<p>alright, i'm in a bit of a dilemma here. i have a 3.5 UW/4.65 Weighted GPA as a junior. I know I should be proud of my weighted average but I feel like I'm gonna get killed because of my very low UW GPA. you see, I'm heavily involved with a lot of different activities so I haven't always given the top priority to some classes, but in general I do very very well in AP classes, which helps my weighted average. I recently took the SAT and I got a 2200 and I am looking to retake the test. I also have an SAT II score above a 700 and three SAT II scores above a 750. </p>
<p>Regarding these stats, how would this looking in the eyes of the admissions depts. at schools such as UPenn, Columbia, Stanford, Claremont, and William & Mary? Please be honest!</p>
<p>Thanks for your help and I'd be happy to return the favor!</p>
<p>Your situation will look atypical next to applicants at those schools, so the truth is that no one here can give you predictions. That said, a few thoughts:</p>
<p>1) 3.5 is not "very low." No, it isn't ideal for the schools you're interested in, but relax.</p>
<p>2) Make sure to apply to some definite safeties on top of the schools that you list. As someone with a less-predictable-than-usual set of stats, you should take this suggestion especially seriously.</p>
<p>3) Don't be afraid from applying to a reasonable number of reaches if the rest of your application is strong enough. GPA is not everything, especially if you have a context for it.</p>
<p>4) Try to get this issue addressed by your recommendation writers. Try to have a better reason than "I'm really busy so sometimes I don't give top priority to some classes." Considering that you're applying to SCHOOL, that might not be wonderfully received.</p>
<p>5) I reiterate: chances that you get here will not be reliable, however well-intentioned they may be. Take them with a grain of salt, talk to your counselor, talk to your recommendation writers, and try as best you can to keep this semester's GPA high.</p>
<p>mj93, haha yea it didn't give me enough spaces to fully put college so i just improvised lol. and i moved away from my previous school but judging from what i saw with my other friends i would be in the top 5%. i was top 7% after my sophomore year.</p>
<p>student 615, thanks for the excellent advice! i'm definitely looking for some safeties, but i'm having trouble.</p>
<p>thanks for the advice so far guys! does anyone know any good safeties that have good IR and film studies programs and that are somewhat similar to the schools i mentioned?</p>
<p>Stanford, Upenn, and Columbia will probably see that lower GPA as a red flag. Your SAT scores probably can't offset the GPA just because 2200 isn't that "great" at the top schools. If you aimed at a 2300+, you may be able to compete with many other applicants who have both great scores and a great GPA. =</p>
<p>Anyway, have you tried looking at any state schools for safeties? Your SAT scores fall above average at most state schools. Also, your GPA won't hurt you in admissions there.</p>
<p>remember me, yep thanks for the advice. i'm retaking the SAT to see if i can score higher. </p>
<p>well, i haven't really looked at state schools, but i have looked at schools like purdue and syracuse. i know those aren't easy to get into but i have 2 friends at purdue and one at syracuse who were intls. and got in with significantly lower scores than me just because they could pay full tuition.</p>
<p>idk, there are many great state schools but i'm thrown off by the heavy partying and "number figure" that they give you. at most, i'm looking at schools with under 10,000 students , except for UCLA. i guess the exception with that one would be that it's got a highly diverse student body and los angeles is great. </p>
<p>anyone have any other safety schools? also, how am i looking for william & mary or maybe george washington?</p>
<p>Lol wow. My school.. a typical gpa might be a 3.6, and the weighted would usually go no higher than a 3.8 or so. I guess every school really can CHANGE how they want things to look. But anyways.. I think Class rank is more important than your GPA... but you do have nice SATs...</p>
<p>are they then gonna take into account my old rank? or are they just gonna discredit it because it was my junior year. btw, forgot to tell you guys, but i'm repeating junior year to do IB.</p>