BACKGROUND: I’m an extremely ambitious person, and I thrive off of knowledge and being successful. However, for the first 2.5 year of high school I struggled with extreme depression and an eating disorder, and due to this my grades were gravely affected. My weighted GPA is about a 2.7 currently (I’m now a second semester junior). This semester I’ve been able to finally pull myself out of that destructive state, and I’ve gotten my grades on track (I have all A’s). Through out both my sophomore and junior year I’ve been taking AP courses, so I still had a somewhat ‘challenging’ course load. And my senior year I plan on taking all AP classes. I have also been involved in an abundance of extra curriculars, volunteer experience, DECA States finalist, and held a job throughout high school. As for test scores, I scored a 35 on the ACT and I’m taking 3 SAT Subject Tests soon which I anticipate will go well.
My main question is what are my chances in getting into the following schools (listed below) even though I have a low gpa but otherwise very strong application (assuming my application writing supplements are good) and I continue with an upward trend in my grades for the rest of high school (If so by the time I apply to school’s my GPA will most likely be around 2.9- 3.0). I know that the common app allows for a section to written giving an explanation for low patched in a transcript, and I can definitely use this to my advantage. Inspired by my experiences with depression among other things, I want to go in to Psychology and make ground breaking changes in the field of mental health. This is something I’m very passionate about and will more than likely include in my app.
You would be an outlier if you got into any of those colleges with that low GPA. The high ACT will get you into a college that you wouldn’t have if you scored commensurate with your GPA, but I don’t believe it will be any of those four. Flagship state colleges and similarly difficult-to-get-into smaller private schools are probably your target, and even there, you probably need to pick some mediocre schools as safeties. 2.9-3.0 is just really a low GPA these days.
An upward trend has a lot. Most schools have a additional comments section that you can use to explain low freshman and sophomore grades. With a 35 ACT and As in a lot of AP classes recently, I think most colleges can see you have a LOT more potential then the standard 3.0 GPA student. Write good essays, maybe do early action/early decision and apply to a lot of schools. You only need to get accepted in one good school, given your really good end of end of Junior grades and outstanding ACT, I’d think at least a few top colleges would give your app a second look. Do you have any good ECs as well? That too might play a decent role.
I’d cast a wider net. I think Michigan, and other elite public universities, emphasize GPA heavily. I know you would be automatically ineligible for admission to any college within the UC system, and some other colleges specify a minimum GPA. Some colleges will really like that ACT scores enough to overlook your low GPA, especially if you have an upward trend. Will you need financial aid? If not, your scenario might be even better. Are you looking for a particular department or program? BU might admit you into their “Liberal Studies” (?) program, if not into the College of Arts & Sciences. You might also have a shot at NYU Arts & Sciences, but neither BU or NYU would be a sure thing for you by any means. I don’t see much chance at all at Cornell, other than possibly as a transfer. Temple is a possibility: your GPA is below average for them, but they’ll probably like your ACT score. The same might be true for American. Try some less selective public universities, like WVA, also. Evergreen State would be a good safety for you. They have open admission for students who’ve completed all their academic prerequisites. Try some smaller liberal arts colleges, too.