There seems to be many discussions on high stats kids with GPAs of 3-8-4.0 unweighted GPA’s and close to perfect test scores and those between 3.0-3.4 GPAs. Just curious as to how 3.5-3.8 plays out.
UChigaco for my kid.
Depends a great deal on the rigor of courses taken and reputation of the high school,
And what cost constraints the student has to work under.
This is assuming a rigorous course load starting in sophomore year at a competitive private high school.
Mine had a very rigorous course load and was at a competitive public (magnet) high school. Our state’s version of Thomas Jefferson, with approx 20% of each class being NMF. The school doesn’t rank, but our best guess is that son would have been in the top 20% or 30%, but not top 10%.
Obviously, it wasn’t his sky high unweighted GPA that helped with admissions because he didn’t have one. Nobody ever knows for sure, but our guess is that it was his really extensive and unusual research, projects and activities he did outside school. Plus, we think his LORs were very good - one of the teachers who wrote an LOR also wrote him one when an employer wanted it and the employer showed it to my son and it was awesome sauce. That same employer (who he is working for doing paid and advanced work in the field he wants to study) was also helpful for college admissions and also wrote (we assume) a great LOR.
I think DS is an example of the idea that once you’ve cleared certain indicators (minimum GPA, test score) showing the college you’re qualified to benefit from the college work, much of the admissions decision relates to other stuff - does this student fit what the college wants, are the LORs and ECs outstanding, etc.
@billycat In that case, you will have a good shot at a great number of selective schools. Our children are in a similar environment and in our experience two other factors come into play:
(1) The size of the college and the relationship it has with the high school. We have seen lower GPA kids do very well at LACs and smaller private universities that know our private school well and aren’t swamped with tens of thousands of 4.0 applicants. On the other hand, large state universities (eg UCs, UNC, Michigan, Virginia) have been a tough go for kids without 4.0s, no matter how rigorous the courseload or high the test scores.
(2) How many other kids from your school are applying to the universities you are interested in. Except for unusual circumstances (eg faculty kids), colleges want diverse student bodies and not a lot of kids from the same high schools.
We went after merit.
3.5 unweighted 4.9 weighted IB course student. ACT 34
Major: undeclared but STEM is where strengths are and career path is medical. Possible medical examiner.
Chose University Alabama Huntsville, accepted to Honors college with full tuition/housing.
Excellent cooperatives as well as study abroad options.
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Its going to be a tall order for UChicago. I think for an unhooked kid from a not well known school the challenge is the application may not even get a serious read with a 3.6GPA.
Depends on scores, AP bumps, and ecs/essays – Look at Colgate, Wesleyan, Vassar, Hamilton?
It is so much more than GPA and test scores, especially for private schools, it depends on the schools relationship with the college, NMF qualifications. ECs. essays, LOR, community service, demonstrated interest, EA/Ed or RD, subject test scores, AP classes… with all these it is still a hard sell.
My DD18 has about a 3.7 GPA with an SAT of 1360. She has great ECs with community service, leadership and long-term commitment to them. She applied to 11 schools with an end result of 7 admission offers and 4 waitlists (she received merit at some and FA at all.) I’m awaiting her final decision, but she’s narrowed it to two schools. She went to one admitted students day yesterday and has another next week.
Accepted
U of Delaware
Miami U of Ohio
Dickinson
Ithaca
Muhlenberg
Skidmore
Emerson
Waitlisted
U of Richmond
Lafayette
Clark
Gettysburg
@billycat - The guidance counselors at your competitive private school have detailed information about every place students have applied and have been admitted in past years. Go take advantage of their expertise. That is part of what your parents are paying for when they shell out all the private school tuition.
Towards the high end of GPA range but several points below the ACT range:
Accepted at Denison, Lewis & Clark, Earlham, all with significant merit aid, and U NM with Amigo scholarship (OOS pays in state rate). Two waitlists but didn’t accept waitlists.
No big hooks, not URM, student did provide geograhic and socioeconomic diversity and probably had excellent letters of recommendation. No unusual or hugely extensive ECs, no sports.
My student did better on SAT than ACT, so I recommend taking both tests.
“Its going to be a tall order for UChicago. I think for an unhooked kid from a not well known school the challenge is the application may not even get a serious read with a 3.6GPA.”
@jzducol - since they admitted him it appears that they do give those apps a serious read. He doesn’t have any hooks, but UChicago usually accepts 1-3 kids from his school each year. This year they accepted 2, my son and a superstar female athlete. Guess they needed a nerdy guy to balance out the superstar athlete?
Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences. It seems like it gets harder and harder each year. Being in the range is tough as my reach (not even thinking of Ivies here) schools could be the match schools of higher stats kids. Am sure it will all work out in the end. Just have to stay positive as there is a school out there for everyone.
My daughter is a Junior but her stats fall in that range. 3.8UW GPA with a reasonable number of APs. 33 ACT (Taking again in 2 weeks). We are heavily targeting merit or in state tuition. Since we really want merit, Top tiers are not a possibility. That takes a tremendous amount of pressure off.
So far she has loved
Muhlenberg
Umass Amherst
Hofstra
We have a few more to visit, but since she loves 3 schools she can almost certainly get into, this process is much more fun and less stressful then it otherwise might be.
Full disclosure: She would like to try for a few BS/MD programs, which is why she is taking the ACT again. These are extreme reaches and neither of us has any expectation of an acceptance so it isn’t adding a lot of stress to the process.
Miami University in Ohio is also a solid bet. Won’t qualify for the highest merit aid available, but will get some.
Both of my kids were in that GPA range with 1 point lower on the ACT. Aside from in-state public safeties, they only applied to private LACs. They each got in to the most selective school to which they applied: Macalester and Whitman. They did/will not go to those schools. They chose schools that offered significant merit aid bringing our cost down to less than our in-state public flagships (counting only tuition, fees, room & board).
My sister was in this boat and went to SMU I was a point below on the ACT, but many of my friends also at smu fit this profile.