<p>Okay, I am an avid CC reader so I am, to the best of my knowledge, informed of college dynamics- how college admissions is a comprehensive and at times, arbitrary, process. However, I have a very specific GPA related question.</p>
<p>Just suppose I have excellent teacher recs, essays, and ECs- if my second semester GPA included all b's except for two a's, how much would this completely ruin my chances for columbia, georgetown, uc berkeley, and other upper tier schools, considering I have been an otherwise straight A student?</p>
<p>This would make my matriculated GPA about a 3.6-3.75= which is VERY low! I am so nervous. I've worked hard my entire academic career but I have been blighted by this!
Would my legitimate medical excuse in any way help me? Would a high SAT score offset perhaps this irregularity?</p>
<p>DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE OR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THIS?</p>
<p>Please, can anyone enlighten me on my chances?</p>
<p>Stop driving yourself crazy. College admissions is an unpredictable game so its impossible for anyone to give you a definitive answer. Obviously, higher grades will look better on your transcript but no one is in a position to quantify how much imperfect junior year grades will hurt you.</p>
<p>And seriously, **** with this nonsense that a 3.6-3.75 is SO LOW!! If you keep this up, you're gonna be trying to hang yourself once the beginning of your senior year rolls around.</p>
<p>Thanks. lol, I needed that.</p>
<p>I'm just really worried about my GPA because I do think it will significantly affect my chances but again, admits are so arbitrary at times. And, I'm also not applying to HYPS but I put that label there as to indicate whether my lower grades would alter my admit chances at similarly selective schools. My top choices are Columbia and Georgetown( both for international relations) and I would love to go to one of those schools but now I think it's something that just isn't really possible. I just feel a bit down, I suppose. Do you know of anyone who got into either of those schools with a lower end GPA? From what it appears on CC and others I've asked, a 3.6-3.75 seems pretty low...</p>
<p>Again, that's an impossible question to answer just because GPA scales at different high school are incredibly different. For example, an A+ at my school is a 4.33,an A is a 4, an A- is a 3.67, etc. Honors classes are waited a third of a point so an A becomes a 4.33, an A- is a 4, etc. I've seen other kids, though, who come on here with 5.4s or some crazy crap like that.</p>
<p>Plus, a lot depends on your courseload..especially in the area(s) of study that you're most passionate about. </p>
<p>I got into (and will attend) Georgetown with a cumulative 3.88. Nevertheless, my freshman year was my strongest year and my worst academic semester was the first of my junior year. My SAT was a 2000, which isn't that strong for Georgetown. What I think got me in was I followed my passions in the classroom and outside the classroom. I didn't try to craft the most perfect, well-rounded transcript and instead pursued things that genuninely interested me. Taking classes that interested me made my stress managable and I very rarely felt the way you are right now. And no, I'm not a legacy brat.</p>
<p>Thanks for the post. I actually feel most passionately about my EC's- they're things that I have genuinely crafted and pursued. I'm thinking also about going in as an Arabic major or a Middle Eastern studies major because of the direction of my interests. I just fear that because my gpa is low, it will aversely affect my chances at g-town, even though I know/pursued 7 languages, created my own non profit, and have done a bunch of other things that I'm really passionate about. My sat score is in the 2200 range. I'm hoping to really reflect my passions in my essays and hopefully that will mitigate my academic gpa.</p>
<p>That's awesome. Sounds like you're definitely on the right track and your GPA is good enough to put you in a solid position for the college application process.</p>