I’m just curious on your opinions. I’ve heard so many different answers from guidance counselors, admission offices and other people. I don’t know exactly my GPA or my SAT, for I am only a sophomore but the way things are working out I have a pretty good idea of what it will come out to be. I’m guessing it will end up being somewhere between 2.7-3.1 and an SAT overall score of 1850. But on top of that, I will also have to the experience of taking a gap year as a Rotary Exchange Student and I’m hoping that will brighten things up when applying. I’ve been told that it will help so much or very little and that it’s all about grades. I’m not looking to go to Ivy League, although that would be nice :). I’m going for a degree in International Relations or Political Science. Opinions on if this would boost my chances to applying to colleges or not help very much? Thanks guys.
It will just be another EC. For most colleges Grades > Scores >> ECs.
Agree with above. Your focus need to be on schools you are academically qualified for.
A year as a Rotary student would definitely help you, but mostly at LACs and schools where foreign experience is valued. It will NOT help with straight GPAXscore universities (like CSUs) but for some directionals it’ll help qualify you for Honors College (Towson would be a good example of this).
However, while it’ll make admission to a LAC ranked 60-125 more likely, it won’t “transform” a B GPA into an "A " GPA. It’ll make you competitive for “B to B+” colleges even if you have a 3.1, but it won’t make universities where the average GPA is 3.7 within the realm of possibility.
I’d advise reading Colleges that Change lives and focusing on those colleges first.