<p>So now that I've completed the application process and I'm waiting to hear back, I've got to ask this question because it has been bugging me for a while. I've got a 3.7 HS GPA and a 35 ACT, which isn't an uncommon situation but of course one stat is better than the other. I was excited putting together my college list because I found that, even though I was in the 25th percentile for a lot of highly selective schools in terms of GPA, I was in the 75th percentile and up in ACT score, and I figured that if the rest of the application came together the way I wanted it to (and I think they all did, for the most part) that I should have about as good of chance as getting in as the next guy.</p>
<p>But then I was talking with someone who was a bit closer to the college admissions process and they explained how a lot of colleges will look at my GPA, look at my ACT, and say "well that doesn't seem quite right" and readjust my ACT down to the 30-32 range. On one level this makes sense because obviously there is a discrepancy, but at the same time, what's the point of an ACT score if it just gets pegged down to whatever your GP theoretically converts into? i don't expect to get in anywhere solely on a good ACT score, but still, that doesn't seem right.</p>
<p>So now that I've bored you with context here is the main question: Does a higher-end ACT balance a good but not super GPA, or does it just get taken as a fluke or something?</p>
<p>ACT scores are almost impossible to “fluke” in an upward direction, so no one is going to adjust them downward. However, someone with a high ACT and a mediocre GPA is sometimes likely to be seen as a slacker, which is not a desirable trait at some schools. </p>
<p>A 3.7UW/35 is probably not low enough to get a total slacker label, though it’s getting there. (Assuming your 3.7 is UW, if weighted, you will get tagged as a slacker.) I have a relative who had a 34 ACT first time out, no prep and a 3.0 UW GPA that did get the slacker label and he wound up at school way lower than you would ordinarily think someone with a 34 going to. </p>
<p>As T64E4 said, there’s nothing to do about it anyway, just sit back and wait for the results.</p>
<p>“Worry is like interest paid in advance on a debt that never comes due.” - The Spanish Prisoner</p>
<p>You haven’t told us where your GPA puts us in the context of your school. I applied to colleges with a low 3.8xx GPA and a 2300 SAT, but at my school a 3.8 put me in the top 5%. Your 3.7 would have put you at the very least in the top 15%, possibly in the top 10%. </p>
<p>Also, if your ACT scores are lower in some particular area, and your GPA is lower because of worse grades in that same area, then that will “match.” Again, I was in a similar situation. My lowest section on the SAT was math, where I scored 700, and my GPA was a low 3.8 entirely because of Bs in math classes. Your GPA could also be lower because of a bad freshman year which you have since turned around.</p>
<p>Colleges will have all of this information that we don’t. They get your rank and a letter from your GC explaining where you are in comparison to the rest of your class, and they have your transcript explaining the grades and patterns behind your GPA. They’ll be able to tell if there actually is any sort of mismatch between your ACT score and your GPA, but with the information you’ve given us, we can’t.</p>
<p>T26E4, as per usual, is right. Bright students have a habit of over-thinking things like this. If you want some resources to check out, look at the results threads for your university on cc. They’re not entirely accurate (self-reported and all that), but they’re worth a shot. </p>
<p>(Just google “College A results college confidential 2017”)</p>