I am currently entering my sophomore year which means I just completed my freshmen year of high school. Our school is on a 100 point system instead of a 4.0. So my unweighted was a 94.83 and my weighted was 97.7. We cannot take APs our freshmen year at my school so I took all honors which are weighted 1.03 and I understand all colleges weight GPAs differently. According the average GPA from my high school is a 97.06 Weighted (Cumulative).
As for extracurriculars I was Class Vice President and a Senator in the Student Faculty Administration on the Finance Committee. I am currently a two-year varsity letter winner in swimming and swim year round and hope to be recruited. I have received some awards from this year (NJHS, Academic Excellence, Math departmental distinction…)
Some other factors may be I come from a low income and single income family as well as some other personal things…
I plan on starting a club next year and joining FBLA/DECA since I have a passion for business but with my very demanding swim schedule I try my best. I am very passionate about leadership and as I said business so I try my best to focus on those. For now this is it but I still have some time ahead of me before it comes time to decide where I want to go to school.
Please let me know if you want more information I’d be happy to share!
We need standardized test scores to help chance you. As of now you look like you are on the right track, even though your GPA seems low relative to the average GPA at your high school. Keep exploring extracurriculars and find what you are passionate about. Dig deep into that area and get that “spike” that colleges want to see.
Why are you starting a new club? Is there something you are passionate about that isn’t represented at your school?
I have come together with a group of friends for the idea of starting a club at our school where students to come together to discuss societal issues because our school doesn’t have a club that focuses on that. I got the idea from these seminars we had in my English class where each week we focused on a topic in society and then discussed and debated what is the cause of the problem and how do we solve it. I am very passionate about social issues and therefore would like to build off that. I have also entered a piece of writing on LGBT rights and religious freedom and now I am currently working on a paper on the affects low income and single income families with children.
Thank you for the advice. I hope I have a better sophomore and junior year I just had a rough freshmen year. As for a spike I have a great passion for swimming and am working hard to be recruited I had the chance to get on the coaches radar this summer when I went to a swim camp there and I got great feedback from him. Also, I am very passionate about leadership and have a niche for researching social issues as I had mentioned in response to the other comment. As for APs and things like that, I would like to take at least 7 and my goal is to have at least a 99 weighted. On Naviance there was one student from my school who got in with a 95 weighted regular decision. The others had a 98 weighted or above so a 99 would make my GPA more competitive.
The student who got in might have been legacy. Continue to do and hope for the best, but construct a well balanced list and apply ED if D is your first choice. Keep an open mind though. There are a lot of ups and downs and twists and turns to what is College Admissions today. Remember the school doesn’t make you, you make the school. You can thrive at any college if you make use of the many opportunities that present themselves. Good Luck. Dartmouth is a fine college, but there are so many more out there as well.