Low gpa, high ACT score???!!!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hello all! So my grades were terrible freshman year because to be honest, I only cared about being social and didn’t care about school. Biggest mistake of my life. Anyways, I’m currently/will be a senior this year. I did exceptionally well on all my final/regents (I live in NY so we have something called Regents which are very important state mandated examinations. I got all 90’s this year which I didn’t in the past. SUNY schools look @ them only.) Here are my stats:

UW GPA: 85
W GPA: 88
ACT: 30 Essay = 9

AP’s: 5 (including senior year: AP Psych, AP English Comp, AP English Lit, AP Environmental Science, and AP Comp Sci Principles.)
AP Psych: 4
And I didn’t get credit for English Comp bc I got a 2 fml lol.
Honors: A bunch I can’t count lol

EC’s:
Varsity Gymnastics - freshman year
JV Volleyball - sophomore year
Had to quit all sports because I had a terrible concussion from volleyball. (Impacted my grades as well.)

Key Club: Vice-President (Junior Year) President (Senior Year)

Students Against Destructive Decisions Club:

Chairperson of Fundrasing (Junior Year)
President (Senior Year)

Peer Drug Educator (Had to be accepted into this drug and alcohol educator program.)

Volunteered the summer after sophomore year at my schools summer academy. (112 hours.)

Tutored kids - some with ADD/ADHD (20 hours.)

Freshman Orientation Committee (9th grade)

I work after school everyday for 2 1/2 hours. (Tutor and babysit.)

I don’t really have much to say for awards besides the fact that I was a top 100 finalist in a video competition but that’s basically it.

Also did my college essay as it was an AP English assignment. While a lot of people received 80’s and 90’s, I got a 100. My teacher even told my sister how much she loved my essay. So I think my essay is strong, but going to work on it a little more.

Letters of rec: Pre-Calculus teacher: 8/10 —> I participated everyday in class and got a 94 on my final. I had 80’s and 90’s as test grades, perfect homework. He even gave us a questionnare which is great and makes the rec more personal.

US History and Government Honors teacher 9/10 —> Had her freshman year and this year and she told me after the regents (final for NYS as I mentioned earlier) that she’s really proud of how I worked this year. Got a 98 on it btw.

Anecdotal: Business Essentials Teacher
I had a 100 in her class for the year and always stood out. Only a 2 or 3 other ppl had 100’s in assuming. We had mock interviews for this class and I was one of the two people who got a perfect score. I think she will have a lot to say about my work ethic. She’s really a great person

So what are my chances at these colleges? I’m going to apply to most of these colleges and I know it’s a big list but w me being in a sticky situation w a low gpa and higher act I’m so confused!!! :confused: Thanks! :slight_smile:

American University
Binghamton
UC Berkley
UCLA
UConn
University of Delaware
Drexel
Hartford
Hofstra
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Indiana University
Lehigh
LIU Post
UMD
UMass
University of Michigan
NYU
Penn State University
Pittsburgh
University of Southern California
SUNY Oneonta
Syracuse University
The Ohio State University
Tulane university
SUNY University at Buffalo
University of Wisconsin - Madison

2

NYU, Michigan, Tulane, Lehigh, U of Illinois, and USC will all be fairly big reaches, but pick a couple of those to research the heck out of and demonstrate interest. You never know. You have a legitimate shot at the rest. And, more importantly, with your maturity and work ethic you are going to do something great in life. Don’t get so caught up in the whole competitiveness for undergraduate institutions. Find a great fit for you and kick butt. Best of luck!

3

Can you afford to be full pay at UCLA or UCB (if you get in, of course)?

4

Sorry, I should have added UCLA and UC Berkeley to the reach column. Didn’'t see them before. What I wrote next still stands, though.

5

Yes money is not an issue for me :slight_smile:

6

@NJDad68 everyone always says to demonstrate interest but how could I do that?

7

And thank you! :slight_smile: ^

8

The “Why Tulane (insert school)?” essay. The less generic the better.

9

@nammyohorengekyo, I can tell you specifics only for Tulane. They want to see knowledge and enthusiasm for the community service opportunities in the New Orleans area. They want to see how the school’s particular offerings connect with your career goals and how you might take charge of your progress toward those goals by crafting an interdisciplinary approach to your studies and/or working on research under the tutelage of a specific faculty member or set of members. They want to see a thirst for connecting with other cultures, as demonstrated by superior achievement in foreign languages and a thirst for connecting with other cultures via travel or exchange opportunities. In a nutshell, be specific about the academic aspect of things, and connect the dots to your passion and your goals.

10

@NJDad68 wow thanks a lot!

11

American, UConn, Bing, IU, UMass, Penn State, Pitt, tOSU, Syracuse = reachable reaches.
SUNY Buffalo, Drexel, Oneonta = targets
All others = out of reach (a B average with recommendations praising your work ethics and lots of ECs without state or national recognition won’t help at these universities).
Look into strong private universities that are Need-aware and thus where your ability to be full pay will help: Fairfield, Providence, Hobart-and-William Smith, Siena, St Bonaventure, St Anselm, Ithaca, Marist, Muhlenberg, Lebanon Valley, St Joseph’s (Philadelphia), Duquesne, Goucher.

12

30 is not a high act score

13

26 schools? Would you honestly be happy at these schools? All of them? If I were you, I’d cut that list in half before going any further. Honestly, you shouldn’t apply to that many, and if you do, you will hardly be able to give all of them the amount of time and energy you need to give in order to make those applications good.

Cut down to 10-13. I’m in the same boat as you in terms of high score, low GPA, and I’m only applying to 8.

14

@Abdulmalik142 30 may not seem like a high ACT score compared to what is often seen on CC, but it’s in the 94th percentile of all test takers. While that won’t cut it for the most selective schools, it’s well above average for many other universities, including SUNY Oneonta and Drexel.

I agree that the list should be narrowed down considerably. Some of these schools (UCB, UCLA, USC, Michigan) are most likely out of reach. It’d be better to cut some of them off and focus on more realistic reaches.

Good luck OP!

15

@nammyohorengekyo, in case you were having trouble wrapping your head around this “show interest in conducting research as an undergraduate” thing that I mentioned about Tulane, here is an article giving you a flavor of what it looks like in action. It describes that TURN (Tulane Undergraduate Research in Neuroscience) program. Even if you are not interested in the neurosciences, you can apply analogous thinking to propose collaboration with Tulane faculty in your application. See, http://news.tulane.edu/news/neuroscience-majors-turn-research?utm_source=nwemail. Best of luck with your applications!