Im currently a sophomore and have a 3.44 unweighted and a 4.11 weighted. The reason for my GPA being so low is because I was helping my aunt since she has lung cancer.
Clubs I do…
National Spanish Honors Society Vice President
Women in Technology President
Programming Club
National English Honors Society President and Founder
Varsity Cross Country, Indoor Track, and Outdoor Track
Captain of the Debate Team
School Newspaper Staff Writer
MESA Club
County Wide SGA representative for my school and
My Sat Score (SooOOSOOooooooOOoooo far since in the summer I am going to grind so hard to get a 1500)
I took a practice test recently
430 - math
500- reading
930 total score
Internships
-Internship for my state u.s representative too
ap classes took so far
ap gov
ap comp sci pri
ap us history
I want to apply to
Harvard
John Hopkins
UCLA
Dartmouth
UMD (safety school )
NYU (safety school)
Columbia
UP
Yale
Brown
Princeton
community college
Things I should do
-improve gpa
-crack up sat score by like 800 points
-run at nationals for cross country
write a book
be frank about what I should do and if I have any hope at getting in cuz I probably might not get into any ivy league school tbh
You misspelled “definitely.” in the above sentence.
Come back and ask when you have a higher SAT/ACT, but even then, your GPA will be problematic. There are plenty of threads containing tips for SAT preparation
^^^^Do you think NYU and UMD are safety schools for an applicant with a 3.4 GPA and a projected 930 SAT? Of course there is still time for improvement but isn’t it best to be honest so the OP can start to think about a realistic application list that will allow him/her to meet with success at the end of the process?
CONSTRUCTIVE ADVICE: I would suggest that Priority #1 is to find some colleges in between the most selective colleges and community college to apply to.
Your current list is very REACH HEAVY. Please do not take this personally! I would say the exact same thing even if your SAT were 1550 and your GPA were perfect. You need a more diverse mix of schools. It’s the best way to guarantee happiness spring of your senior year.
You currently have no schools that accept 50%+ of applicants. You are either applying to highly selective schools or going to community college. Why? Take the time to educate yourself about some colleges that offer first-rate educational opportunities and are a great fit for YOUR educational interests and personality. I would highly consider looking into applying to some TEST OPTIONAL schools as well. I RECOMMEND A MINIMUM OF THREE SCHOOLS IN THIS CATEGORY.
Look at Fair Test.org and at the website for Colleges That Change Lives to start your brainstorming, or peruse threads here on College Confidential about great test optional schools which accept 50%+ of applicants. There are some great schools in that category and that is the sweet spot your current list is missing.
Of the 12 schools on your current list, there are
7 Ivy League schools (Harvard, Dartmouth, Columbia, UP, Yale, Brown, Princeton)
2 additional extremely selective private universities (JHU and NYU, the latter of which had a 16% acceptance rate this year; see link below.)
1 highly selective public (UCLA)–>Accepts about 16% of applicants.
1 moderately selective public (Maryland)–>Still accepts fewer than 50% of applicants!
WOAH! I just looked into all the colleges and scores and tried to make a list for me, I realized I have like no safety schools at all or really any schools I can get into. I looked at some schools that I could get into like
-Frostburg
-Townson
-Howard University
-WASHINGTON ADVENTIST UNIVERSITY
I learned to make a more realistic list for now, and maybe ivy league school out of my reach. My dream school is to go to an ivy league and I am might be able to do that if my stats and stuff go up by ALOT till then I will work to improve my sat score and gpa up
For the reach schools you have listed, all accepted applicants will have strong extracurriculars, and much higher GPAs. These schools are looking at the whole package - GPA, test scores, ECs, essays, recs. There are plenty of options for you;I just don;t think that most of the schools you’ve listed are among them.
The biggest constraint for most kids going to college is money. How about getting some idea as to how much your family can and are willing to pay for college, and also how much colleges expect your family to pay. It’s time you sit down with them and fill out some Net Price Calculator,( each school has its own ) and a FAFSA EFC calculator. If you have a non custodial parent, a family business, it can skew the results. But let’s see what the ball park here is as to what your family can afford to pay.
Now I’d the time to start studying for that SAT. Khan Academy has free online help. Start working on it. These Days, most kids wanting selective schools do put the time into studying and practicing for the SATs. Maybe try a sample ACT and see if you do better on that.
The next part is your college search. Just cherry picking a bunch of top name schools is absolutely not what a careful college search comprises. You want to find good schools that can give you want you want that are likely to take you. That is the most important part of the search. Yes, CCs May play a role in this, but what about other local schools? Ask your GC and open those ears about where kids from your high school are going.
Then there are your state schools. Look at where you need to be in statistics to get accepted to which schools. Which ones have the courses you want? Have you heard things you like about them? Read up on them.
Once you have all of those issues set, you’ll be set to apply— in two years. In that time, hopefully you’ve done well in your courses, gotten official test scores and can see how you stack up at those colleges you’ve collected.
EC’s are probably a third level of what schools look at - Grades/coursework and then test scores are the predominant factors. Extenuating circumstances are taken into account. But honestly, none of the schools you list are realistic with 3.44 and 940. Even with 3.44 and 1500, almost all will be significant reaches. And +560 on the SAT is extremely rare.
You should certainly focus on GPA/ SAT improvement, as you have noted. But some research and alternate set of realistic match schools is also needed. There are lots of great schools out there, at every level. Finding the right match for you is the key to success.
I will only comment on the 2 California schools. Are you a CA resident?
SDSU will still be a big Reach based on your current GPA and test scores. Average for 2018 Freshman admits was a CSU capped weighted GPA of 3.93 and average SAT of 1264. You would need to significantly bump up your GPA and test scores for a solid chance.
CSU’s use only 10-11th grades in their GPA calculation with a 8 semester cap for honors points (weighted) UC approved Honors courses (CA HS student only), AP, IB or DE courses (CA HS student only).
Mount St Mary’s is well within your Reach but seems to be a huge outlier in comparison of the other schools on your list. There are 2 St Mary’s colleges in California: Mount St Marys in Los Angeles and St Mary’s college in Moraga.
I also think it is way to early to start making a college list since you still have another year to work on your GPA and test scores. It is fine to do research on potential schools, but please figure the affordability factor first.
Unless you are a CA resident, SDSU would be full pay at around $40K/year to attend and does not offer FA to out of state applicants.
Your stats aren’t quite in range to earn you a strong merit scholarship. Therefore, if you think your parents will struggle to pay full sticker price, I would focus on in-state schools where your stats put you in the top 50th percentile. You want to go where you can successfully complete your bachelor’s degree in four years without accumulating a lot of debt.
“Do you think extra circulars and helping one of my family members is a good reason for it being somewhat low?” Unfortunately, your reaches will look for what you accomplished despite caring for a family member. The competitiom from top performers is fierce. Agree, UMD and NYU are not safeties.
“EC’s are probably a third level of what schools look at - Grades/coursework and then test scores are the predominant factors. Extenuating circumstances are taken into account.” For those reaches, holistic colleges, there is no “third level.” It all matters. Top stats and weak ECs can exclude a kid. Stats don’t top the rest.
It’s not only competitive admissions that makes this difficult. The level of prep of kids at these reaches means a high bar in the college classes. You want a college where you can thrive. And whatever classes you got a grade below A can be seen as less mastery, less prep for college level courses.
So you guys are saying I have NO choice for an ivy league and should just cross those school out? No matter what happens in the next year and how much my SAt increase I should just go to community college or a lower teer school
@Helen101: It is fine to have a few Reach schools on your list, but you need to start with some safeties first than formulate your list from the bottom up. You have also not posted your Home state and college budget. There are plenty of schools between Ivy League and community college so work on your grades and test scores to see where you are at the end of Junior year.
What is your HS course rigor? AP/IB or DE classes? Do you plan to do test prep? What is your plan to get better grades?
You need more than soph results, a gpa and scores lower than these colleges can demand, before anyone can evaluate. But much of the competition for those reaches is at a uw 4.0, end of soph year.
They’re reaches. So many other great colleges out there. Put in the effort to find them.
@Gumbymom I assumed OP was referring to Mount Saint Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, MD. That would be consistent with what appears to be the general area on geographic concentration, if I’m right.