<p>
[quote]
Is this really true?! Although I’ve noticed that CMU’s average gpa is around 3.5-3.6 but they seem to favor higher SAT scores.
[quote]
Yes it is true. 2200+ and they will be more than happy to have you enroll. They lose a lot of top scorers to Ivies and MIT, Caltech, JHU, Duke, etc.</p>
<p>As I recall, in the data set summary for the Revealed Preferences study they had tables of admission rate to different categories of school broken down (bivariately) by both SAT and grade ranges. High SATs appeared to be almost overwhelmingly influential both at the LACs and at the 2-3rd tiers of national universities. The 2-3’s just don’t get enough of those students to pass them by, and LAC have stats pressure from the effect on a small population of too many admission constraints (legacy, athlete, URM, orchestra, etc) and not enough yield on the high-scoring candidates.</p>
<p>That sounds logical, siserune. Do you think high ACT scores would have the same value to these colleges as high SATs? They dpn’t seem to be mentioned as prominently on many class profiles, which makes me wonder if they’re just less compelling.</p>
<p>Probably the question is whether high ACT and SAT scores correlate to the same extent with IQ (or whatever other “aptitude” is sought). Historically there was a big difference in what the two exams measured, but with all the changes to SAT that might not be true anymore. </p>
<p>If the exams are interchangeable, then the ACT has a lower resolution but there are still few enough students getting the top scores that it seems comparably impressive. Looking at the composite score percentiles, 36 ACT is like 2390-2400 SAT and 35 ACT is like 2330-2380 SAT.</p>
<p>Here is my son’s stats, He got 2B+ in 10th grade which made a dive in GPA, I want to him to retake SAT, it is worth it or not. He had not really prepared his SAT due to swimming trainning year-round.
Chance me to Wharton, Uchicago>>>>>>>>>>>> </p>
<hr>
<p>Got march SAT 2220 (CR 740, MA790, WR 690),
1 st choice is wharton, DO I have chance
SATII, Chem 770, Math2 770, USH 790</p>
<p>uw GPA 3.81, (took all toughest, 7 AP)
top 5% in a public school</p>
<p>EC:
4 year letter winner swimming with 3 year State HS swimming chimpionship qulifier
Also swimming for a USA swimming club
3 year valloyball team in school
3 year debating club,
State debating Championship qualifier
Jazz Band in 9th grade, Video club in 9th grade (got a state silver award)
NHS
SHS
Some other EC</p>
<p>Debating club captain (11th, 12th)
BTW, I am Asian </p>
<p>Need honest suggestions</p>
<p>Top 10% at a highly competitive high school is NOT a problem. Send the ACT score.</p>
<p>My son was in the 30th percentile at a top 100 public high school, and had a 35 on the ACT. He also had an 800 on Math Level II and 780 on Chem. He was accepted to Columbia early decision. He was also accepted (before he had to withdraw his applications due to the Columbia acceptance) at U Michigan, USC and U Texas (in its top-5-in-the-nation computer science school).</p>
<p>Make sure your student has stand-out recommendations that talk about more than academic ability. And a stand-out essay. He’ll do just fine.</p>
<p>Hi- my daughter is in a top competitive magnet school and had a very bad semester that really pulled her down. She is below the top 50th percent, but has high scores and is a national merit semifinalist, plus mostly honors and several AP classes. She’s aiming at 2nd tier schools, but how badly is the class rank likely to affect her chances? Does anyone know or have any advice?</p>
<p>Some schools consider class rank far less than others. S1 was admitted to a top private ranked 185/405 and with a GPA of 3.46. Not a recruited athlete or a URM. If one looks at the various college sites one can find how much a college considers rank.</p>
<p>That’s encouraging- though just about everything I’ve seen looks like they all say it matters a lot. She just got her rank, and it was a bit of a shock- we knew they grades were not great - a 3.6 weighted and 2.9 unweighted, but the rank is closer to 275/460- 6th decile. Some of that is a crash & burn semester (several F’s) sophomore year- typical is B+ in honors classes, some A’s, a couple C’s. I’m wondering if we need to add some late safety schools, and if so, what.</p>
<p>Hey, I see that my old thread got resurrected. These days I’ve been hanging out on the Under 3.6 (GPA) and Applying Top 20 Parents Thread. </p>
<p>It was fun to re-read this thread from the beginning, now that I’ve been hanging out on CC longer and recognize some of the posters’ names better, and can put their remarks in context.</p>
<p>An update: S had his best year yet grade-wise as a junior, slightly better than freshman year, and significantly better than the bad sophomore year. It took FOREVER for the school to update his rank, and as we had hoped/expected, he crept up a few slots to be within the Top 10%. Yay! And he got 5’s on his two junior year APs. </p>
<p>I found the earlier suggestions in this thread very helpful - particularly to look for schools outside the northeast/mid-Atlantic corridor. S’s possibilities list has broadened considerably. Right now he is concentrating on an completing applications for an ED and a rolling in-state safety (TCNJ). Then, he will need to look back at the possibilities list and make his selections of which schools make the cut to apply to.</p>
<p>CCMom, You should definitely add some safeties. With a 2.9 UW GPA I don’t know what the chances are for your DD to make NMF. If she does that will probably open up a good set of schools.</p>
<p>She pretty much decided that she shouldn’t submit the National Merit app, since she figures her grades will knock her out. So semifinalist doesn’t really count for anything? </p>
<p>I’m hoping that the schools will see that something was up in that one bad semester sophomore year & cut her some slack, especially since she is young for grade level, but in such a competitive atmosphere that may be too much to ask-- is that naive if she’s applying to places like GW, UR, Bucknell?</p>
<p>Her problem with safeties has been that she can’t stand the idea of going to a school where the kids aren’t pretty bright- she wants someplace with average SATs in the high 600s per subject at least as a minimum. I think she’s much more likely to do well if challenged, so I hope she can get into something suitable.</p>
<p>^ I hope your D does get cut some slack, but she NEEDS to have a safety. Your in-state flagship works if they guarantee admissions and she qualifies, otherwise it would be a low match because F’s raise eyebrows. What’s the correlated average GPA for SATs in the high 600s? Probably higher than 2.9, methinks. She needs a safety that she is at least willing to attend with <2.9 average GPA. She might not be happy at any of those schools, in which case, apply to the best local CC with well-laid transfer plans.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Did she come to this conclusion on her own, or was this told to her by her school? I’d say you should at least give National Merit a call and ask them before giving up. NMF status can land her some heft scholarships, especially at state unis.</p>
<p>She came to the conclusion on her own. I tried to talk her into applying anyway, but she got the letter on her status quite late (this week) & her counselor told her yesterday that the application was due today. If there’s any leeway, I will push her hard. I think she gets really discouraged about the messed up semester on her record.</p>
<p>The real deadline for the school to send in the application is october 14.</p>
<p>Keilexandra:</p>
<p>Is it better to go to a worse school and try to transfer after a year, or to take a year off and try to do Americorps for a year & reapply?</p>
<p>And are the GPAs listed on the college websites always unweighted? Do they take into account a very competitive school?</p>
<p>I’ve tried to research this stuff, but I’ve not come up with any real answers. Thanks!</p>
<p>lockn- thanks- she just got home & told me her GC said she’d accept it on Monday. So she’ll apply- she may not make it but it’s worth a try. If she does, it should help.</p>
<p>In your D’s case, I would recommend an academic gap year if possible–Exter/Andover offer 13th years, for instance. Americorps is valuable but won’t particularly increase a school’s confidence in your D’s academic ability. She also can’t take college classes because that would disqualify her for freshman admission.</p>
<p>Another option is to attend a CC or 4-year school, get a 4.0, and transfer–this may work well as long as she isn’t aiming at tippy-top schools which have very little transfer space, AND if you don’t need much financial aid. Transfer FA is significantly worse than freshman FA.</p>
<p>That’s a problem, because there is no way I could afford a gap year at a place like Andover, and yes, she does need aid- significant aid.</p>