What was your IB grade and which university did you get accepted/rejected in?

Applying to College Admission Stories
1

I’ve just finished 11th grade, and first semester I got a 37/42, and 2nd semester a 39/42.
For second sem my grades are:
Math HL - 5
Physics HL- 6
History HL-7
English Literature HL-7
Chemistry SL-7
Spanish ab initio SL-7
TOK is pretty good, so I guess I can expect 3 points in that.

I wrote my first sat on the 7th, so the results aren’t out yet.
My reach schools are Caltech, upenn, and Princeton, and I was wondering if my IB grades are up to the par for those universities. I want to pursue astrophysics, so if anyone has any reccomendations for university, that would be helpful. :slight_smile: Also, what were your IB grades and which university were you accepted in? That might be helpful for me to decide where I stand. Thank you :slight_smile:

2

39/42 (with hope for a 42/45, but don’t take those bonus points for granted like I did!) is adequate for these or any schools, but it’s not enough to help you much either. For Princeton especially you’re near the bare minimum for an unhooked applicant. That Math and Physics are your major weaknesses is the main issue. I know secondhand how difficult Math HL is, but a 5 (it depends on how your school writes transcripts, but I’ve generally seen this translated to a C or low B) is a dangerously soft mark for top schools, especially math-oriented ones like Cal Tech whose applicant pool is brimming over with math and science wunderkinden.

For reference, I was admitted to the University of Chicago (EA) with merit money and Dartmouth, and rejected at Harvard, with a 2360 SAT and the following marks:

HL Economics – 6
HL English – 7
HL Philosophy – 6
SL Maths – 7
SL Physics – 7
SL Spanish, ab initio – 7
2 bonus points, for a total of 42/45

Among my classmates, I’ve seen the following (obviously, this list is going to omit things, like safeties or embarrassing rejections, that people didn’t mention, and sadly ):

42/45: Accepted at Stanford, Chicago, Cornell, waitlisted Harvard, rejected Dartmouth, Columbia and Yale (My debate partner, so of course his EC situation was stellar (;. Also didn’t apply anywhere early, leading to unneeded stress; fortunately, the shotgun approach at regular worked out for him)

43/45: Accepted conditionally for history at Oxford; needs to maintain a 7 in his HL history class and a 41 overall to not get rescinded.

44/45: Accepted at Yale (ED) and a prestigious full-ride scholarship at his home state’s flagship.

44/45: Deferred, then accepted at Princeton (SCEA, legacy)

All of the above sported excellent ECs and would have had interviews and essays ranging from “run-of-the-mill but solid” to “inspiring tear-jerker”. No predicted 45s that I know of at my school, so these applications and a few others represent the cream of the crop here – if your school tops out at 41, then a 41 will of course look better. The only person I know of going to a top-ten school with less than 40/45 is a recruited athlete headed for Princeton.

3

The one who got in with 42, what was his/her SAT score? because im pretty sure the sat i just wrote wouldnt be more than 2100-ish? And my 5 in math is a B, an 84%, and my 6 in physics is an A-, its really close to a 7, which is A, or A+.

4

I’m afraid I don’t know other people’s SAT/ACT scores because that isn’t really something people talk about. You’ll want to look at the reported score ranges that each individual school publishes to get an idea of where you stand. Again, that math grade is low for the schools you’ve listed, and could be an issue even if your overall performance is in the right area.

5

Okay, thank you so much for your help :smiley:
I’ll try to get my math grade up to a 6! Like that’s an A- or B+