<p>I sort of fall into the "low GPA, high test scores" category. </p>
<p>For Freshman and Sophomore year, I took a full-honours courseload and came out with 3.85 and 3.87 respectively (unweighted: our school doesn't weight GPA).</p>
<p>For Junior year, which just finished, I came out with 3.79 and took a full-IB courseload. </p>
<p>My GPA went down even though I tried x10 harder. IB classes are just REALLY hard. Do you think colleges will see this? I really wish our school weighted GPAs based on course difficulty. </p>
<p>So that leaves me with a 3.84 for these 3 years. My SAT is 2300+. Academically, do I stand a chance at places like Columbia, Georgetown, UChicago etc?</p>
<p>Georgetown you have a shot assuming your EC’s and essays are good. UChicago probably not (I know people with better stats who got rejected), I think with Columbia it could either way.</p>
<p>Ignore anyone telling you your GPA is not fine. How would they know. What matters is where that unweighted GPA puts you at your school…approximately. Is it somewhere in the top 10 percent? Your school does not rank? Well the fact is that most admissions officers can still figure it out by looking at the school report your school give them and other students who apply and have applied over the years. At one Ivy we visited the info session admission office said that any school where they have admitted kids from the class every year they can more or less figure out within a two or three percent where those kids rank.</p>
<p>At mine a GPA like yours is around top 5 percent (though school ‘does not rank’ it’s pretty clear) and people with that GPA ROUTIELY get inot U Chicago and Georgetown and IVY’s if they have the outstanding EC’s you need even if you are a val.</p>
<p>your GPA isnt low at all, just because you dont have a 4.0 or above doesnt mean your stupid/not worthy of getting into colleges…honestly your putting way too much pressure on yourself…your test scores are really good so you have a pretty good chance at getting into those colleges</p>
<p>This could not be further from the truth. Not only are you using anecdotal evidence as the only evidence for your claim, but you are also misinformed about acceptance at these elite schools.</p>
<p>Assuming that similar students (academically) apply to both schools, Uchicago’s acceptance rate is about 2 times bigger than Columbia’s. While both schools are extremely competitive, there is a general consensus that Columbia is tougher to get into for the “typical” ivy applicant (marginally).</p>
<p>The only reason I’m pointing this out is because you seem like you are a strong competitor for any of these schools. Nobody can tell you if you’ll get in or not, but your GPA surely will not disqualify you from admissions.</p>
<p>If your school has a Naviance account, check out the profile and see how your GPA compares to other accepted students.</p>
<p>Columbia admitted only 7.4% of applicants for the class of 2016, so do heed words of cc123sb. Columbia is historically MUCH more selective than Chicago, and will continue to be a VERY TOUGH school for admissions. Indeed, Columbia admitted a lower percentage than did Princeton the past two years. However, interesting developments in Chicagoland. The school crucially underestimated yield for classes of 2015 and 2016. There is expected to be real stress placed on housing and classes this fall at UChicago. Therefore, to compensate, it is expected that Chicago will admit a lower percentage of applicants in the upcoming admission cycle. Expect Chicago to be MUCH tougher than normal next admissions cycle.</p>
<p>Good news for OP is that both schools really expect applicants to be taking most rigorous possible schedule in high school. By taking IB, OP is doing precisely what is needed! </p>
<p>One concern, OP. I did note how hard you said you were working: “REALLY hard.” Of course you realize that at schools like Columbia and Chicago, with their Core curriculums, that kind of rigor would be your norm. Is this what you want at college? If so, you are applying to schools that will continue to work you “REALLY hard.” If not: maybe rethink?</p>
<p>Of course you also know that these schools are reaches for every applicant, no matter how qualified. So, you do have match and safety schools, right? If not, get some as you have NO GUARANTEES whatsoever that you will be admitted to your listed schools. Not saying you are unqualified. Saying you need matches and safeties like every smart applicant.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies everyone. I rank around joint-2nd in a class of 72…are you sure this will make up for the poor numbers? School doesn’t rank, but I did get the year’s “2nd place” award for academics. </p>
<p>I was under the impression by looking at chance threads that mostly everyone going to places like Columbia had GPAs of 3.9+. So…sorry if this came off pretentious but the concern is real.</p>
<p>So is the general consensus that my sub-par GPA will not significantly impact admissions decisions?</p>
<p>One of the examples the admissions officer gave about GPA’s was about 2 large schools (around 500 per class) one that historically had say 10 or 12 VAl’s which usually meant that a perfect 4.0 unweighted average was usual at that school and one who historically had only one (because a perfect 4.0 was rare). At the first school they knew that if you weren’t at a 3.9 you were out of the top 10 percent. But at the second a 3.7 put you in that spot. They figured this out by looking at a lot of other stats and comparisons. </p>
<p>The main thing they said was that they tried to establish the competiveness/rigor of a school and their grading scale and inflation (schools with minuses almost always resulted in kids with lower gpa’s overall) before they really made any decision about gpa. So there are HS schools in the country where you would have a tough time getting in without a 3.9 and others where you would have to below a 3.7 for that to be an issue.</p>