I have a 2.8921 GPA UW, and a 3.98 weighted. The 1.0 point discrepancy between my UW and weighted gpa has entirely to do with the fact that I’ve taken a lot of AP and Honors classes. I was having some family issues at home my freshman and sophomore year, and it just really messed up how I view life (including school). My GPA does not define me.
I’ve really been leaning on my ECs to compensate for my sorry GPA. I’m president of two clubs (one coding club, the other being Academic Decathlon), and am a dedicated member of two other clubs (both of which are CS related). I competed in a recent hackathon with one of these aforementioned clubs (which we won! hehe) and scored the highest on my team. I ranked second highest varsity scorer in my state for Decathlon. For the other club, I helped to hard-code a robot in a new language that won third place in the competition we coded it for. I also teach languages like HTML, C, Java, and Python to new coders.
My SAT score is… meh. I got a 1300 this time, mostly because I didn’t study like an idiot bc I figured it would be canceled. I plan to take it again and score higher (I’m hoping in the 1400s, but I don’t want to make any promises and disappoint myself). I don’t plan on sending in any apps without my SAT score, because I really want to prove to colleges that I am a capable student.
Speaking of colleges, here are the ones I’m applying for (Computer Science. I know, I know.):
Penn State
Temple University
UIC
UIUC (I’d be doing CS+X here)
UIowa
University of Michigan (ha)
University of Pittsburgh
UVA
Virginia Tech
UW-Madison
Taking my GPA and SAT into account… what are the chances that I’ll get in to any of these? Is it worth applying? Community College is not an option for me, because my parents are incredibly against it (I did try to convince them to let me apply, trust me). If you have any safeties that you could recommend me, or even any arguments in favor of CC that I could pose to my parents, please do let me know!!
Are you near the beginning of your junior year in high school? If so, then I would suggest that you try VERY HARD to get a lot of A’s this year, and not much other than A’s. If you are a junior with a less than 3.0 unweighted GPA for your first two years of high school, then I think that you grades this year will matter quite a bit.
I think that your grades this year will still matter a lot. Also, getting used to striving for A’s and the academics and study skills that you learn will help you once you get to college or university.
I do not consider ECs to be a substitute for grades. I think that community college is very likely to be your best path. However, if you do one year at community college and transfer, then your senior year high school grades will also be considered. Even if you do two years at community college your senior year grades will still be sent to the universities that you apply to.
With an unweighted GPA below 3.0, I personally would guess that UIUC, U.Wisconsin (Madison), UVA, and U.Michigan (Ann Arbor) all for CS out of state would be four wasted applications.
There are plenty of students who get their act together a bit late and still do very well in life. I know a number of people who have been very successful and none of us took the quickest or easiest path to get from where we started to where we ended up. You definitely can still do very well. The best way to start on the path to doing very well is to start pulling up your grades starting this week, this month, and this year.
I’m assuming PA with Pitt, PSU, and Temple. The others will be very doubtful given GPA/SAT scores. Temple is possible and not a bad option. PSU is possible but probably not main campus which is OK, go to a branch for 2 years and transfer. Pitt not sure but doubtful.
It’s Ok to go to CC or a branch campus. Financially it’s pretty smart. No shame in going that route. Lots of kids do it. Have your parents talk to the guidance counselor.
I think Temple is a possibility. I think the rest are reaches. As others have said, GPA is the most important factor. ECs don’t make up for it. Having a poor GPA but good ECs makes it look like you were focusing on the fun stuff and not your work. Colleges will worry that you will do the same thing when you get there.