Hi, so I have a 1540 on my SAT, but my GPA is 2.9UW and 3.5W. I have decent ECs, did one sport, volunteered 2 places, a job, science research, 2 club positions. I’m looking to apply to a school that puts less emphasis on GPA and more on test scores. From what I found so far it is Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, and Northeastern and I was wondering if anyone wants to expand my list even more.
Unfortunately, a 2.9 gpa is low enough that it will be hard to overlook at schools like Vandy and Dartmouth. Your SAT score is excellent, and this will surely help, but at top 20 schools your gpa will put you below the average in the applicant pool unfortunately.
Is your gpa a result of freshman year? If you have poor grades freshman year but improve throughout high school, colleges can sometimes take the overall gpa with a grain of salt. Is it in a specific area that your grades struggled (ex art classes) when you don’t want to pursue a degree in this area? If either of the above options are the case, it would make it easier for top schools like Vandy and Dartmouth to look past your grades slightly.
What are your state schools? Many state schools have automatic admissions based on a calculation that combines gpa, act/sat, and other factors. For example, in Iowa (my state) I am granted automatic admission to University of Iowa and Iowa State because my calculated score from their formula exceeds their requirement. Even if something similar is not the case at your state school, public universities and state schools would be more likely to grant you acceptance than top ranked universities with your act score.
Good luck, and I hope this helped!
“public universities and state schools would be more likely to grant you acceptance than top ranked universities with your act score.”
Public universities and state schools are included in the top ranks of universities as well. Berkeley, UMich, UVA, UNC are a few examples of top ranked universities that happen to be public. And each of those places value on the GPA, so wouldn’t be a safe bet, even with a high ACT score.
Private doesn’t necessarily equal top ranked and public doesn’t necessarily equal lower ranked or easy admission.
@milee30 I understand this, and I wasn’t meaning some of the top state schools! Of course the schools you listed are wonderful in many regards, including academically. Sorry that my post wasn’t clear. What I was meaning is that state schools that have calculations like the one I mentioned above may be easier to get into with your gpa and sat (sorry, I know I accidentally listed act above) than schools that don’t have such calculations. Since I have heard of few schools other than state schools that do this sort of thing, that is where my generalization that you might have a better shot at state schools came from. In reality, I was meaning state schools that have calculations that aren’t necessarily in your state but would still apply to you! I now see how my phrasing was misleading, and I wasn’t intending to mean ALL state schools. Sorry about any confusion this may have caused or if it seemed I was somehow degrading state schools. It is important to remember @milee30 ‘s point about how state doesn’t mean easier admission, but schools with the automatic admission (often found at state schools) could be a safe bet for you.
For example, I believe Kansas State offers automatic admission to out of state students with a 2.5 gpa and a 1060 SAT score. Not 100% sure on this, but if true it is an example of a state school (not necessarily your in your own state) that would be a safety for you by offering automatic admission! Good luck once again.
Reed College has a history of looking for students who are smart but need motivation. Stats are only a small part of their admission decision.
According to Reed’s 2017-18 CDS, the average entering GPA of its recent entering class was 3.9. That’s supposed to be on a 4.0 (unweighted) scale, according to CDS instructions. Only 3% of entering first year students had GPAs below 3.25.
You might want to check out some of the other, less selective, schools in the Colleges That Change Lives member list.
https://ctcl.org/category/college-profiles/
Your 1540 could indeed get you into Reed with your 3.5 GPA in the bottom 10% of enrolled freshmen, but Reed’s being a good fit for you is important; stats are only 20% of admission criteria. CTCL is an excellent reference.