I’m a high school junior at the moment and I have a 3.2 GPA (unweighted) and I just took the SAT for the first time and got a 1300. I plan to retake it for a higher score and the ACT as well. I’ve only taken 1 AP which is this year (AP Lang) and I have taken honors wherever possible, so I have plenty of Honors credits. MY classes for senior year are:
AP Calculus AB
AP Chemistry
AP Government (1/2)
AP Macroeconomics (1/2)
AP Literature and Composition
AP Music Theory
Dividend (Assistant for teacher)
Jazz Band
I have no EC because my parents never let me (they wanted me to focus on religion, which kind of applies to why I have a low GPA) and I will be doing at least 100 community service hours over the summer.
My current classes are:
Physics Honors (A)
United States History Honors (A)
Digital Design 1 (A)
Pre-calculus (Honors) (A)
AP Language and Composition (B)
Italian 1 (A)
Piano 1 (A)
Should I even try? I’m very anxious because of my low GPA and UCF is one of my dream colleges. Can a high SAT score compensate? What score should I aim for (ACT and SAT)? My grades suffered freshman and sophomore year because of my family and discouragement from them, but my grades this year are much better.
Your SAT is good, around average, but I’d retake it just for security. Also, the average weighted GPA is around 4.0, is your GPA close to that? Also, if you take the ACT, a 27-29 should be around average. When you apply, I definitely recommend writing that college essay, about something personal to you (perhaps a family struggle, or how your religion has strongly impacted you? I haven’t looked at the UCF/Common App prompts very much so I can’t say for sure).
Are you an in state or OOS applicant? I believe for public universities, in-state applicants (at least in Florida, where I live) have a better chance, since they’re required to admit a certain percentage of students from in-state to their university.
However, I would recommend you join a few clubs if you can. Also, your community service should be nice, wherever you volunteer. Best of luck Senior year! I’m also a junior and I couldn’t bring myself to take more than 4 APs since I know senioritis will hit me hard. However, seeing how motivated you are to raise your gpa for UCF, I know you’ll do great :). I highly recommend going on UCF’s website and checking out their statistics that they provide, as they’re most reliable. I am actually writing this post based on what I could disseminate from their site :). Good luck again!
Thank you, this really brings my hopes up.
I’m not sure what my weighted is, I’ll have to email my guidance counselor. Last I checked it was 3.423 at the beginning of the year, but I had never taken an AP before and I have 3 honors classes with nothing below a B so I’m sure it’s higher now. I’m taking the SAT at least one more time and the ACT in June so I’m practicing for those.
I’m in state, I live about an hour away from UCF. I was also told by my AP Lang teacher that I might be able to join the English Honors Society so I’m hopeful for that! I’m definitely going to write the essay, essays are one of my strongest aspects so I’m very confident about that.
Thank you for your reply! Good luck to you too. I’m very excited for next year.
@kuustarr
The 3 honors classes are this year, I’ve taken as much honors as possible and I’m retaking some high school classes I received a C on in middle school online for an A, which should boost my GPA.
No problem! Also, since UCF has rolling admissions, it’s best to apply as early as you possibly can. Even though the absolute last day deadline is around May, they’ll accept or deny you 2-4 weeks after you apply, so you can submit your application as early as November. It’ll probably heighten your chances since there’ll be more open spots and such! Also, I did some digging, and here is what the UCF FAQ said the essay prompts were:
Although optional, the essay assists the Admissions Committee in knowing you as an individual, independent of test scores and other objective data. We ask that you respond to two of the topics below. Your responses should be no longer than a total of 500 words or 7,000 characters.
If there has been some obstacle or bump in the road in your academic or personal life, please explain the circumstances.
How has your family history, culture, or environment influenced who you are?
Why did you choose to apply to UCF?
What qualities or unique characteristics do you possess that will allow you to contribute to the UCF community?
Submitting an essay will definitely help your chances and make you stick out as an individual :). Plus, colleges that see that you are striving to improve and challenge yourself and such will definitely look at it positively 
ahh, college applications are coming up so fast!! One of my friends only took around 4 APs and still got in, so numbers and data aren’t always the be all end all.
@Tsuzama,
How’s it going with act and ap scores. I hope better.
@ufmomfriend I scored a 30 on the ACT (first time) and a 4 on the Lang exam. I’m pretty happy with that.
Fantastic and congratulations!!! You should be happy because a 30 is great, especially first time. We are all rooting for you.