Low GPA Chances

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Miami - Florida
1

<p>Wanting to keep a long story short, I'll just say that high school really wasn't the most pleasant experience. I went through tons of bullying, tons of problems with people at my school; simply put, it wasn't a place I wanted to be. I dreaded having to wake up every morning and go to school. Axiomatically, that reflected in my course work. I have three very well respected teachers (one of them was my AP United States teacher and she has the highest pass rate in the state for the course: 94%) who have committed to writing their application for me, trying to give a teacher perspective that the GPA doesn't reflect my knowledge/intelligence. Here are the stats:</p>

<p>GPA: 2.5
ACT: 28
SAT: 1790
Class: Junior
Ethnicity: Hispanic
In-state Student</p>

<p>AP Tests: Biology (2), World History (4), Spanish Language (5), United States History (took this year, I'm confident I got a 4-5), English Language (took this year, passed definitely), Comparative Government & Politics (took this year, passed definitely)</p>

<p>Classes</p>

<p>Algebra I Honors
Algebra II Honors
Geometry Honors
Pre-Calculus
AP Statistics OR BC Calculus (will take next year)</p>

<p>AP World History
AP US History
AP American Gov. (will take next year)
AP Micro/AP Macro (will take next year)
AP European History (will take next year)</p>

<p>English I Honors
English II Honors
AP English Language
AP English Literature (will take next year)</p>

<p>AP Biology
Chemistry Honors
Physics Honors
Marine Science Honors (will take next year online)</p>

<p>Chorus (all years)
Debate I
Debate II
Basketball
AP Spanish Language
French I
French II
French III
AP French (will take next year)</p>

<hr>

<p>Holistic Application</p>

<p>-French National Honor Society
-President of FNHS
-Spanish National Honor Society
-President of French Club
-Beta Club
-Key Club
-150 hours of community service
-Music National Honor Society (Tri-M)</p>

2

<p>What is your weighted GPA?</p>

3

<p>^ Weighted GPA’s not gonna make a difference in this case; it hardly ever matters anyways, since every school does it different.</p>

<p>This is a tough situation, as your GPA is certainly low but your ACT is fairly decent! If you really want a shot, there are three KEY things you can do to help:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Get your ACT and/or SAT score up. If you can break 30 on the ACT, that’ll be a huge plus for your application, and in that case don’t even send in your SAT. By the way, what is your SAT just math and critical reading?
You have all summer to prepare, study, and practice for the ACT and the September test administration leaves room for you to get your app in on time.</p></li>
<li><p>Apply early action… it’s pretty much the best application period to apply for with UM.</p></li>
<li><p>Incorporate the challenges you’ve faced in your essay or additional information section. Without detailing why your grades are low, the admissions officers will have no clue why and they won’t assume it’s because you had a hard time; they’ll assume you aren’t a high-caliber student and you’ll likely get rejected. If you explain your challenges, they’ll get the picture and it’ll be backed up by your decent ACT score because obviously you’re not, for lack of a better term, dumb.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Best of luck!</p>