Im a junior and I have a 2.82 gpa. I have one semester left in my junior year to raise it, and I still can raise it through my first semester of senior year. I scored a 33 on the ACT. I haven’t taken the real SAT yet, but I’ve scored in the 1400s on the practice ones (on the new 1600 point scale SAT). Anyways, I have reasoning for my low GPA. Freshman year I was in one AP class and four honors classes. I went on a one month vacation near the end of first semester of freshman year and when I came back to make up my finals, I failed them all. And on top of that, I decided to pull the typical teenage act and said “f*ck school” and didnt take it seriously until sophomore year. I know this basically ruined my transcript, and it’s my fault. I finished freshman year with a 1.1 GPA. Sophomore year I was in three AP classes and two honors classes. My parents didn’t let me leave the house or use my phone during the school year because of my 1.1 freshman year. I finished with a 4.1 sophomore year. My first semester of junior year I finished with a 3.6. If I keep my GPA going up at this rate it will be in the 3.0s by the end of first semester of senior year. The question here is will my 33 on the ACT make up for my overall GPA and my alarming transcript? My dream colleges are University of Wisconsin Madison and University of Kansas. Can someone please tell me if there is any chance, or if I should just take one of the alright offers that I’ve gotten (Valparaiso University, Loyola University, Ball State University. University of Concordia Chicago, Creighton University, Saint Xavier University, and Culver Stockton University.)
State of residence matters because you are more likely instate. From there, you need to look at each college. Some don’t count freshman year or take it as lighter. Upward trend helps. I would not expect merit aid with a GPA below 3.0 (or 3.5 for that matter).
If you’re a junior, you haven’t received any offer. (Even athletes won’t hear till June). In all likelihood, you received emails from third parties contracted by the colleges, based on the fact you got an ACT score they want.
My recommendation would be 1° try to push that to a 3.0 and continue with the rigor 2° aim for a university where your GPA is average that has a great Honors College, where you’d get in through reconsideration through an essay explaining your situation + your scores and course rigor.
So, UW Eau Claire Honors, WKU Honors, Towson, Ohio University, Montana State, Ole Miss, UIowa. All good schools where you have a shot not just at admission but at Honors college thanks to 3.0+ + rigor + ACT 33.
You may also have a shot at universities where a combination of judicious checks on the application combined with course rigor offset the low GPA (if you have a 3.0 by the end of junior year, you have a shot at Penn State, provided you apply in September or October AND check DUS and Summer session, since you’ll meet the highest level of curriculum rigor and your ACT is over 32 these factors combined would make that university a possibility for you. 46K though, not cheap.) Those would typically be large public universities that allow you to apply “undecided” and where applying for a start during summer session puts you into a less competitive bucket. Beside Penn State, Florida State is another one.
However, most public universities will stop at your GPA at the end of junior year, so your best bet would be to go with private universities that have holistic admissions, will include Senior year grades, and will appreciate your 33, such as Beloit or Muhlenberg.
Another possibility for you is to apply to Canadian colleges: they’ll ONLY look at your 11th and 12th grade grades as well as your ACT: McGill, UBC, Simon Fraser, Mount Allison, UNBC, Dalhousie, Waterloo… there are a lot of possibilities. Start with the ones ^ and figure out selectivity and costs. (They should have an “international admissions-> US high schools” section.)
Cal States use 10th+11th; they include possibilities for you such as SDSU, Cal Poly Pomona, Sonoma State, even Chico Honors.
A high ACT, even a 36, will not be able to compensate for a lackluster GPA. A high ACT and low GPA will make it seem like you are smart but do not apply yourself in school–which is something colleges don’t want to see in applicants.
Also, your reason for your bad GPA is not a “good excuse” at all. I would just own up to it. I agree with what MYOS said above.
McGill looks at grades 10, 11 and 12. The minimum GPA’s range from 3.0 to 3.7 unweighted. They also require minimum grades in particular courses related to planned major. McGill would likely be an automatic rejection.
That is not the typical teenager.
I beg to differ with you TomSrOfBoston, maybe not on here, but I’d say most teenagers have that mindset nowadays.
@ivyyhopeful Maybe in your circle of friends.
^ “#[`^@ school” is probably the most popular sentiment among 14 year old boys.
But that won’t help OP.
So, applying abroad is a solution, applying broadly is another solution, starting to think differently about college.
I would say, “---- school” is a popular thing to say, but not necessarily to think. Lots of kids say “ahh yeah I failed that test,” or “I didn’t do that homework,” when in actuality they aced the test and have never missed a homework; they just don’t want to be seen as a try-hard.
Apologies for the digression.