<p>I go to a public high school that is rated top 50 in the nation by U.S. News and world report my school is crazy competitive if you get a 3.8uw on a 4.0uw scale you are in the top 30% of your class. I used to go to a really ghetto high school were people get into fights daily and people get stabbed monthly. So when I move to my new high school my sophomore year of high school i did not do very well the first semester and my gpa dropped but it is better now than before. Would having a 3.3 gpa at this school be equal to the average gpa of admitted students at NYU being 3.6 or USC being 3.7 or Tufts being 3.8?</p>
<p>I think it is safe to say that colleges will take that into consideration, but don’t expect too much sympathy unless you are from a lower income bracket or something. After all, class rank is still important and ultimately matters much more than just raw GPA. It seems to me that it probably would have been a better educational decision for you to stay at your “really ghetto high school” and excel there than to have gone to this uber-stellar high school where you are performing decently at best. How do you go from such a crappy high school to a US News Top 50 high school anyways lol? Whatever the case, I hope you clarified that transition somewhere on your application. That being said, I think you will be fine as far as admissions to the colleges you mentioned go assuming the rest of your application is good: SAT’s, EC’s, recs, etc.</p>
<p>I mean if it is a public school of decent size and 30% of the students have over 3.8, I don’t think you will get the amount of adjustment that you would want.</p>
<p>I live in a big city so there is a good side of town and a not so good. When my mom got a better job we moved to the better where it is predominantly Asian at my school 80% to be exact and 19% white and I make up one of ten black people who make up the 3000 people populated school where mostly everyone has families that make over $150,000 so they all higher private tutors and get straight A’s. The only reason why I moved there was to get a better education which I am getting but with a lower gpa since I am not rich.</p>
<p>In that case, I think you will be given a more sympathetic response from the admissions officers so long as you clarified that in the additional info section of the app or something. Otherwise, they have no idea as to your situation and can only go off of what’s on the paper.</p>
<p>I’m not trying to shoot you down or anything but I really don’t think it’s fair to blame your lower gpa on whether or not you’re rich. I believe (and maybe I’m just up in my own little elitist world) that you could definitely obtain a better gpa if you tried harder. Whether it’s asking for extra help from the teacher, having friends that are good at subjects tutor you, or putting in the extra study time, I really don’t think you can say oh Person A has the money to hire a personal tutor so that obviously gives me an excuse to have a lower gpa than them. I absolutely hate when people point to background/family income/race as a crutch. GPA, imo is MUCH more of an indicator of your drive and willingness to try rather than natural intelligence. I see many people that have a drive to succeed and put it long hours of studying to offset a lack of natural intelligence (compared to others) and it puts them on an equal footing. Basically, I’m sure you could invest thousands of dollars into some people’s SAT prep over the whole course of HS and maybe even MS and they would still not be able to achieve past a 2200. On the other hand, you have kids that don’t take any prep courses at all, etc and who can score 2300. Some people are naturally smarter than others and/or have more motivation/drive than others. Those are the people that do better most of the time, rather than those that are just “rich.”</p>
<p>I have the same gpa, also go to a top 50 school jcrew: you make some good points about success being measured through effort.. but sometimes it isn’t enough..Many of my As dropped to Bs because of a screw up on a final..I put in long hours but one test determined whether I had three A-s or 3 B pluses. It just really depends.</p>
<p>There’s a bunch of people at my school whose parent’s are doctors and they get tutoring 4+ times a week for some of the six ap’s we all take. They’re still no better off gradewise then my friends and I, but it severely limits their ec time. And colleges don’t like people who just study…</p>
<p>My daughter went from a Private school to a Public school and is very happy. She could take many AP classes and also do some of the AP courses as self study and still be able to take the AP exams. Teachers are really helpful and go out of the way to help her.
She is trying hard, and would be applying to Colleges, do you think Top 10% is still the issue?
AuntZ</p>