Sorry for that bratty title, however, I have a question regarding my GPA.
My UW GPA fell below the holy 3.9 mark to 3.88. I have a pretty high weighted its above 4.5, however I have gotten 5 Bs (I believe it will be 5, there is slim possibility for 4). They are in Spanish III H (1st Semester), AP Biology (2nd semester), Spanish IV H (1st semester) and AP English Language & Composition (Both semesters). The English teacher is well known to despise boys in general and she is retiring this year so the school let it go because she has a near 5.0 AP score average. Her wrath was too great for me to surpass. How will colleges (elites one like JHU, Rice, Northwestern, MIT, Stanford, Ivies [specifically, Cornell]) view these grades? Will the effects of Bs in English and Spanish be minimal, especially if I want to major in Physics and Russian (I have past experience with this language). I have 2270 SAT.
Help a disillusion student please.
Seriously… you created a thread because your GPA fell 0.02 below your expectations.
Obviously less favorable than a 4.0, but barely.
You will need to rise above blaming teachers for your performance to survive at any of the schools you mention.
so glance at the transcript will reveal Bs in a couple semesters of Spanish, a semester of Bio, and a year of English (the latter two being the more ‘important’ classes). As would have been nice but you should be alright for the Cornell/Northwestern/JHU/Rice tier.
^ Agreed. Also, it’s ‘disillusioned’.
You should be alright but obviously schools like NU/JHU/Cornell won’t look at extra Bs as a plus. It might make it slightly harder to get in regular decision for most of your suggested schools, especially since for most of these schools RD acceptance is like <5%. If you have a clear favorite consider ED. Also for RD try to improve grades in the subjects you got Bs in (particularly if you hope to major it in potentially in college). Good luck!
dont worry man id kill for a 3.88 gpa (i know a lot of people would)
you have your sat score to fall back on, and your essays and recs
who takes Spanish 3 and 4 at the same time?
Check your school’s naviance. What schools did people get into with a 3.88?
I had an eerily similar experience, PM me for more details if you’d like (or read some of my other threads).
@NASA2014 Who said I did? I took them separate years.
@0br0123 Why “ugh.”"?
you need to specify the years you got B’s. Were they mostly in your Fresh and Soph years?
A rising GPA is what the most competitive colleges like to see. If they have happened in the last year then you will need to spread a wider net.
You said “first semester” for both Spanishes and didn’t specify the year, so I think that’s what created the confusion. Sounded like they were the same “first semester.”
Bio and Spanish III is Sophomore. Spanish IV and English is Junior. @menloparkmom
JHU, Rice, Northwestern, MIT, Stanford, Ivies -
All of these colleges have tens of thousands of applicants with higher GPA’s and SAT scores, who also have gotten A’s in AP classes.
Take the SAT again. And turn your focus to finding some colleges where you have a good, not minimal chance of acceptance.
^What? Why would you take the SAT again. Your score is amazing. A 3.88 is definitely high enough for the schools you will apply to. For the ivies and stanford you will be at the low end, but still you can try. Just relax. You are definitely going to get into a good college.
^^The OP has a 2270 SAT.
For him to have a better chance at the most competitive colleges, which he has indicated he is interested in, he should try to get it above the 2340 mark.
Does your school report semester grades? Many only report the year end grade in full-year classes. In which case, you will have some form of an A-/B+ in Spanish II & III and Bio, and a full-on B in one class- not fatal.
On the other hand, this:
imo is your biggest obstacle to getting into the top drawer schools. A teacher who won’t give any boys an A, and a school that ‘lets it go’ b/c of AP results? Not buying it.
Schools like JHU are full of students who simply keep working harder until they overcome that (insert rude word) teacher: and I know very, very, very few students who don’t get at least one truly dreadful teacher in high school. Or, as in one case that was close to home, not one, not two, but three teachers who ranged from mediocre to terrible, all in one year, in one class - and that class was AP Chem. The kids in that class who went on to top 25 colleges (including Y, P & S) still managed to do well.
If you say so but I disagree. Why 2340? AFAIK a 2230 makes the grade at virtually every U. It’s even in the midrange at Caltech.
Hahahaha do you go to ahs? @BenzeneRings