I’m a high school junior, and I’m planning on applying to a lot of competitive colleges. I would consider myself a fairly rigorous student, but unfortunately my GPA does not seem to reflect that. I have a total GPA of 4.24 (weighted) and 3.85 (unweighted), and a 10-12 GPA of 4.29/3.76 (for UC schools). Although this is a little low, I have good a good/average SAT score – 2230 overall (NOT superscored). I also got an 800 in math, which is notable, an 11 on my essay, and 710 in writing and 730 in critical reading. I also expect to do well on the ACT, as I took a practice one with absolutely no prior studying and got a 33, so I hope to get a 34 or 35.
I am also relatively well rounded in terms of extracurriculars (athletics, arts, academic clubs, volunteering, etc.). Do you think I still have a shot at colleges like Georgetown, UC Berkeley, and Columbia? How much do colleges care about test scores over GPA? My low GPA can be attributed to my intensely rigorous class schedule, including AP courses, honors courses, and an accelerated math program (I’m ahead one year, i.e. I will complete Calculus BC next year)
Thanks!
It depends. A 3.85 isn’t bad at all. If you have a strong upward trend throughout the years I don’t think it will hurt you (maybe a little) especially if freshman year was your worst year. However, having a rigorous schedule can never excuse a lower gpa because most people applying to these top schools have an extremely rigorous schedule with a near perfect gpa. In addition, having great ACT and SAT scores are very important but it doesn’t offset a lower gpa, especially since gpa is considered more important.
UC are generally thought to weight GPA much more heavily than SAT/ACT scores.
3.76 unweighted GPA is probably around 4.06-4.16 weighted-capped GPA for UC purposes. According to http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/infocenter/freshman-admissions-summary , 2015 frosh applicants with GPA in the 3.80-4.19 range had the following admit rates:
12% Berkeley
14% Los Angeles
39% San Diego
49% Santa Barbara
52% Davis
57% Irvine
83% Santa Cruz
90% Riverside
92% Merced
Also, the major or division you apply to can affect the selectivity of admissions (e.g. engineering or CS applicants may find it more difficult at many campuses).
In some other threads, there are students with stats similar to yours (second tier GPA, high SAT/ACT scores) complaining about being rejected from schools like UC Davis that they thought was a “safety”.