<p>My school (public) is very competitive and even though I take the hardest courses I can sign up for my GPA is very low..compared to everyone applying to top schools..based on what I see here on CC. Although CC represents people from the high end of the spectrum, I'm still interested in tier 1 colleges and I know the competition is tough.</p>
<p>My GPA is 3.8 Weighted and 3.5 unweighted. My SAT is around 2300, with subject tests all over 700.. Passed all AP's with 4 or 5. I don't want my low-gpa-but-high-test-score situation to make the adcoms think that I am a "smart but lazy" student. I only get a few hours of sleep during school days and in some of my classes there are only about 5 people who get A's.</p>
<p>I guess my question is more for someone who knows a little about colleges' admission policy:
Will they look at my high school profile (sent by our GC) and consider that we are a competitive/difficult school?</p>
<p>I know a lot of people who, in all honesty don't put that much effort into school work and still end up with straight A's because their school has ridiculous grade inflation. Even though it's important to do well in our own environment, I still don't think that's fair.</p>
<p>3.5 is still pretty low for highly competitive schools. What they infer from your school’s profile is up to them, but they receive applicants from ultra competitive schools who also have high GPAs.</p>
<p>Well, they’ll look at what’s on the transcript. But I think they look at the UW because every school has different standards for weighing. They’ll look at your courseload of course, and that might help some. </p>
<p>But still, Tier 1 schools have too many applicants with stellar records and activities. Even if there is grade inflation at neighboring schools, a 3.9 from there unfortunately looks better on paper and at first glance. (and they have too many applications to give more than a quick look through)</p>
<p>The best answer for this is to look at the admissions patterns for your school.<br>
Your basic question is “how have students with similar records done at the schools I am interested in?”
If you have access to Naviance, look at that.
If you don’t, talk to your GC about what to expect.</p>
<p>there’s no ranking at our school.
And one of the reasons why it’s so competitive is because there are so many smart people. Out of a little more than 600 kids, I’m probably around top 20~30%.</p>
<p>don’t worry, its not like you can change your GPA. Instead, you should focus on your application. Apply you never know if you can get in or not until you get your decision letter.</p>
<p>Your first line of competition is your own classmates. It’s much more about rank (even if your school does not officially rank colleges will know where you are) than GPA.</p>
<p>The good colleges are very familiar with every competitive high school in the Country and they will know what your GPA means. You’ll get into some fine colleges being top 20-30% at a top school–not an ivy–but schools ranked 25-50 if the school is really strong.</p>
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<p>Depends on the school which is why they figure out a rank even for those unranked. There are high schools in the US 9at least when I was an adcom) that produce a couple of 3.7’s per decade.</p>
<p>If only 5 people in many of your classes manage As, your class rank is probably pretty good with a 3.5 unweighted, especially your weighted rank which I believe is the more important one. When your school sends your transcript, their explanation of the school’s grading policy and difficulty will help colleges get some perspective on your grades. If your recs and essays are good, I doubt that your GPA will really hold you back (unless your class rank really isn’t that high).</p>
<p>hmom5—You mention that you were once an adcom. Would you like to explain to me what kind of things are most influential in compensating for a low gpa?</p>
<p>First, let me say I was an adcom in the dark ages before the top schools expected what they do today. That said, my insight comes from 3 kids applying to top schools in the last 7 years.</p>
<p>At the very top schools, nothing compensates for a low GPA. There are too many candidates with it all that they can’t accommodate. That’s the bad news. The good news is that at 95% of the schools in the US many things compensate. High scores, great accomplishments, the ability to pay…many things.</p>
<p>In your case you have a fine GPA and scores that would be considered exceptional at 95 plus percent of schools. You should have no problem getting into a very good school if you can look past the 15 or so names most mentioned on CC.</p>
<p>I came from an extremely competitive school as well, (my hs is one of the top 30 high schools in america), and from what i can tell, its much better to get a High gpa at a stupider (can’t find any other word) hs than to get a low gpa at a smart competitive hs. Colleges say that they look at how hard your hs, but i seriously don’t think they give that much leeway</p>
<p>I agree with everything hmom5 has stated. All top colleges have rankings for high schools. </p>
<p>In SoCal, where I am from, there are some high schools that are among the most rigorous in the nation and there are some high schools where semi-literate students are getting A’s in AP English. It would be irresponsible for admissions officers not to have knowledge of the relative academic rigor at high schools when evaluating GPAs. </p>
<p>Colleges only consider unweighted GPAs. You seem to think you would be better presented by your weighted GPA. Consider that the weighted high school GPA for admitted freshman last year at UCLA was 4.3 average.</p>
<p>I am sure admissions officers have heard every excuse imaginable for low GPAs. Rather than make the excuse, focus on your passions in life in your essays. It is overstated in CC, but once again, the essays can sometimes compensate for everything else. </p>
<p>You already know this, but while setting your sights high, also be realistic in choosing some of the schools you apply to.</p>
<p>from what i’ve gathered from talking to my college counselor as well as looking at colleges websites and talking to admissions officers is that colleges will dissect your transcript rather than just looking at an unweighted or weighted GPA. Also, I have heard that weighted GPAs in essence are useless because if you send a weighted GPA to a college, they will just unweight it and use their own weighting system. </p>
<p>That being said, I too come from a very competitive private prep school in Maryland. It is not uncommon for kids in my school to get near-perfect SAT scores. My school does not rank however. Also, colleges would much rather see a B in an AP course than an A in a college-prep course. </p>
<p>Kids at my school make dean’s list with none or few AP classes while sometimes kids with many AP classes get First Honors. Those kids with the rigorous schedules are in a much better position than those with straight A’s in college prep courses because colleges want you to challenge yourself. I also have about a 3.45-3.5 GPA unweighted but I am gonna graduate with 9 APs and 3 honors classes</p>
<p>So to answer the original question. I don’t think that you will come off as smart but lazy because you are taking the most challenging classes available to you and getting A’s/B’s in them</p>
(and they have too many applications to give more than a quick look through)</p>