I’m currently a high school sophomore, but entering my junior year I want to have a better handle on where I want to go come HS graduation. I currently have a weighted GPA of a 4.1 and expect to continue that or raise it through my junior year. I’m considering politics and marketing. I haven’t taken the ACT yet, and I don’t expect to take the SAT since I live in the Midwest, but I plan on taking the ACT until I get a 33/34. Taking this all into account, what do you think my chances are for the following schools:
- NYU Stern
- Columbia University
- Brown University
- Georgetown University
Thank you!
Living in the Midwest certainly does not preclude you from taking the SAT along with or instead of the ACT. I assume you take the PSAT junior year – it is easier to answer your question with actual test score. Planning to get a 33 or 34 isn’t the same as having it in hand. Also, it is your unweighted GPA that matters more.
Do you know about the net price calculators on each school website? Run them with your parents to see if any of the school’s you listed are affordable. If you get a copy of the Fiske a Guide to Colleges, you can also start working on your list of match & safety schools. You should spend more time on that than reach schools, as the odds are much higher that you will end up at one of them.
Thanks! Unweighted, my GPA is around a 3.8 at the moment. My parents and I talk a lot about college, and they definitely know I have expectations like such. Right, we take the PSAT our junior year. I wasn’t sure if it’d be worth taking the SAT when basically all schools accept both, just with a written of the ACT at times. But thank you for the comment.
Those are all very difficult schools to matriculate into. NYU (Stern) is less competitive than the others, but is certainly not a safety school for anyone. Keep in mind, also, that NYU is one of the most expensive schools in the nation!
Your UW GPA looks stellar! You should take more honors/AP colleges if you can, because many of the applicants have weighted GPAs well above 4.5+.
Good luck on your college search! Starting early is never a bad idea, but please continue to enjoy the second half of your high school experience 
I would not worry so much about your weighted GPA. Without knowing what is offered at your school, it isn’t clear whether you are taking a very rigorous schedule or not. You should take mostly honors and AP classes, though. If you think you might score well enough on the PSAT for National Merit awards, then you will want to take the SAT.
@intparent
Why shouldn’t she? I’ve never heard of anyone being admitted into Columbia/Brown/Georgetown with a weighted GPA under 4.3 besides some URMs. If she really wants to attend three colleges in the top 20 schools, then she should try her best to receive a weighted GPA as high as possible.
She does have the advantage of being from the Midwest, though.
Partly because some schools don’t offer enough weighted classes to get to a higher weighted GPA. There are a lot of variations in grsding systems and course offerings. You have no idea what her HS offers. Colleges generally unweight GPAs to review students for that reason.
Plus, students who focus all their efforts on GPA are missing the boat on what top colleges want. Grinding out APs isn’t the best way to get admitted to top schools anyway. Go read “How to be a High Schiol Superstar” by Cal Newport. Yes, keeping your UW GPA at a 3.8 or better is a good idea. But going head to head with every other student in the country on weighted GPA is a brute force way of approaching your goal. Top colleges want students who can do the work, but they also want students who are interested and interesting. That will trump number of APs once you get beyond a certain point.
I’m not really only worried about my AP’s or GPA, I just know that that contributes a lot to reasons a person will or will not get into a school. I know I have the passion they want, I didn’t ask a question about that for an obvious reason if I already know it. Please stop replying, I get what you’re trying to say. Thanks.
What are your extracurriculars and awards? Do you have a plan for the essay? These can be a huge part of the application, if not more important than grades and scores. Good luck!
You can’t really tell people to stop answering on an open forum. And not sure what you are referring to regarding “passion”. We have been talking about stats, the hard numbers. But you don’t have test scores in hand, and have given no info on ECs. There isn’t much to talk about at this point, it is hard to chance sophomores without much info yet.
@pineapple86 Hi! My EC’s are Key Club, French Club, DECA (Officer), Varsity Swimming, ISRD Volunteering, Local Government work. As far as awards, I’ve been a state champion for DECA, lettered my freshman year of swimming, high honors for all semesters of high school thus far, and recently applied to become a Senate Page. As far as the essay, I’m planning on doing something articulate yet personal.
Good for you! Unfortunately, I wasn’t chosen to be a page from my state this summer, but it sounds like a really fun time!
I’m currently a junior, and really made it my goal this year to expand my base of extracurricular activities and awards. I got ACT testing done in the beginning of the year so I could focus on building up the more subjective parts of my application. I know it is recommended to take the ACT in the spring of junior year, but honestly do not wait until then. That way, if you’re happy with your score, you can move on, and if you’re not, you have plenty of chances to retake it until you are. Otherwise, I did a lot of digging on CC and talked to my older friends and found a lot of cool opportunities I didn’t even know existed. Try looking into the US Senate Youth Program if you’re interested in polysci/gov. I was selected as a delegate this year and thought it was an amazing program (and scholarship).
@pineapple86 That’s so great, I’ll definitely continue to search around on here! The page program I applied for would be during the fall of my junior year. I’m planning on taking the ACT at some point during this summer and then in the beginning of my junior year, or until I’ve gotten the score I feel is good enough for me. Thanks!!!
“Grinding out APs isn’t the best way to get admitted to top schools anyway.”
Not sure I agree with this as a generalization.
No question, if you’re a recruited athlete, then getting the right number at many elite schools is the best approach, because in that context, the school is trying to find a reason to admit you.
W/o a compelling recruiting story of some kind (sports being the most common), then in my experience, rigor of HS curriculum is absolutely huge.
Of course, if being a full IB kid means you’re going to leg out a 2.7 GPA, then you’re better off from an admissions standpoint (though not from a preparedness standpoint) taking easier classes.
All else being equal, which is admittedly a huge assumption, I counseled my kids to take harder courses - the hardest offered. It helped them - I know it did.
I hope it will again. I’ll be testing this theory in earnest in few months here. Kids #1 and #2 were full IB, all the hard classes, and had the numbers. Kid #3 - same curriculum but GPA is lower. IB did damage to her numbers early on.
We shall see what happens.
But my view is that rigor helps as long as you’re not obliterating your number because of it.
@MiddleburyDad2 thank you! With sports, I swim competitively but I don’t think it’s something I want to take on come college. And with the schools I’m aspiring towards, I agree with the rigor of work. I’ll be balancing both IB and AP courses next year because my school offers both, but it’s great to read your insight and how that worked out.
@Middleburydad2, you also should go read the Cal Newport book. The main point is that there are tens of thousands of vals and sals in the US, same number of school team captains, etc. What colleges want is to know that students can do the work. But that does not mean taking every AP course offered. Newport suggests that while you need to have a base level of course rigor and GPA, you are better off spending your additional time distinguishing yourself with some unique or interesting ECs instead of more AP classes. Of course you need to meet a baseline of rigor, GPA, and test scores – but it isn’t as high as you think. If you can show you are capable of doing the work AND turn their head on the “What else have you got?” question that they ask, that is what makes the biggest difference in top college admissions. One of my kids had a 3.7 UW GPA (her school does not rank, but I am not even sure she was in the top 10% of her class), was unhooked, and got in everyplace she applied – including UChicago, Swarthmore, and Harvey Mudd – and I think the “be interested and interesting” mindset was the tipping point for her. Going mano-a-mano on weighted GPA is doing it the hard way, IMHO. And runs the risk of the school thinking that the student is a grinder, but without that intellectual spark that they really want.
Stern is not less competitive to get into btw. It has a lower acceptance rate than Georgetown does.
Stern’s acceptance rate is around 12% and has been going down 2% each year the past 3 years. Georgetown’s acceptance rate around 17%. None of these schools are by any means easy to get into.