Can an extremely low GPA on 3.55 (uw) and 4.09 (w) - I go to a competitive school and I switched schools in between from an easy to a hard school, and I’m in IB - really make admissions reject me, even though I have good extra curricular and my essay is good? I want to major in Chemistry. JHU is my dream school! But I just want to go to a top tier/low ivy school (Duke, Cornell, Columbia, Stanford, WashU).
You would need a 2300 SAT or 35 ACT, That MAY make up for the mediocre GPA.
If you have any hooks, you could still have a fighting chance with a ACT over 31/SAT over 2100. URM, interesting back story, family struggle, anything to make you stand out more from the crowd. Some top tier universities also prioritize extracurricular activities and the passion that you may have for a particular field. I see that you’ve already written your essay, but if you can parlay your extracurriculars into a solid essay discussing why you want to go into chemistry, you’ll have a better chance. My GPA was lower than yours and I’m a rising junior at Northwestern now. Anything is possible.
You have your reach schools. Now, start thinking of colleges where a 3.55 doesn’t make you a marginal applicant and where your weighted 4.09 will be appreciated: flagship’s honors colleges, LACs in the 60-125 range, etc.
I would remove Stanford unless you have national-level awards in something (academics, sport, chess…)
Not sure how hard the school you are going to is, particularly for IB. GPA may not be that bad.Need to know SATs/AC
Ts, SAT IIs, AP Exam, and IB results. But, yeh, apply to those schools as reaches, and come up with a balanced list with lower ranked schools and safes.
You do not have an “extremely low” GPA, and just using a phrase like that will discourage people from providing constructive suggestions. Your unweighted GPA is on the low end of the spectrum for the handful of colleges you listed. They reject thousands of near-perfect applicants every year. All anyone here can suggest is that you build a realistic list from the bottom up, identifying schools where your chances are better than 5%.
So my school is the only IB school in the county and it is extremely competitive. Like people take 7 APs + 7 IB classes for GPA boosting, and they are like within 0.1 always from each other. I don’t understand why colleges just assume you’re dumb if you don’t have a high gpa. I do have some so called “safety” schools…just I feel Hopkins will provide me with the right opportunities.
Colleges will recalculate gpa anyway. If this ib program is the most rigorous in the county, your guidance counselor will provide that information in the ssr and that will be taken into account.
You now need to build a real list of colleges that includes two safeties - schools you know you can get into, like, and can afford - and 4-5 matches (40%+ acceptance rate, like, can afford).
Well it definitely the most rigorous in the county, as it is the only ib school in the county therefore it is swarmed with every competitive student you can think of. How much can extra curriculars count for Hopkins?
Google the Common Data Set for JHU. Look at section C7.
@kaydsosa How much can move being considered something that makes you stand out from the crowd? Like many people move…but I wonder if Hopkins would really take into consideration how much it impacted the student, especially as I personally felt my old school was significantly easier in terms of IB compared to my new school.