Also would love to see this thread continue, as I think my D21 will eventually fall into this range after its all said and done with her sophomore and junior course load. Also, still trying to understand this “unweighted GPA” thing, I thought the point of unweighted was to normalize to a standard, but at her school, there are still different numeric values for an A+, A, and A- even on the unweighted scale which are different values than other local HS scales for unweighted, so then that defeats the purpose right?
@billycat Thanks for updating and congrats on your acceptances! This year was definitely crazy, with many students completely shut out. As some wise person on CC posted on another thread, “love thy safeties.”
@hokiemama24
The “weighted” GPAs vary widely between secondary schools and are designed largely to reflect AP course loads relative to their classmates. We have reached the point where most secondary schools are really pushing AP courses. This is the reason that official GPAs reported in MOST of the annually reported Common Data Sets (CDS) are unweighted.
When looking at D21’s GPA for matches, go to the University’s CDS on their website to get the latest report on the last entering class. If the score is above four, you know they are listing “weighted” GPAs. Go to lines C11 and C12 of the CDS report.
By way of example:
VT lists and average secondary school GPA of 3.97 on line C12. BUT THIS DATA IS THE AVERAGE TAKEN ONLY from RECORDS SUBMITTED BY THE MATRICULATING APPLICANT. If you look in section C11 of the same report you will see that only 77.87% of the GPA’s collected by the university from actual matriculating students secondary school records had GPA’s above 3.75.
WPI list an average GPA of 3.89 on line C12 BUT THIS DATA IS ALSO THE AVERAGE TAKEN ONLY from RECORDS SUBMITTED BY THE MATRICULATING APPLICANT. If you look at line C11 in the WPI CDS you will see that only 80.70% of the GPA’s collected by the university from actual secondary school records were above 3.75.
Conclusion:
Do not go by the self reported student data on line C12. The data on this line is not as reliable. If you want to know where D21 fits in the applicant pool, use the data from C11, not C12. I suspect some applicants are self reporting some weighted GPA data. C12 is not the average of the matriculating class data in section C11.
Now D21 looks a little brighter!
My 2013 HS grad.
NMF
ACT 34. I can’t recall SAT but it was less than 34 equivalent and high enough for NMF
3.6 GPA at private HS. HS is not a top private in our area.
He was between 2 majors, Engineering being one. His application list looked funny because he applied to LACs and then schools with ABET.
We also had financial need, but a solid income.
Denied
Pomona
Colorado College
Occidental
Waitlist
Haverford
Accepted with merit
Pitzer
Rhodes
Trinity University in San Antonio
Juniatta
Susquehanna
University of Alabama
University of Alabama Huntsville
Accepted to another university as well, but I can’t remember which. It wasn’t highly ranked, but offered full tuition plus for NMF
I am hearing about a lot of kids with those stats going to UIUC. One turned down Harvard. That could have been financial, but he is happily going into UIUC’s engineering program, so he is going to be just fine. Another premed hopeful was unsettled with his choices after being deferred then rejected at Michigan, but his mom told me his outlook turned on a dime when he realized so many of his high stats classmates (including the one who made it into Harvard) were also going to UIUC.
This is taken from the UI Engineering college website:
Selectivity for 2018 Admitted Freshman Engineers
Middle 50%
ACT: 32 - 35
SAT (no writing): 1430 - 1530
GPA: 3.70-4.00
TOEFL: 106-113
Their CDS does not publish the GPA distribution although GPA is listed as “very important.” They describe their admissions process as holistic. This University has a very large and respected engineering school. Middle 50% is a helpful profile.
My son’s gpa in the higher end of the range and 33 ACT. We were not counting on merit and he chose schools that seemed to be good matches. He considered one a low reach.
I agree with @1stTimeThruMom this year was competitive and somewhat unpredictable for many applicants and it will likely happen again next year.
My son was accepted at Pitt Honors w/merit, Villanova EA, Tulane EA w/merit, UMiami EA, UMD Priority (EA)
Waitlisted at Northeastern and UVA. He completed all of his applications by 11/15. He is going to Tulane.
He was pretty pleased with his results. Here is my advice. Apply EA. I heard the RD round at Tulane was pretty much no go. Also, write the Why Tulane essay. Similarly, if you apply to UMD, definitely apply Priority. Many schools do value interest (visiting and/or attending information sessions in your geographic area).
When he applied to Northeastern, he said he was not interested in NUIn. NEU seems to value high stats, particularly test scores. S19 was hoping to be accepted at UVA (legacy and sister attends). Accepted a spot on WL, but UVA is not likely to go to WL this year (especially after winning the tourney).
I agree with @firstwavemom about applying to several EA schools. My D19 had a 3.6 uw gpa and 35 ACT, minimal EC’s, good rigor but not the most rigor, only 2 years of a FL.
We are not eligible for need based FA so were hunting for options where she could get merit. Intended major started as pre-med in junior year then became computer science and physics in senior year. She applied early to our local public universities and their honors colleges (ASU Barrett and NAU Honors) and got in with merit. The she applied EA at Wooster, Ursinus, Eckerd, Hope and Colorado School of Mines. Admitted to all with merit – most decisions before 12/15 and CSM by 1/17. Applied RD to St Olaf and admitted with merit but not their top merit scholarship. Chose Hope College due to a combination of generous merit aid and offer of summer internship.
DS17 on high end of gpa range but below by several points act range, no hooks, Attends Lafayette and was accepted at Union w/merit, F&M, UVM w/merit, Hobart w/merit, and Sewanee. DS19 low end of gpa range and act range for thread accepted at Tulane ED.
@firstwavemom Your son has a lot of nice acceptances! I’m afraid we’re going to be all over the place because although he is running a 3.85 for junior year, he had a 3.1 up through sophomore year due to a spectacularly bad 1st semester freshman year. His guidance counselor tells me he’s the kind of boy who “will go to Committee with lots of discussion” because of his GPA. Fortunately we have a great guidance counselor who has already met with him several times and used to be a college admissions officer at an excellent (out-of-reach) college.
@1stTimeThruMom Thanks so much. Now that May 1 is past and the decision is in, we are happy. I’m not going to lie, The UVA WL stings quite a bit because of the alumni legacy/sibling thing, but if this is the worst thing that has happened to him, then he should count himself lucky.
I do think some adcoms understand the upward trend and your GC sounds like he/she will be a strong advocate for your son. My son’s first semester freshman year was his weakest (but certainly not terrible). Was that the difference between a WL and an acceptance? If so, so be it. He takes rigorous courses and junior and senior year are his best. He will finish very strong and should be proud of that.
It is a stressful process, for sure. You will hear this a lot and I really believe it is true…“It will all work out for the best.”
I wish you all of the best with your son.
@firstwavemom I would look at it differently. Sometime down the line you will have grandchildren who can apply to both UVA and Tulane as legacies! How great is that and you’re starting a whole new tradition to go with the old one. He’s going to love it down there and in a year it would seem like heresy to suggest attending anywhere else. Congratulations!
S2 graduated from HS in 2010, but had 3.56 UW/4.24 W (full IB and AP), 2290 SAT/1550 on new scale. No particular hooks, but had ECs that were wildly divergent. Great essays, as a couple of schools told him later.
He got into UChicago EA and Tufts RD, which were reachy then and even more so now. Also got into UMD/College Park Scholars Priority EA and URochester RD, both with partial merit $$. Rejected at Swarthmore and Georgetown, waitlisted at Carleton and Bowdoin. Was not surprised at the rejections or waitlists. He threw everything he had at Chicago, Tufts and UMD.
Seriously looked at but didn’t apply to Syracuse, Brandeis, BU, St. Mary’s/MD, Claremont McKenna, Macalester, Haverford, Bates, Colby, William & Mary, American, GW, NYU and UDel. Felt UMD was a better value than several of these schools (bless him!). Concluded Ivies, JHU and Northwestern were too reachy and more competitive than he wanted.
If he were doing this now, we’d focus on a more reliable list and finding other schools that were strong in his language, particularly the Critical Language focused schools (those are mostly state schools, but OOS). It’s easier to find schools with good international relations majors, but harder to find good four-year language programs in critical languages.
At my high school: our state flagship and its offshoots, or one local private college that’s way too popular compared to its price tag. Basically, those students are jumping for joy that their higher test score will qualify them for the next level of merit scholarship at public schools.
Then again…“This is assuming a rigorous course load starting in sophomore year at a competitive private high school.” That’s a pretty big assumption right there. Can people with 3.75-ish GPAs seriously be competitive for Ivies, UChicago, etc. just because they go to the “right” high school (and yes, I know that those GPAs are lower because they “just work so hard!!” compared to students at other schools)?
@privatebanker That’s a great way to look at it. I can’t think about grandchildren yet, though! But, if Tulane’s acceptance rate keeps going down, it’s going to be very tough to get admitted there in 30 years, even as a legacy!
I do think Tulane is actually a better fit for my son (it’s just the emotional component for me re: UVA).
@SuperSenior19 , yes kids with well below a 3.7 GPA can be competitive for Ivies and Chicago from some of the “right” high schools. Most will have some sort of a hook but it happens all the time. Some of those high schools only accept students in the top 10% of their class though so the base line is high to begin with.
To update:
My son with a 34 ACT, 1480 SAT and UW GPA of about 3.6 or 3.7 has deposited at Binghamton University. About 7 AP and IB courses, the rest mostly honors.
Accepted with merit aid:
U Denver
Indiana University (a final choice)
Accepted, no merit:
Syracuse (eliminated right away due to no merit)
Penn State (a final choice)
Binghamton (the winner- he simply could not justify spending more money elsewhere. He is in state.)
Denied:
U Michigan
Limbo land, sort of:
Offered Trojan Transfer Plan at USC. He will probably not do it, but nice to know it’s there.
Got a kid coming up looks like they should be in the lower end of this range - thanks for the info and appreciate anyone else who updates.
My DS19 fits the profile - just graduated with over a 3.8 UW, but it was around 3.8 when he applied. 33 on the ACT. He was not the least bit interested in large state flagships, unfortunately, so we were on the hunt for merit aid. So here are his results:
Accepted w/ merit
Eckerd
Denver
Puget Sound
Wooster
Dickinson
Occidental
Accepted w/out merit
UMiami (not sure if this was bc there was some huge screw-up in the financial aid office though - they didn’t realize we had uploaded our financial docs back in October!)
Waitlisted
American (RD, couldn’t apply ED bc we knew we couldn’t afford our EFC)
Rejected
Brandeis - but never visited, interviewed, etc…just sort of threw in an application, which may have played a role.
Attended Accepted Students day at Eckerd and that was it - he will be attending there in the fall.
My 2018 high school graduate had a 3.82 gpa at the start of his senior year, 1470 SAT (did not take ACT, but from the charts I have looked at that’s the same as a 33 ACT), 9 AP classes, and what I would think of as average but not outstanding ECs.
He applied as a computer science major. He was accepted at:
Temple Honors with merit ($20k, we are in state), applied EA
Drexel EA (I think) with some merit, I think it was around $25k
Virginia Tech, no merit and his acceptance was for engineering not computer science
RPI, I think merit was around $20K or possibly $25K
Penn State, no merit, applied by whatever the first deadline was
No rejections, those were the only schools he applied to.