<p>I am an African American male who just finished up my junior year in high school with a 3.71 GPA both semesters (Sounds good and all, right? Keep reading). However, I had so many things going on with my life freshman year (3.3 both semesters) and the beginning of sophomore year (3.0 first semester and 3.43 second semester). Indeed, now that I have gotten over my experiences, and finally realizing that my future is on the line here, I have gotten a 3.57 the second semester of sophomore year and the two 3.71s my junior year. However, my cumulative GPA is terrible for the types of goals and career aspirations that I've had for a while - a mere 3.4. </p>
<p>All of the schools on my list are some of the top universities in the US (USC, NYU, UPenn, UVA, Notre Dame, UMich, UT Austin, etc.). Will they still consider me even though my freshman year and the beginning of my sophomore year completely destroyed my cumulative? :(</p>
<p>And if not, how can I explain in my application that I have the potential and drive to do the work now that I've finally matured and gotten past my personal experiences?</p>
<p>EDIT: If you don't feel as if there's any hope for me at the schools I mentioned, can you mention some others that I'd have a more realistic shot at? I'm very interested in becoming a Finance major (and would be very interested in IBanking).</p>
<p>Michigan does not consider Freshman grades. It only looks at “core” academic classes (Math, English, Sciences, History, Economics and Foreign Languages) taken during your Sophomore and Junior year. And Michigan does not accepted weighed GPA, only unweighed (assigning 4.0 for all As, 3.0 for all Bs, 2.0 for all Cs and 1.0 for all Ds). </p>
<p>As it stands, your GPA is low for most of the schools on your list, but other factors will come into play, such as SAT, extra curricular activities, essays, recommendations etc…</p>
<p>I would’nt worry too much though, you have an upward trend, and that matters. Try to start Senior year with a very high GPA too as most universities will ask for your mid-year report before making their decision.</p>
<p>I’m trying not to worry too much, but a 3.4 seems terrible compared to most (if not everyone) I’ve seen on here.</p>
<p>I’m going to strive for a 4.0-4.2 first semester of senior year if I can. Not sure how rigorous of a courseload it will be, but I signed up for two maths since it’s my strongest subject - Honors Precalculus and AP Statistics.</p>
<p>With my GPA being lower than the average at those top-tier schools, does that completely dissolve any chance of being accepted, even if my SAT/ACT scores are on par with the middle 50% of a selected school?</p>
<p>Check collegeboards “how do it stack up” feature. You can see where your SAT & GPA falls, and how important each is, to each schools admission process.</p>
<p>“All of the schools on my list are some of the top universities in the US (USC, NYU, UPenn, UVA, Notre Dame, UMich, UT Austin, etc.).”</p>
<p>Why don’t you have any matches or safeties on your list? What about a financial safety or two? All you seem to have here are reaches, and the ones that are public are very expensive for out-of-state students.</p>
<p>Even more important than your GPA is your EFC. You need to run some of the financial aid calculators to find out what the colleges will expect your family to be able to pay. Start with the calculators at [College</a> Calculators - savings calculators - college costs, loans](<a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>How Much Will College Cost – BigFuture | College Board) When you have that figure, sit down with your parents and ask them whether they can come up with that kind of money, and if not, just exactly how much money they can come up with. Once you know how much your family can afford, you can track down a “True Safety”.</p>
<p>The True Safety is a place that:
You can afford with no financial aid other than federally determined financial aid
Has to admit you based on your stats (many state Us have rules about this for in-state students, and most community colleges are open admission)
Offers your major, or the first two years if it is a community college
You will be happy to attend if you don’t get into any other place that you can afford</p>
<p>Find that one, and apply early so that you are in line for any special programs or scholarships that you qualify for. Then go find yourself one or two other academic safeties that offer your major and are likely to admit a student with your GPA. Two of my cousins have made successful banking careers. Both of them graduated from places you probably have never heard of, and that I’ve never seen discussed here. Neither of them were finance majors, just plain old business majors.</p>
<p>You will have a much better chance at private schools, they are able to consider race and are often less numbers focused. If it makes sense for you financially, I’d replace some of the OOS publics with good private colleges.</p>
<p>You definitely are not out of the running for all of these schools. Do as well as you can on your SATs/ACTs, and try not to worry about how you stack up to others too much. Focus on being the best you can be, and then send in your applications confident that you worked your hardest. </p>
<p>What are some other universities (private or not) that have some pretty “up-there” undergrad business programs where I’d have even a slim shot at?</p>
<p>My ideal college is one that combines prestige and academics with athletics and school spirit. The perfect example for me is USC - around 16k undergrads, great sports programs, great business program, its in CA, and its not a school where people have to study 24-7. </p>
<p>What other colleges are along these lines with top business schools and sports programs?</p>
<p>Here are the so-called “top 25” business schools according to BusinessWeek with sports programs. NYU would definitely not fit your criteria.</p>
<p>University Of Virginia
University Of Notre Dame
University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Brigham Young University (UT)
University Of California - Berkeley
University Of Texas - Austin
University Of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
Wake Forest University
Boston College
Miami University (OH)
Indiana University - Bloomington
University Of Southern California
University Of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
University OF Washington</p>
<p>Do I have a decent shot at any of those schools as long as my ACT/SAT scores on par with other students that are accepted, even though my GPA may be lower?</p>
<p>And I need 2 safeties - any suggestions?
A bunch of people from my school go to one of the Arizonas… I wish there were better safety alternatives but I don’t know if there are.</p>
<p>This seems a tad over dramatic. Apply widely and you will get accepted somewhere you feel good about and then your high school GPA will never be a factor again for the rest of your life.</p>
<p>You are applying to great business schools! Some colleges require students to report reasons why their grades dropped, so definitely do that. Colleges will understand if you had a traumatizing or debilitating experience. It’s great that you’ve made a good comeback, and that would look very good too. I’m glad that you’ve recovered.</p>
<p>I am too, I’m just worried about having a GPA lower than the expectations of those top schools.
From different books that I’ve read about those sort of colleges, most of the average GPAs are 3.7 and up.</p>