non profit. relay against hunger at my old school and this year i tutor twice a week, am in model united nations, unicef, this summer i am doing internship at math center for little kids as i have a interest in teaching, hospital volunteering, and i want to start a club next year, what EC’S can i do to improve my app? i was thinking about looking for a technical internship and volunteering to teach old people swimming as i have no sports on my app, also i moved here this year just to get into tech, i do not have strong science or math courses hence taking ap calc and physics c as a senior but will that matter to tech or will more emphasis be placed on my not so rigorous freshmen and sophmore? thanks for any help, i will be an in state indian female when i apply, and also im taking college government over the summer through gwinett tech, should i maybe take another college science or something, although tech emailed me back saying only high school courses count, any insight is much appreciated
Sorry for the bad grammar I typed this on my phone guys
It’s always worth taking tougher classes your senior year. not only for admission to GT, but to other schools. It also prepares you for the rigor of college (and will earn you some college credit $$$).
What do you think you want to study in college? If you want to go to an engineering college like GT, then–
What is your math score on the SAT or ACT? Study and take the SAT again in senior year, study especially math problems and if you can afford it, take a good SAT prep class over the summer. Math score matters most for any engineering college like GT.
Take the SAT subject exam Math 2 and whichever science you are strongest in, Biology, Chemistry or Physics. Look at the practice problems on line to figure out what sort of questions are on the SAT subject exams. They are shorter then the regular SAT and offered a few times a year, this June might be a good time to try them.
Take BC Calculus if it is offered rather than AB calculus. It will be a harder class though. It covers almost twice as much material so it will be rigorous. Your senior year classes matter the most and take them very seriously both physics and calculus. Get tutors if you need them. Have you taken chemistry? What are you doing this summer? Try to enroll in more academics this summer at a community college in math and sciences. Chemistry is a good idea if you have not taken that yet. Take as much math and science as you can. The EC are not that important to most engineering colleges. Your math scores and your math and sciences classes matter most.
Most colleges use the math SAT score as an indicator of success in engineering , math and science. Liberal arts colleges focus more on the English SAT score.
I have taken regular chemsitry ass a sophmore and got an 85, and i emailed tech and they said they dont count any courses taken at a local community college when calculating gpa as it is taken as an extra to the school required credits, but i also heard tech does care about EC’s and ive mostly tutoed and dont local fundraisers so i dont know how that will hold up
@nervousjunior98. Although Georgia Tech admits freshman to the school as a whole and not by major, it seems it is harder to transfer into the College of Computing, it requires a 3.3 versus a 3.0 GPA. So, I would extrapolate that it may be easier to get into GT engineering or GT science or math majors, than College of Computing, both from the GPA requirement to transfer in and from the fact that lots of Colorado students who designate CS get rejected with very high stats, such as ACT=36. That also leads me to believe that ECs matter to GT, but I have no idea what sort of EC they like. Visit GT, take a tour and ask an admissions counselor what they are looking for. Being in state and female helps a little bit. Being Asian Indian does not help, is what I have heard. The school is very popular with Asian Indian American families. Look at U of Georgia too, to be sure you get in somewhere. Case Western in Ohio may also be a good fit for you and they offer merit based scholarships. You should take two SAT subject exams. I cannot emphasize that enough. its not required but it will help you. Take SAT Math 2 and SAT Physics as your two choices, as long as you are good at physics. SAT Chemistry is harder, but look on line and do practice problems to gauge your strenths in math, physics and chemistry.
3.1 over the course of high school, as this year i am ending with a B in AP lang and apush
please help guys
Honestly that’s a pretty low GPA for Tech, which you already know. But they do holistic review so it’s not impossible, assuming you write some very compelling essays and have great recommendations and can clearly demonstrate an upward trend. As for this summer, what’s your passion? If you can demonstrate that you pursued what matters to you – be that an internship, independent project, volunteering – that will help so long as it’s clear it matters to you and isn’t something designed to pad your resume.
If you’ve looked through the threads here, you know the acceptance rate is low and plenty of “perfect” candidates were waitlisted or denied. There are no guarantees and your chances are definitely impacted by your GPA. Make sure you have a great Plan B in place. Honestly your GPA is low even for UGA, but there are lots of GA schools where you could thrive either for the entirety of college or long enough to bring your grades up and transfer. Don’t hang all your hopes and dreams on a single school, especially one so competitive.
Thank you for your honest insight, I agree my gpa is low and I do not deserve to go to tech when students way better than me worked their butts off and were rejected. Freshmen year my family constantly fought because of my brothers ADD and I had just moved and was bullied. Not to pity myself but it was rough, this summer I am doing an internship at a math center for young kids, volunteering at my local hospital, volunteering at an animal hospital and hopefully creating my own Hindi newsletter which can be distributed in India, I am also planning on conducting free swim classes for elder people as I am a good swimmer although I never pursued it competitively, do u think a perfect sat score and high sat subject tests in math and physics could help?
Yes that’s why I was thinking of applying to the school of international relations and then changing my major to something enginering related the second year, although I know even for the international school I have a slim chance with my stats
I would encourage you to build a college list of places where you are likely to get in, rather than just focusing on one dream school.
In addition, at many schools it is not easy to switch to an unrelated major after admission. So really investigate whether you could even get into the engineering prerequisite classes if you aren’t accepted for engineering and if you would be able to switch majors if you did or if the departments are full/impacted.
Pretty much Georgia Tech requires 3.75 to even have a shot. Most if those with these grades won’t get in.
Was the early GPA in an Indian system or in a US school?
Are you a US citizen?
In any case it’s unhealthy to obsess over one ‘Dream School’ 
so it’s time to look into other colleges. Once you have a balanced list, add GT like the cherry on top of the cake.
First, try to find two safety schools.
If you live in Georgia, that would probably be the Georgia Perimeter + GATech program. Plus another college you can afford.
For a match, you could apply to Agnes Scott and do the 3+2, whereby you complete requirements at Agnes Scott then go to Georgia Tech. (unlike some 3+2 programs, because the schools are so close, you can easily do it.)
Salem has an agreement with Wake Forest.
There’s Smith, which may be willing to take a chance on you if your guidance counselor can’t tell your story of bullying, or BrynMawr 4+1 with Penn. Also you may have a shot at excellent tech schools like RIT, ucincinnati Co OP engineering or science, perhaps Rose Hulman, perhaps rpi as reaches.
I think @MYOS1634 has some great advice about broadening your search.
Yes, great test scores will definitely help (I mean, they’ll help anywhere to balance out the GPA issue), but I want to address one particular thing you said here: “I do not deserve to go to tech when students way better than me worked their butts off and were rejected.” No. Nooooooooooooo. College admissions never come down to who “deserves” it, because there are simply too many applicants and too few spots and too little information in application packets for admissions officers to always get it right. When it comes to selective schools, where you get in is about 25% your grades and test scores, 25% your extracurriculars, 25% your application, and 25% sheer luck/timing/other things totally outside of your control. Don’t get into what people “deserve.” It doesn’t apply here and you’ll make yourself miserable.
It sounds like you are bright and motivated and dealt with some crummy stuff at the beginning of high school. A college where you can be happy and successful is going to make you an offer, assuming that you make sure to apply to some safety/match choices and don’t just hang all your hopes on Tech. And if that school isn’t Tech and Tech is still your ultimate goal, work hard and transfer.
One thing I can tell you for sure is that college is going to be better than high school, no matter where you go.
thank you for your insight, and I agree I should broaden my search, but my parents moved to Georgia just so I could go to tech. naive on their behalf and now I have to see it through. I was thinking of doing some really cool EC’s which interest me this summer but i doubt it will be of much help, so far my plan is to-volunteer at my local hospital, internship at math center for kids, design an online service for children who have sibilings with disorders/diseases and went through what i did so they can vent and talk to me, start a swimming program at my local gym where I would teach older people how to swim. that is what i have so far, to be more academically competitive for tech, i am currently searching for a research internship to demonstrate that my past weak science background is not who i am today. any inisight?
thank you for your insight, and I agree I should broaden my search, but my parents moved to Georgia just so I could go to tech. naive on their behalf and now I have to see it through. I was thinking of doing some really cool EC’s which interest me this summer but i doubt it will be of much help, so far my plan is to-volunteer at my local hospital, internship at math center for kids, design an online service for children who have sibilings with disorders/diseases and went through what i did so they can vent and talk to me, start a swimming program at my local gym where I would teach older people how to swim. that is what i have so far, to be more academically competitive for tech, i am currently searching for a research internship to demonstrate that my past weak science background is not who i am today. any inisight? Also i looked into techs policy for major changing and it is quite simple once enrolled as tech admits competitive students which it deems fit to suceed in any major at tech.
The path to GeorgiaTech for you is as I explained:
- Agnes Scott 3+2 (the best solution for you)
or - Georgia Perimeter College (it’s a community college with an agreement with GT); there’s a similar deal with Georgia College, I think.
In addition, look at the offerings at UGA (also a terrific university). You can also see if you can apply to Oxford/emory and do a 3+2 or 4+1 there.
Your parents moved to Georgia for GeorgiaTech, but it’s a bit as if they moved to California so you can get into UC Berkeley: odds are so low that it’s a gamble. You’re not responsible for the outcome of your parents’ gamble. I understand you are under tremendous pressure from your parents, but understand that moving to Georgia doesn’t help in getting into GTech - it only lowers the cost for those who do get in.
Another benefit is that Agnes Scott takes HOPE so you could go to Agnes Scott for cheaper than many other students.
Your EC’s would actually help you more at a more holistic university, especially a smaller college.
Also, you need to build your list “from the ground up”.
Find 2 safety schools you can afford and wouldn’t mind going to. For example: Georgia Perimeter’s GT program, Salem (with Wake Forest Exchange), St Mary’s in Indiana (Engineering is with Notre Dame). If your weighted GPA gets to 3.5, you would qualify for full tuition at UAlabama and their Engineering is excellent.
Once that’s done, find 5 match schools with selectivity of about 40-50% that you like and can afford. (One of those would be Agnes Scott.) Spelman is another one. Georgia Southern offers engineering.
Once that’s done find a few reach schools. Oxford/Emory would be one.
Get “The Fiske GUide”, “Colleges that change lives”, and “The Princeton Review’s Best Colleges” from your library. Start reading. Put post its next to colleges you like. Pass them on to your parents. Encourage them to create an account on this website and to post in the Parents Forum.
No need for retaking the SAT. 1520 is awesome and better than 99% people.
Don’t do all of what you’ve planned this summer. Focus on the research internship and 1-2 things. (The most promising ones would be program at local gym to teach older people how to swim and the online program/app -?- to help other kids, kind of like alanon online.)
@nervousjunior98, it’s important for you to speak with your parents now. I understand your parents moved to Georgia because of Georgia Tech, but I hope this thread has helped clarify that it is probably a reach for you. Please don’t wait to bring your parents up to speed on the current admissions picture at Ga Tech, while you still have time to develop a full college application list.
@MYOS1634 thank you for your feedback but the thing is I need to go in state, my brother will be attending Kennesaw and my parents will make me go in state. Agnes Scott is an all female university if I am correct and I would prefer a Co ed university. Emorys oxford college costs 60000 annually to attend. I would not mind going to UGA either but being a state school, I figured they are more numbers based than Tech, as at least Tech considers Extra Curriculars.
I was considering taking some community college courses this summer to increase my gpa for UGA as the admissions office said the courses WOULD factor into my gpa, compared to tech which would only accept the courses on my high school trancript