The Effect of Early Grades/Chance me

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brown University
1

So, its my personal belief that my application for Brown and the other top schools I applied to would be entirely sufficient, save two big shortfalls. The shortfall revolves around the fact that both my class rank, and my GPA, suffer a bit from the high school classes I had taken in middle school. As a middle school student I went through a lot of family problems and social problems as a result, and as a result the 4 middle school classes I had taken average out to about an 84/100, way sub par for an Ivy.

After these problems were taken care of however, I went to high school and excelled. I’ve only had one B in my 4 years, and my average in high school is around a 99 on a 100 scale (weighted for challenging classes). The issue is, those classes in middle school drag that GPA down to about a 97.4, putting me just under the top 10% for my class rank, (without them I’m ranked top 15 in a class of 300). I’ve worked hard to make up for it, even bringing my 1st Semester grades as a senior up to a 101 average, scoring a 34 on my ACT, a 790 and 730 on the World History and Math 2 SAT 2s, and getting two 5s and 3 4s on my AP exams. My question is this: will Brown and other schools be willing to understand that I was immature and troubled in middle school, that I’ve changed, and overlook those grades? Will it very significantly effect my chances?

Now that we’ve talked about that, let me introduce my profile so I can be chanced. I’m a Sudanese immigrant, and I immigrated at age 2 to the United States where I’ve spent my life. My college essay centers around my relationship with my biculturalism, and the cultural disconnect that exists from my entire extended family living on a different continent. I also wrote many supplements on the experience of being both black and Muslim in America.
I’ve been a 3-sport athlete, running track and field and cross country year round, earning All-County recognition. I hold leadership positions as an Editor in the Newspaper, a captain for two years in XC/track, captain of our Science Olympiad team, and I’ve taken a very challenging course load with 4 AP classes last year and 5 this year as a senior. I’ve been volunteering for 4 years as well, and as was aforementioned I scored a 34 on my ACT, above average for nearly any school.
In addition to the earlier question, I’d also like to know my chances of getting into some of the selective schools I’ve applied to. I applied to Harvard/Princeton/Stanford as a bit of a hail-mary (my brother and sister to Harvard and Princeton respectively, c’mon nepotism help me out!), as well as Columbia, Cornell, and of course, Brown.

If you read all of that, I appreciate it, and thanks for everything!

2

I’m confused - why are middle school classes affecting your overall GPA?

In general, Brown will put a much higher focus on your recent grades - don’t worry about a few things that happened 4 years ago. Sounds like you’re a great student - your chances of admission will depend on your personal factors (essays, recommendations, etc), not as strongly on your exact grades.

3

My school factors in “high school” classes taken at the middle school to your GPA and class rank. Classes like algebra, earth science, computers, and Spanish. My biggest fear is that the resulting low rank will cause raised eyebrows

4

Most schools recalculate gpas so that they can compare schools from different school districts. For instance, you know your exact gpa is 97.4. In my district, our gpa is only calculated on a 4.0 scale. So, how would they compare someone from your district to mine? Also, my school only gives a .25 benefit for Honors classes and a .5 increase for AP classes on the weighted scale. So, a kid in my district with a 4.4 has a very high gpa while I see many kids on here with gpas between 5.0-6.0. Anyway, when schools recalculate, they usually do not include Middle School classes even if they were High School level classes. FWIW, they also usually do not include electives either. So, the only real consequence of the MS grades is that they are effecting your class rank. Hope this made you feel better. Good luck!

5

97.4 sounds like a pretty good GPA to me and one B in high school is definitely something to be proud of. Class rank is important but the significance of class rank will depend on how strong your high school is. If you are just under top 10% in your class and you go to a high school where a limited number of students go onto top colleges or the average ACT/SAT scores are around or below the national averages it is very different than if you go to a high school where the average ACT is 28 and the vast majority of students get into top colleges. Another consideration is that many high schools do not report class rank in a way that allows colleges to really draw conclusions. Ideally you’d be above the 10% when applying to Brown but being a Sudanese immigrant and presumably an URM helps. A lot will depend on how your application reads. At this point there is nothing you can do about middle school grades so relax and hope for the best. Sounds like you are a good runner, are you good enough for it to help you in admissions?

6

They don’t care about weighted GPA

You have a much better shot at Cornell, the others are long shots including brown

7

Im a good runner, but I didn’t really become outstanding until this particular season, because of a chronic injury my junior year. It should help a bit though, even if my top accolades came too late, i still did well. I appreciate the feedback though. Its out of my hands now, but its still good to know.

8

Unweighted GPA just for high school averages out to a 95.2. I dont know how that converts to a 4.0 scale though.

9

AFAIK, Brown does NOT recalculate GPA. I’ve seen admissions folders, and I’ve never seen a recalculated GPA. An unweighted 95.2 is pretty good – you don’t need to worry about how that converts to the 4.0 scale. Brown will look at your grades and your transcript in context to your school.

The time to have worried about this was a few months ago. You’ve applied, what’s done is done and you’ll learn in March.

I just hope you applied to some safeties and not just reaches.

It is true that many HS calculate GPA using some middle school grades. I personally think that’s a really really stupid policy, but no one is listening to me. I don’t know what Brown’s policy is on that. Problem is, if there are other students in your school whose rank is calculated based on their middle school grades, that weakens your argument. Brown is not going to recalculate your rank by taking out those middle school grades. I do think that the more recent grades carry more weight than middle school grades.

10

I applied to safeties guys, dont worry! Im not a huge believer in the school making the career. If I dont get in, ill still enjoy myself and work hard at a different school. I wanted to know out of curiosity, and I appreciate it. If any of you want to know how it turns out, or need help with something else, let me know and ill be happy to oblige.

11

Something tells me that you are in a much better position to chance yourself than we are. You have a brother and sister at Harvard and Princeton, respectively. I presume you all have pretty much the same environmental/educational background and life experiences so you can compare your profile against theirs and see how you stack up. I’m sure you’ve done this already. Obviously, if you’re comparable to them in academics and ECs then you can expect similar type results. If you’re much weaker (I’m betting you’re not), then you should lower your expectations accordingly.

Did you apply anywhere early? In any event, disregard the “long shot” comment above. As a URM with great test scores, an interesting background and good but not great ECs you have a shot at the schools you have applied to. The fact that you have two siblings at elite schools will not go unnoticed.

Good luck! Please do let us know how things turn out.

12

Stanford does not factor in anything before sophomore year I believe.