<p>I just wanted to let those of you with non-perfect GPA's and scores that there is still hope for us. :D</p>
<p>This site gets so competitive and makes you feel like you have to have a 4.0 or above even to get into a state school. But I was talking to some seniors last week with just above average grades and scores who got into great schools.</p>
<p>Student "A" was a white female, had 1300 SAT's and a 3.4 cumulative GPA, with a total of 22 classes, 6 of which were honors/AP. A few EC's but again nothing stands out. Attended a competitive but not overwhelmingly amazing school.</p>
<p>APPLIED:
NYU - accepted
U. Miami - accepted, is attending in the fall
Boston University - accepted
USC - rejected
Stanford - rejected</p>
<p>So, she got into NYU, Miami and BU with a 3.4 GPA and 1300 SAT. She also applied to some less prestigious LAC's and state schools and were accepted there as well.</p>
<p>Student "B" was a white female, had a total of 22 classes, ZERO of which were honors/AP. Active in theatre more so than student A, but no leadership whatsoever and a fairly average EC list. SAT's were 1220. Cumulative GPA 3.0 from the same school, competitive but not overwhelmingly so.</p>
<p>APPLIED:
NYU - accepted
BU - accepted
Hofstra - accepted, is attending in the fall
Roosevelt - accepted
DePaul - accepted
Michigan State - accepted
Not rejected from a single school she applied to.</p>
<p>These are just examples to prove that "normal" kids DO get into good colleges. Student B didn't apply to any super stretch schools like student A did (USC, Stanford) but with a 3.0 GPA, acceptance at the first 3 is surprising by this board's standards.</p>
<p>Thank you for this post. But I'm a little confused. How on earth would a girl w/ no honors or APs get into a competitive school like NYU? Her stats aren't great so I need to ask...legacy? It's just basically, NYU says they pick kids who take the most challenging curriculum available to them. </p>
<p>Not meant to put anyone down or offend, just curious.</p>
<p>It's really not that suprising. Someone from my school got into NYU with a 1290 old SAT. The kid wasn't an athlete or URM. It's a honestly a crapshoot</p>
<p>Killaerone - I disagree. I think it's a huge crapshoot. NYU generally likes my school, probably 60% of applicants from our school get in, and a very large chunk, at least 15% apply there. But of the kids who apply, the ones they choose to accept is quite random. There will always be a few near perfect applicants, most of which get accepted, but some of which don't, and then there's the typical "theater kid" with B averages and mediocre SAT's but exceptional talent who gets in.</p>
<p>Eugene S - The school I go to (which is the same school Student A and B go to) only gives weight to individual grade points, not your overall grade point average. So even if you're in ALL honors classes, the maximum you could get is 4.33 on a 4.0 scale.</p>
<p>Student A's average is weighted. Student B is both weighted and unweighted (she took no honors or AP classes).</p>
<p>I don't think any school weights your whole GPA, if I'm understanding what you mean.</p>
<p>Only if you're in all honors or AP courses could your whole GPA be weighted. What your school has is a very small curve for honors and AP courses.</p>
<p>Well, some schools tack on a ".33" or whatever to your overall GPA for EACH honors class instead of adding the .33 into your cumulative GPA before averaging.</p>
<p>My school:</p>
<p>7 classes, 4 A's and 3 B+'s, 2 are honors classes: 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 3.3 + 3.3 + 3.3 = UNWEIGHTED 3.71, take the above formula and add 2(.33) to it, then divide by number of classes = 3.81 WEIGHTED</p>
<p>A few larger public schools just add a certain amount (though usually less than .33) for each class to the GPA, not individual class grade points.</p>