What sort of Universities should I be looking at? (Low GPA, Moderate-high scores)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Since the college application process is starting rather soon, I would significantly appreciate it if you would suggest some schools or a 'tier' that I should be looking at. </p>

<p>9th Grade GPA:
Semester I: 2.74
Semester II: 2.36</p>

<p>10th Grade GPA:
Semester I: 2.17
Semester II: 3.00</p>

<p>11th Grade GPA:
Semester I: 3.40
Semester II: 3.63</p>

<p>12th Grade Courses:
AP Macroeconomics
AP Microeconomics
AP Physics B
AP Statistics
Honors: Pre-Calculus (I am self-studying single variable Calculus, will sit for A/B or B/C AP exams)
Generic English and History courses</p>

<p>Grades are going fairly well this semester since I'm quite motivated and I enjoy these subjects, so I can probably realistically expect a Sem 1 GPA of 3.7+ (no idea how the AP weighting will affect it, this is my first year taking them)</p>

<p>SAT/ACT
SAT
Composite: 1890 (Top 12%)
Math: 680
CR: 630
Writing: 580</p>

<p>ACT
Composite: 31 (Top 3%)
Science: 36
English: 34
Math: 29
Reading: 26</p>

<p>I will be sitting for the late-Oct/Nov exams for both, as the above scores were taken cold without any review. Perhaps you could just consider a 10% margin for GPA and test score forecasts.</p>

<p>I prefer large-scale research universities, and I will be majoring in Business Administration and Economics (maybe Quantitative Analysis). </p>

<p>As far as ECs go, I don't have any clubs or leadership positions. I play American Football and I started a small online business during my sophomore year, and I'm working on drafting business plans for another idea I have.</p>

<p>Again, I welcome any contribution as I need to compile a list of prospective colleges.</p>

2

<p>Bump.</p>

<p>College list is due this week, I’ve come up with some reaches and will update this thread shortly.</p>

3

<p>You can try these schools for reaches:</p>

<p>USC
Emory
Most flagship state schools like UWashington, UCs, UTexas etc</p>

4

<p>He could try those schools, but the OP will be rejected from all assuming his UW GPA is below a 3.0. I don’t think you appreciate how competitive most of the UCs, UT, UW, and the privates you listed are. </p>

<p>OP, how much can you afford? What’s your home state? Also, what’s your weighted and unweighted GPA?</p>

5

<p>Finances shouldn’t a problem. I attend a prestigious private school overseas so that will help a little bit (at least when comparing GPA/Scores of my school’s applicants to the average). My dad has worked at several schools in the US and overseas as a professor, but I’m not sure where that factors in on the application process (schools include U.Penn, UC Berkeley, Rochester, Toronto, UK, etc).</p>

<p>I’m not quite sure what my weighted GPA is, since this is my first year taking APs. My GPA prior to this year is 2.89 cumulative, but there’s a significantly strong trend upwards in the last two years.</p>

6

<p>U Missouri as a safety…</p>

<p>Or McGill if you can stomach agronomy or dietetics and changing majors later.</p>

7

<p>Any UMASS except Amherst
University of Southern Maine
Roger Williams University
CSUs
Georgia Southern
Alfred University
Daniel Webster
Jacksonville</p>

8

<p>McGill also doesn’t count grade 9 marks, which is your worst year, so that would help you. If you manage to do well in the first half of grade 12 you might have a shot for arts (including economics) or even possibly physical science (a bit of a reach but not impossible).</p>

<p>Here are the admission standards</p>

<p>[Admissions</a> standards (US) | Applying to Undergraduate Studies - McGill University](<a href=“http://www.mcgill.ca/applying/admissionsguide/standards/unitedstates]Admissions”>http://www.mcgill.ca/applying/admissionsguide/standards/unitedstates)</p>

<p>The forgiveness for bad grade 9 grades, gives late bloomers a leg up when applying to McGill, so it might be a good fit for you. Also in your favor is that you only have to submit ACT OR SAT scores, so you can only send in your ACT score, which are better than your SAT score.</p>

9

<p>Actually, when I suggested nutrition or agro-environmental science and later change the major, it’s because the guy’s GPA w/o 9th grade was 3.05. (I suggested him the wrong major in dietetics and nutrition)</p>

10

<p>@Catria
McGill Arts says only a B/B+ average is needed, so with a good grade 12, getting to Arts and hence economics is attainable for the OP. McGill’s Business school, Desaults is most likely out of the question though.</p>

11

<p>If a B/B+ average can cover a ~3.2 GPA then he needs 3.7+ as a first-semester senior (major scholarships are out of the question with a 3.2 GPA) to seal the deal.</p>

12

<p>The OP had a 3.63 in his/her last semester the same or even a little better in the first half of grade 12 does not seem to be to far out there.</p>

<p>Again I am not saying that the OP is a lock for McGill Arts, far from it, but he/she still has a decent chance if he/she manages to pull grades similar to his last semester in grade 12.</p>

<p>And McGill’s miles ahead of any other university that has been posted here.</p>

13

<p>Thanks for the suggestion. I have definitely been considering schools in Canada or UK since they discount freshman grades (and sophomore in the latter). </p>

<p>My father has taught in U.Toronto so if I was to apply to some schools in Canada, this would be a good place to start.</p>

<p>If we were to only look at my Grade 11/12 grades (ie applying overseas or admission officers looking at trends), what sort of colleges should I think about? London School of Economics and U. Pennsylvania are my dream schools, but I don’t know if they are out of reach now (had some family issues during first half of high school). I plan on applying to a few Targets (and one safety), then getting as many reaches in as I can.</p>

14

<p>If British schools only look at your 11 and 12 graded than that suits you just fine and they might be a good fit for you. However are you sure this is for internationals? Make sure this is not just a criteria for domestic students (eg. UofToronto looks at grade 11/12 only for Ontario applicants, but for internationals looks at 9-12). Be aware though that living and going to school in the UK will cost a small fortune. </p>

<p>I cant comment on LSE, but UPenn is pretty much a pipe dream.</p>

15

<p>Yeah, I realized that U. Penn may be too much of a reach as well. Even if I do get in, there’s no guarantee that I can get into Wharton, which is primarily the only reason I want to go there.</p>

<p>Thanks for the heads up, I’ll make sure to check the policy for international students. Finances shouldn’t be too much of a problem, we have a stable income flowing in and I dabble a little with investing. If I can confirm that Toronto checks 9-12 for international students, I may drop that off my list and replace it with McGill or another university.</p>

<p>My current list, with probability of admission (weighted against average applicants):</p>

<p>Reach
Boston College 23%
Cornell University 25%
Northwestern University 30%
Tufts University 33%</p>

<p>Target
Carnegie Mellon 33%
University of Southern California 34%
University of Michigan 35%
Emory University 38%
New York University 44%
University of Rochester 49%</p>

<p>Safety
Boston University 68%
University of Toronto 73%</p>

<p>Any comments or thoughts are deeply appreciated.</p>

16

<p>BC: Reach
Cornell: High reach
NWU: High reach
Tufts: High reach
CMU: Reach
USC: Reach
UMI: High reach
Emory: Reach
NYU: Reach (Stern is a high reach)
U Rochester: Reach
BU: High match
U Toronto: Match (Rotman is a high reach)</p>

17

<p>How did you generate those percentage points? I am very surprised you think Boston College is less likely than Cornell. Also UofT’s business school (Rotman) is very difficult to get into, even for Ontario applicants and you only have a very small chance getting in with your grades. Even arts is at best a mid reach (for an American applicant) with a 3.05 gpa. Remember you are an international applicant there are separate admission requirements for you then for Canadians (it will likely be the same for admission into UK universities).</p>

18

<p>Your SAT and GPA are really low for most of the schools you listed… I know people that were top 10% and 2100+ SAT and didn’t make it to NYU/Cornell</p>

19

<p>Dont take the percentage points very seriously - they should be used as a quick reference, at best. </p>

<p>They’re basically derived from the average admission rates of all applicants vs my school’s (international and prestigious name seems to lower the standards a little bit), weighted against the deviance of my grades to the average applicant’s. If you’ve done some sort of financial investing or studied portfolio theory, its essentially the same concept. It’s mostly for my personal usage in balancing the reaches, targets, and safeties of my list.</p>

<p>As for using them to predict application acceptance, they still can be used to a certain extent but discrepancies may pop up ie Boston vs Cornell, from intuition the latter should be more selective.</p>

<p>If I get accepted into U. Toronto but not into Rotman, where exactly does that leave me? Will I be studying business/economics in another business school?</p>

<p>Thanks for pointing that out ChanceTexas. I haven’t studied for the SAT/ACT for those scores, and I’m hoping that putting in a little effort now may increase my scores to some degree. My skills are already quite strong, but I need to work on staying focused and not making mistakes, so there is definitely still room for improvement.</p>

20

<p>The University of Alabama would be nice, especially with its strong alumni network. Northeastern should also be on your list as it is a school that has a co-op program and for future business leaders ( :wink: ), that should prove to be very good background.</p>