<p>I wish to hear from the parents of present seniors or who already had a kid go through this process. A high stat kid will have a high SAT score and a 4.0 GPA. So just wondering, what is the accepatance like for the student who has high SAT score, but a GPA at the lower end. I am sure there are lot of parents and students wondering about this. It would be a great help to those of us in this side of the equation to figure out what is in store for us.</p>
<p>My DD has a 95 average from a very prestigious NYC high school. I am not sure how that translates on a 4.0 scale but it is a very good average in her school but not one of the highest. </p>
<p>She has been wait listed at Columbia, rejected from the 3 other ivys that she applied to, accepted at Vassar, NYU, Barnard, Brandeis with a small merit scholarship and in their scholar’s program, Fordham with a full tuition national merit semifinalist scholarship, U Del with a full ride, distinguished scholars program, and the Macaulay honors college, free ride.</p>
<p>I don’t think the really top colleges go by stats. They look at the whole picture. So it depends on what else your child can bring to the campus mix. (I have had two kids at Ivies and neither one fit a standard picture of a “high stat” kid, valedictorian etc.)</p>
<p>My son, a few years ago, in 2004, had, probably around 3.6 GPA, unweighted (possibly lower, actually), and high test scores, and got into few places – Grinnell, St. Olaf, UC San Diego. Those are what I remember – it has been a few years. He was wait listed at UChicago, and ended up attending UChicago. He is a legacy at UChicago, don’t know if that played a part. He was asked why his grades did not match his test scores by an admissions rep from Grinnell, I remember, and he told her he was addicted to the internet for a couple of years when he started high school. He was a good writer, had won a prize for a science fiction story, played violin, had done some software programming, played piano, taken some advanced math, scored well in an area math competition, done well on some AP tests. He got A’s in all the math courses. Spotty grades elsewhere. He self studied for a couple of AP tests and did well.</p>
<p>He did well in college, FWIW.</p>
<p>This describes me to a T exactly! I have about a 3.6 unweighted GPA and a 2360 on my SAT.</p>
<p>I got into:</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon (H&SS)
Claremont McKenna
Emory
NYU (Gallatin)
USC
Vanderbilt
Wellesley</p>
<p>There are already a couple of threads on here that address the 3.3-3.6 range kids acceptances. I found them a source of hope throughout this process. As someone already said it really is more than just the numbers. You need to know strength of school, strength of schedule, EC’s, Rec’s…However, if it helps at all my S had a 3.62 UW GPA (4.72 W) when he applied. He was top 2% with a 33 ACT and 12 AP’s (his AP test scores were mostly 3’s)…</p>
<p>Results:</p>
<p>Accepted: University of Florida (honors invite), William and Mary, Boston University (Presidential Scholarship), Northeastern (Dean’s Scholarship) and Washington University in St. Louis (where he will attend).</p>
<p>Still waiting (after EA deferral) for University of Michigan</p>
<p>Rejected: Vanderbilt, Northwestern, UNC Chapel Hill (OOS) and Duke.</p>
<p>One comment…I think it was really important that he got straight A’s his first semester of Senior year. By his mid-year report he had a 3.7 GPA. He also explained that his dad passed away and he had two sports related surgeries during his sophomore and junior years.</p>
<p>Still…have a safety and apply to any match and reach schools you are interested in…it only takes one. Good luck.</p>
<p>Useful threads from the past include</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/767118-under-3-6-gpa-applying-top-20-parents-thread.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/767118-under-3-6-gpa-applying-top-20-parents-thread.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1026754-under-3-6-applying-top-schools-2010-11-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1026754-under-3-6-applying-top-schools-2010-11-a.html</a></p>
<p>Both of these threads have a lot of discussion about what factors are important for students with these types of profiles. Worth wading through. Choosing colleges that will “get” your kid, thoughtful application essays, appropriate use of EA/ED (if possible), those all help.</p>
<p>What is the weighted GPA or if no weighting, did the student take honors/AP classes? Is a 3.6 a good GPA at his or her school? To me, an UW 3.6 that translates to a W 4.72 is very different than a 3.6 weighted to a 3.8 or 3.9, or which puts the student into the top 15% (not the top 2%). </p>
<p>If you are looking for schools for a lopsided student, (top 2% SATs, top 20% GPA), look to schools that are ranked between 30 and 50 on the USNWR list. My son got into many school ranked in the 30s and found a good fit school.</p>
<p>mom2and makes good points. My son had about a 3.6 unweighted in his academic courses, but because orchestra was included in his weighted GPA his rank was top 6%. His SAT was fairly lopsided 790 CR/ 690 Math. He got into Vassar, Tufts and U of Chicago (EA) and got a presidential scholarship at American. This was two years ago.</p>
<p>He had excellent recommendations and wrote essays that showed off his sense of humor and intellectual side at the same time.</p>
<p>Friend’s son had high SATs and around a 3.3 high school GPA. He is at a good college on a merit scholarship, but is struggling to keep the scholarship because of low grades.</p>
<p>I think it is extremely important that we all try to have a very objective view of our own kids, and figure out the source of lopsided stats, before we push to find a top school that will admit them. Often, the high school grades are more indicative of college success than SAT scores. </p>
<p>The kid I mentioned above is quite smart, thus the high SATs. But more importantly, in my opinion, he is lazy and a hard partier, and may have some ADD issues that were never addressed. Anyone other than his parents could see that a merit scholarship was a disaster in the making. His parents were stuck on the SAT scores and some other testing that indicated a high intelligence. The kid hasn’t ever studied much, but was able to slide through in high school. His first semester college grades were so bad that he will have to pull nearly a 4.0 to keep the scholarship.</p>
<p>This sounds like a potential admit to a state school or possibly a private school in the #15-25 range.</p>
<p>Only a 2260 SAT w/~3.5 UW got me into Cornell</p>
<p>Friend’s son this year got into Macalester, Reed
Denied at Vassar, Oberlin, Bates, U Penn, Chicago and a couple of other similar schools.</p>
<p>It depends on how this compares to his classmates, the competitiveness of his school, and the rigor of his courses. Also, depends on why his grades are relatively low (if they are in comparison) and whether this could be addressed in the teacher and counselor recommendations, e.g. does the kid do well on exams but forgets to hand in his homework? Any events that led to a drop in grades? Lop-sided interest in certain subjects? Does he have any interesting ECs?</p>
<p>Seriously? (Thank You beenthere2). Where does a kid get in? So, one of our friends’ kids with a slightly lower gpa (3.4)and 2150 gpa got into Harvard and Penn. He was interesting. My daughter, 3.3 gpa and 1850, if I remember correctly, got into a top 25 university. Another friend’s child…3.6 gpa with a HORRIBLE SAT…like 1550 again, top 25 university. None of these kids were D1 athletes (recruited). My husband interviews for an Ivy. His strongest rec was for a girl at a prestigious private school: gpa 3.4 and an SAT of 1980. She was, according to my husband, fantastic. He did not recommend a kid with perfect grades and scores. (The kid didn’t know that Harvard and Penn were located in big cities. He was applying to names. He also couldn’t wouldn’t make eye contact.)</p>
<p>Your child’s admission, as I have seen, isn’t the gpa/SAT. Assuming the school isn’t admitting strictly by a formula, schools look for a lot of things: activities, passions, interests, travel, and oh…do they have a chance to get the child to want to go to their school. They want individuals. And most schools aren’t populated by 4.6 2350 gpas/SAT combos.</p>