I have not yet taken the SAT due to having to work on Saturdays. My GPA has taken a turn for the worst, but I had to work 40 hour weeks to support my family. Anyway, I took a practice SAT and scored a 2200. If I were able to score in that range on the 6th, would I stand a chance at a school like MIT or Williams College? Should I retake it to get a score in the 2300 range? I know I’m acting ridiculous, but this is the only thing I have. I don’t have in school ECs because I have been working in fast food since 9th grade. I had to quit track because my dad was struggling with less of my support. My GPA is probably at 3.4 now. I’m not too stellar. Will a high SAT at least get ad coms to look at my application for more than 5 minutes?
Practice score means nothing.
Come back with a real score.
Also, low GPA and high SAT combination is potentially harmful because it makes you look like a smart kid who take tests well but puts less effort in class
@paul2752 alright thank you! I guess I’ll just try to ace my final exams and bring up those grades during senior year
Colleges will take into account that you had to work 40 hours a week to support your family. It’s actually pretty amazing that you can still get a 3.4 even while spending so much time out of school.
Unfortunately, grades are basically the most important part of the admissions process. You will have to thoroughly explain your situation in the Common App or have your Guidance Counselor thoroughly go over your situation in his/her recommendation for you to have a shot.
@paul2752 is right, you need an actual score for us to realistically chance you.
Your story is very compelling but I don’t know how colleges will react to that.
For MIT/Williams a 2250~ is probably ideal with all your sections having a score of 700+.
For MIT and Williams, I would say that it would be very hard to get into with your GPA. If you are set on those schools though, you should aim for 2300+ on the SAT. Also, make sure to explain your situation (as you did above) in your essays so that the colleges know why you don’t have ECs. Chance me?
Thank you very much @rdeng2614 ! You always provide me with thorough and encouraging answers. I cannot thank you enough. Since you say that grades are probably the most important part, I guess some focus should be shifted towards acing my final exams and getting perfect grades during the first semester of senior year. So applying ED or EA would only hurt in my case. I need to write a very good essay. I want to write one that explains my situation, but I don’t want it to be deprecating or a sympathy seeking sob story. I’m just nervous because my competition for schools like MIT and Williams, as well as the others on my list, are all like 3.9+ GPA kids who do every club in school. I mean I guess I feel beneath them sometimes because they shun me; I obviously don’t earn the highest marks, my family comes off as extremely weird or different because there are so many things going on, and I don’t seem involved in school because my time is obviously not spent there after school. I just really love math and science. I’m just afraid because schools like MIT/Williams/Harvard/Stanford seem
virtually robotic with admissions. If they are scaring me, I am not going to even bother with CalTech if you catch my drift. I’m especially afraid because I find that I am falling in love with Harvard all over again. I had been obsessed with it since the 6th grade. It just seems like my kind of place. But what if they, along with every other school, spend a minute looking at my app? I just am so nervous. I lie awake until 3 in the morning just thinking of them, the adcoms, gathered around a harkness table (I really love those); someone is pointing out my application flaws, someone is pointing out my struggles, and the others, they are indifferent. The downward trend is staining the screen from the projector and I suddenly have been deferred. What if I’m rejected? I have been rejected from like everything I have applied to. I have missed 100% of the shots I have taken (in this sense), but I still keep going after it with some foolish optimism. I mean college is my ticket out of here; a school that I love is my ticket out of here. I’m sorry if I come off as entitled, but I feel like it’s my turn now.
idk but i think you’d need a way higher GPA for MIT most likely… i have a 3.5ish weighted (not counting AP credits - everything as a regular class, for example an A in speech is given a 4 and an A in Chemistry AP is also given a 4) and i’m not gonna apply to MIT cause i’m not gonna get in most likely. also you should look at your real score before deciding on definite colleges because usually practice SAT scores are fluffed a bit cause you’re not doing them in a pressured setting where you have to get a good score… but for sure you can go to a great college, i just dont think the Ivies would be the best choice…
honestly, idk because you seem like you have a lot going on and that would make a great essay, but in my opinion, i think you should be doing at least one activity that sets you apart from everyone else to have a sort of shot at those top tier universities. my friend got accepted into Brown because he placed in some national juggling competition… but on the other hand he also had a near perfect GPA and tons of AP classes, but on the previous hand, he probably didnt have as many responisibilities as you… it could go either way so i encourage you to apply but you might want to apply to safety schools as well to kinda fall back on cause these schools look like reach schools to me. i hope you get in wherever to want to! but remember its not important what college you go to, its what you major in: my english teacher’s sister goes to Harvard but she’s majoring in pop culture history or something weird like that. DONT DO THAT!!! its better to go to a less presitigious school for a major that you really want to do than a more presitigious school for something random that you picked last minute. hope this helps!
your story is very compelling and while this is not a guaranteee youll get accepted, colleges DO look at the entire application.
I had a 3.56 and am going to berkeley this fall
First, having a steady job since 9th grade is considered a 'strong EC’and much better than being in a dozen clubs (it’s at the level of being all American in your sport sorta).
Second, don’t obsess about a school with a 3% acceptance rate rd.
Third, are you urm/lower income ? Are you attending a lower performing school in Boston or MA ?