<p>My dream is to go to Stanford..except I know the average person accepted there has around a 4.6 or 4.7 weighted gpa....I only have about a 4.2/4.1 but I work really hard with EC, community service, and sports. No matter how hard I study and work I can't manage to get higher than a 4.3. I'm an IB Diploma candidate and to get a 4.7 in one of those classes you have to be a born genius (which I am definitely not!). Plus, I really hate math and science, which makes it hard to study all the time. But outside of the classroom I do a crazy amount of Extra curriculars, sports, clubs, etc.....but I heard none of that matters unless I have an impressive GPA. Should I still even try for Stanford? Or will they not even care about all my EC and throw my app away?</p>
<p>Although gpa is important for most schools, it’s not the sole factor in their decision of whether to accept you or not. If you want to get into an amazing school like Stanford, try to find out what you like in or outside of school, and do it really really well. The people that get into Stanford usually have high scores, high SATs, and impressive essays and ECs, but if you do something that makes you really stand out you have a good chance as well. </p>
<p>I would suggest not making Stanford you “dream school”, because you don’t want to be aiming for just one school and be really disappointed if you don’t get in. Aim high, apply to a decent number of schools, and you should be fine.</p>
<p>Okay, thanks!</p>
<p>rendanator pretty much hit the nail on the head. As I see it, Stanford, more so than pretty much any other college, looks for unique applicants who are amazing in some way (ie Olympic athlete, community leader, etc). A relatively low GPA won’t immediately rule you out but you’ll need something to set you apart from the crowd.</p>