Really tough position...Any colleges that add in senior GPA?

Applying to College
1

Hi, first post on the forums, so take an easy on me :slight_smile: Heres a little background on my current situation. I am a junior attending an incredibly rigorous college preparation high school in Florida. My freshman year, I didn’t perform to my greatest potential. I ended with around a 2.8 or so. Sophomore year, after touring University of Florida, I realized that I needed to do better, and I ended with a 3.4, so now my accumulative GPA went up to about a 3.1. Now I’m a junior, and I have a 3.7 so far this semester, and I am taking 1 AP (APUSH) and 1 Honors, and took AP Comp Sci as a sophomore.

UF, which is my #1 choice, visited my school this week. The average Freshman GPA coming into UF is between 4.2 and 4.5. First of all, this is not possible to obtain at my school. There has been one student who has had above a 4.2 in the past 4 years to my knowledge. And I also learned that most schools don’t look at my Senior GPA, so best case scenario is I end Junior year with a 3.8 or so and I can get my accumulative up to a 3.45. I will take 2-3 AP’s next year and 1 Honors, but I still don’t think I’ll be accepted into UF. Many people in my school say that colleges understand that my school is generally more difficult, but I’m not sure if this is completely true. If anyone could give me some recommendations for my situation with University of Florida, I’d really appreciate it. If anyone knows of a few schools that offer engineering and calculate my overall GPA with senior year, that would also be really helpful. I’m really worried that I won’t get into a good school with all the effort I’ve been putting in. UF would be ideal because of the instate price and I really liked the community and campus.

P.S. I moved from NY to FL a little before my Freshman year, and let’s just say that the public school I attended in NY didn’t prepare me very well in comparison to my new school, and this is one of the greater factors in my initial performance freshman and sophomore year.

Thank you!

2

straight GPA comparisons are of limited use – many schools admit holistically. I’m not sure about UF. Let’s say one kid gets 4.2 GPA at a mediocre school. While the BEST students at your tough school only manage to eke out a 3.9.

"Many people in my school say that colleges understand that my school is generally more difficult, but I’m not sure if this is completely true. "

Think about it. Colleges that review holistically will be able to understand that both applicants are somewhat comparable and the 3.9 kid wouldn’t be disadvantaged. It’s in the colleges’ best interests b/c they’d be passing up great kids from the tougher schools. Logical right? You’d do the same, right? Have faith in this.

If you’re still unconvinced, have a sit down w/your guid counselor and ask him/her if others have applied to UF previously.

3

And if UF visited your school they should be well aware of the GPA limits it has. If noone had made it into UF because of those lower GPAs I doubt UF would send a rep.

4

Thanks for the responses guys, takes a lot of stress off. Do you think I’d be a potential candidate for UF with my current GPA? I’ve been ACT prepping for about 5 months now, and I’m hoping for a 30+. As for extra cirrculars, I don’t think I’m doing very well. I belong to an engineering club, worked a summer job Freshman + Sophomore year, and currently own a small aerial photography business that I started Sophomore year, but besides that I don’t have much community service. What would you guys recommend in that area?

I’ll be setting up a meeting with my Counselor for next week, thanks for all the help!