I am currently a high school senior, I am also hispanic with a weighted GPA of 3.64 and SATs of 1610. I plan on taking my ACTs in December (late but still fine for regular decision for most schools) with a goal score of 32. My GPA dropped sophomore year and went up junior year, from freshmen year to junior year I have took a couple honors classes (2-3). This year as a senior I am taking 5 AP classes and one honors class and hope to come out first marking period with at most 2 B+'s and the rest A’s or A-'s which would be a drastic improvement from my last years in highschool. My extracurriculars include: Volunteer ambulance member (also in progress of becoming state certified EMT), spanish american club president, soccer team captain, piano, american muslim association secretary, music producer, fbla ( no executive board position). I am also looking at division 3 schools for soccer as a possibility. Please respond with any ideas on what the chances of me getting into a good school are, thanks !!
Home State? How much can you and your family afford? Intended major? Any particular area of the country? Close to home or OOS?
I would seek out in-state options. You didn’t mention where you were considering.
Home state is NJ, intended major is computer science or business with premed. Interested in either in-state or OOS, family income ranges between 100-150k annually. Looking at a school of top 30?
Your SAT and GPA will not get you into a top 30 school. Also regardless of parents income, what are they willing to pay each year? $20K, $30K, $40K? You need to get a number from them before you starting considering schools. Why apply to schools you cannot afford. Look to your in-state schools first. You would need to bump up your GPA into the 3.8-3.9 unweighted range and SAT around 2000+ for a decent chance at any top schools.
How about with the drastic upward trend senior year? The GPA would be above a 4 weighted, and with a 32 ACT which would be about 2100 compared to SATs?
I agree^^. Your stats won’t get you into a top school.
Look to your instate schools for admission.
Only 1st semester Senior grades will count in the admissions decision, but an upward trend will help. Also bumping up your SAT score will have an impact, but it may be a little too late for top schools. You will be competing with applicants that have stellar grades for 3 1/2 years. If you can afford the application fees, go ahead and apply but have some realistic options available so you are not shut out.
nstead of SATs I am trying to set my ACTs to 31-32 for regular decision; also, I will do my best to explain the inadequate grades in the previous years in my essay which contains several outside factors that directly caused me to not preform as much as i could have. My point is, what if the change is so drastic with both the test scores and the GPA (for first semester) that the colleges might consider me?
There are over 3000 schools in the US. What schools are you aiming for?
The tippy top schools are out of your range. If you are trying for the top ten schools, then assume its not going to happen unless you win a Nobel prize.
All of the schools are looking at your freshman, sophomore, junior years. Senior year won’t help that much. Find some schools by looking at the links on the left and use the “SuperMatch” tool to help.
What is the Spanish American club?
Where did you end up applying to?