Low gpa high class rank

Applying to College
1

<p>How do colleges look at students with a low gpa but a high class rank. If a student has only a 3.5 but is in the top ten percent will colleges look at the gpa differently?</p>

2

<p>Colleges will look at your transcript and each applicant in the context of the school. If you go to a severely disadvantaged high school, they will cut you a break. If you go to an extremely prestigious high school like Stuyvesant, then you’re definitely fine if you’re in the top 10%.
I really can’t give you a better answer. A 3.5 is pretty low for any top 20 school so while I wouldn’t dissuade you from applying, I wouldn’t recommend counting on an acceptance.</p>

3

<p>What defines a disadvantaged high school?</p>

4

<p>Most high school’s no longer provide ranking to colleges – and that includes schools like Stuyvesant – so Admissions must estimate a student’s rank by guessing if they are in the top 10% or top 25% of their class. One way they do this is to put all applications from a high school in GPA rank order and then compare the course rigor. </p>

<p>The other way they do this is by looking at a high school’s profile and comparing the information in the profile to a student’s transcript. For example, a student at Stuyvesant who has an ‘A’ average with 3 AP’s would not be in the top 10% of their class. However, a student that has 8 to 10 AP’s with an ‘A’ average would be. See: <a href=“http://stuy.enschool.org/ourpages/auto/2013/3/7/37096823/Stuyvesant%20Profile%202013-2014.pdf”>http://stuy.enschool.org/ourpages/auto/2013/3/7/37096823/Stuyvesant%20Profile%202013-2014.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>FWIW: To level the playing field, every college recalculates a student’s GPA to their own institutional formula: <a href=“http://www.possibilityu.com/how-calculate-your-“real”-high-school-gpa”>http://www.possibilityu.com/how-calculate-your-“real”-high-school-gpa&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

5

<p>All colleges send a school profile along with the transcript which provides colleges information about average grades, SATs, levels of classes offered, if/how GPAs are weighted etc. in the school. The HS record will be read in conjunction with that school profile. </p>

6

<p>Very important in the school profile is % of seniors attending 2 or 4 yr colleges, % students eligible for Federal free/reduced lunch and maybe % of HS students graduating in 4 yrs, .</p>

<p>All these point to the relative economic level of the school community.</p>

7

<p>See if your own hs ranks and provides that to colleges. Not all colleges recalculate, but adcoms do look at the transcript, to see how you did in the more important classes. You can take a look on your own at your gpa for just core classes (not phys ed, ceramics, etc,) to get an idea. An issue with low gpa/high rank is it says your peer competition wasn’t strong–but you still didn’t ace all classes. The net result will depend on the colleges you are interested in.</p>

8

<p>My school does rank. My school is one of the worst in the state with state testing. We have over half getting free lunches. I think about half go to 4 year colleges. Does this make it harder to get into colleges?</p>

9

<p>You have to id some colleges. Some just have minimum gpas; at the far extreme, applicants to the most selectives will have plenty of competition from 4.0 uw kids. And all the schools that review holistically (at a minimum, the Common App schools,) are going to be looking for more than stats. </p>

<p>How new to all this are you? Are you familiar with looking at college web pages where they describe the stats of matriculated freshmen (or sometimes admitted kids?) Nearly every school out there will describe their hs prep requirements and sometimes “what we look for.”</p>

10

<p>A 3.5 GPA is just what it is (3.5/4.0), irrespective of class rank.
Many High school do not have class ranks reported, so that is never used as a universal assessment.</p>

11

<p>Does your school use Naviance or another software package for tracking college applications? If so, does the data indicate that student’s are not getting into colleges?</p>

12

<p>We don’t have software. Most people go to local schools and sometimes the main state school. No one in my class is applying to anywhere far away or hard to get into. </p>

13

<p>Forget about all the pros and cons of your High School, its a bit late for that assessment now… that is something you do before attending the school.
What are your test scores, and what colleges are you applying to? Colleges have their benchmarks on what they re looking for in applicants, and they rarely make exemption for them.</p>

14

<p>@Amcdoland: if half of your school is eligible for free/reduced lunch, it means your school is assumed to be under-resourced. Your school’s almost last in the state test scores validate that point. I highly doubt half of your graduates are going to 4yr colleges.</p>

<p>Your 3.5 GPA, making you one of the top students, will be understood in that context. Savvy colleges will understand that. It’s not unheard of that a 3.5GPA could be the valedictorian. It happens. What will be essential for you is your ACT/SAT.</p>

<p>However, some public schools evaluation criteria is rigid and your 3.5 would be compared with other kids’ 3.5. In those circumstances, for some competitive public colleges, it can be detrimental.</p>

<p>@ccco2018:

Ummmm. most kids in this country go to their local school and don’t have an option to avoid the school, even if it’s one of the worst in the state.</p>

<p>

For the rare high potential scholars from bad schools, you BET they’ll make exceptions.</p>

15

<p>^ OP knows the reality now,…
I was emphasizing that going back to see what High school status can do to make the present a better situation is no excuse. Best option is working with what you have now, and researching schools that might be a MATCH… with right FIT & BALANCE… </p>

16

<p>A 3.5 and top 10% is fine for many many colleges and universities. But the fact that the school isn’t so competitive or is under-resourced doesn’t change the B’s into A’s, for the more selective colleges. The grades reflect OP’s actual performance. Right, OP has to find the right matches and safeties. And he or she can.</p>

<p>Where a hs is under-resourced, has fewer kids off to college after graduation, has lower average SAT/ACT, etc, has greater impact for the 4.0 students. </p>

17

<p>^ Exactly my point.</p>