Yes or no. You can post why if you want, but I just wanted an overall opinion.
By sat score i mean 2300+
By gpa I mean 3.7-3.8
BTW
columbia - 3.78
dartmouth - 3.73
upenn - 3.84
JHU - 3.67
-From Princetonreview-
Don’t the average GPA’s look really low considering how hard it is to get in?
<p>Not when you consider that such a high percentage of kids at these schools went to top private high schools. A 3.8 is not impressive at the average high school, but when 40% are coming from top private schools where that is top 5%, it takes on all together different meaning.</p>
<p>No. a high SAT score but a low GPA only means that you are talented by lazy. </p>
<p>but i don't think you need to "make up" anything with a 3.7-3.8. that's a respectable gpa. a 2300+ would make a good combination.</p>
<p>dont be fooled by the gpa numbers of those schools. even if princeton review's numbers are updated, do note that many students from very competitive high schools and boarding schools apply to these colleges. their 3.6 might be worth more than your 3.8. if you simply needed to attain, say a 3.78 for columbia, then everyone would flock to the easiest high schools. but obviously that's not the case in real life.</p>
<p>Two schools in my CA neighborhood:</p>
<p>Public school, average SAT 1110. GPA for top 10%: 4.2. Over 4000 kids, sends about 15 to HYPSM every year.</p>
<p>Private day school, average SAT 1360, GPA for top 10%: 3.65, 380 kids, sends about 50 to HYPSM every year.</p>
<p>i`ve heard that stanford favors private schools (not over public schools though). since stanford is a private university itself, it could be true. but is it?</p>
<p>Favors? A disproportionate number of highly qualified kids go to private schools. Many are affluent and from families that highly value education and pass on high IQs, others are smart enough to be scholarship students at privates. For great schools like Stanford to give as much aid as they do, they have to have a majority of full paying students. Enter the private school crowd. Actually, I think the schools want to minimize the percentage of silver spoon kids, but they are, in large part, necessary.</p>
<p>My public high school is weird. Our SAT average is 1280. That is really high for a normal public high school I think right?</p>
<p>What if someone has a 3.2 GPA (my friend). He has gotten more Bs than me. and i have a lot. he's gotten like 13 or something.</p>
<p>BUT, he's ranked 4th/400</p>
<p>Top 1%!</p>
<p>will colleges totally IGNORE those Bs.
and confirm how "smart' he is with SATs/SAT IIs?
(i'm in the same situation btw, but i'm just asking this question in an EXTREME case)</p>
<p>No, pretty much any adcom will say that HS transcript is the first, most important factor, and the best indicator of success in college. plus, if you have great test scores, lousy GPA, you will just look lazy. better to be the other way around.</p>
<p>No, pretty much any adcom will say that HS transcript is the first, most important factor, and the best indicator of success in college. plus, if you have great test scores, lousy GPA, you will just look lazy. if anything, you are much better off w/ high GPA, low test scores.</p>
<p>"My public high school is weird. Our SAT average is 1280. That is really high for a normal public high school I think right?"</p>
<p>pretty high. the best public high schools have averages around the mid-1300s. (for those who claim their public high school has higher, show me proof).</p>
<p>The median at our local public is 950. I'd say any public above 1200 is pretty good compared to that :).</p>
<p>No with a capital N. And a capital O. Not to diminish the impressiveness of your SAT score, because impressive it is. But your application will be floating in a sea of applications filled with near-perfect GPAs AND SATs.</p>
<p>What if I had just about all A's my jr yr, but my UW GPA is still in the 3.6-3.7 range? With a top SAT score, am I still competitive or am I lazy?</p>
<p>I think you're still pretty competitive. My friend got into Stanford with a 3.7</p>
<p>yeah, the GPA system can stink for some people. My friend got a 1500 on the old SATs but has a 2.1 GPA. Colleges reeeeally didn't like that. lol</p>
<p>I'm a sophomore in hs, and i've been getting more Bs than As. If i really do well next year and get a lot of As, do you think it'll give me a better chance of getting into a college becuase it looked like i worked harder, or will it just look like i slacked off freshman and sophomore year?</p>
<p>sorry, i'm just uberparanoid of actually getting into college (not just being accepted into a college of choice, but into college in general)</p>
<p>I really hope colleges look closely at transcripts. My GPA stinks(3.4) not because I'm lazy but because I tanked Spanish all 3 years. I'm just not a languages guy and I really struggled. My other classes are strong and I have a 2100 SAT.</p>
<p>"pretty high. the best public high schools have averages around the mid-1300s. (for those who claim their public high school has higher, show me proof)."</p>
<p>My public high school has around a 1400 SAT average. What proof do you need? The only thing I can think of is Wikipedia and that isn't reliable enough.</p>
<p>ok what people on this board need to do is to have an open mind...the rest of the country isnt a replica of your HS. My public HS for instance is among the best in NYS. The 1st decile is a 4.1-4.6 and the classes at my school have no special weighting. These kids usually end up at Yale, Harvard, Columbia...all of the Ivies. Bright kids because these GPA's come from getting A+'s in 5 or 6 AP's per year. Im not trying to say my HS has it right when it comes to GPA but its obviously different then yours.</p>
<p>Ive seen sum weird weighting on this board and it just kinda ****es me off when i see people say what a good or bad GPA is...GPA means absolutely zilch on this board, because honestly, no1 here knows what the admissions board is thinking at these schools when they r looking at the applications of 2 different kids with the same GPA, but one comes from a mediocre HS and one comes from a tough HS. Im sorry but it just bothers me when i see people comment on what a good GPA is, cause fact is you just dont know anymore, every1 does it differently and everyones school is different.</p>
<p>Same goes for SAT scores, i got a 1280 on my SAT and ive had people totally disregard the rest of my application and say ur SAT is too low for schools like GW...College admissions do not revolve around GPA and SAT, i have over 2,000 community service hours and some extra curriculars that will put mother theresa to shame...jk but ya they r good, extensive, and show dedication and achievement. So again...just a message to all you guys out there who think u r the gods of college admissions...next time ur looking at the post of sum1 who has their heart set on a school, look for more then just their GPA (which varies among every school), and their SAT...theres more to these unique individuals then wut meets the eye.</p>
<p>I usually see "GPA" on this board on a 4 point scale (e.g. 3.8 unweighted, 4.2 weughted,etc.) My S's HS grades on a 100 point scale, with AP course weighted 10% more (e.g. if you get a 90 in an AP course, it's averaged in as a 99), si I find it difficult to figure his average, or GPA, on a 4-point scale. His HS (and the NYC Board of Ed) definitely considers a 90 and above to be an "A", 80-89 a "B", 71-79 a "C", 65-70 a "D", and below 65 failing. Any suggestions on how to calulate a 4 point GPA from this?</p>
<p>see wut i mean</p>