Low GPA, high SATs

<p>Male/Caucasian
Large Public (~515 students)
Massachusetts
Low income
Possible majors: Econ, Computer Science</p>

<p>3.2-3.3 unweighted (2.4 freshman, 3.0 sophomore, 3.7 junior, 4 (term 1) senior) Class rank: top 25%
3.8-3.9 weighted (.75 AP, .5 H, .25 regular)</p>

<p>SAT I: 2370 (800 Math, 800 CR, 770 Writing(11 Essay))
ACT: 36</p>

<p>SAT II: US Hist 2 & Physics & Math II (800 all)</p>

<p>AP Exams:</p>

<p>AP Lang. (5)
AP US Hist. (5)
AP Macroeconomics (5)
AP Microeconomics (5)
AP Comp. Science A (5)
AP Psychology (5)
AP Calc. AB (5)
AP Lit. (5)
AP Government (5)</p>

<p>EC:</p>

<p>Cross Country Varsity (Junior & Senior)
Indoor Track Varsity (Junior & Senior)
Outdoor Track Varsity (Junior & Senior)
Summer Job at restaurant (Junior entering Senior)
Some volunteering hours (~ 50)</p>

<p>Assuming all Rec's are good.
Essays will be excellent.</p>

<p>Your GPA is quite low, even though your test scores are great. I would recommend considered Emory’s Oxford College, which I attended (oxford.emory.edu). After two years, you automatically continue to Emory’s Atlanta campus. You can apply to both campuses with the same application and application fee.</p>

<p>Since you mention you’re low-income, I’m also a little concerned by the other fora you’ve posted this thread in since out-of-state public schools are not likely to come anywhere close to meeting your financial need. It’s imperative that you find schools like Emory that will meet your financial need.</p>

<p>In general, a large disparity between tests and grades can indicate a few things to schools. Are you gifted, but lazy or uncooperative in classroom? Are you a typical high-average student, but just test well (or prepped really hard)? Is your school full of high-achieving students and just has a really tough grading system?</p>

<p>Any good admissions department will use their resources to sort through the mess and figure it out. Some will not care. The test scores alone will get you into many colleges. If you can explain the test scores a good school like Emory will likely take you. If not, there are many other options.</p>

<p>@Torveaux‌ I don’t find the work to be challenging, sans self-studying micro/macroeconomics (mainly due to lack of motivation). I was just very unfocused entering High School and didn’t really consider the implications of slacking off. Freshman year I maintained a C+/B- average in 4 honors classes with 25+ absences and running on basically no sleep (I did not, however, use this time to do school work). I was essentially a zombie roaming the halls, if I was even in school that day. However, telling admissions offices that I didn’t care about school early on and do now… </p>

<p>@aigiqinf‌ Thank you, I have kept an eye out for schools that have a no loans policy, hence my posting this on Duke, UNC, here, swarthmore, etc… However, I might have some bad or outdated information on some. Do you know of any other schools similar to Emory that offer large need based packages? </p>

<p>Depends on your recommendations, in my opinion. </p>

<p>How much potential your teachers say you have. </p>

<p>MIT, for example, loves students with untapped potential. </p>

<p>I personally prefer smart but lazy people over dumb, test-prepped people.
Bill Gates has a pretty interesting quote about people like you. </p>

<p>Harvard has very generous need based financial aid. Most schools with large endowments do. Bates in Maine is also know for generous financial aid. </p>

<p>Refer to the chart in this article to get a better idea of financial aid that schools provide for students.</p>

<p><a href=“The Most Economically Diverse Top Colleges - The New York Times”>The Most Economically Diverse Top Colleges - The New York Times;