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sorry, i'm just uberparanoid of actually getting into college (not just being accepted into a college of choice, but into college in general)
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<p>Don't be paranoid. Many institutions are open-access or darn close to it. They may not be talked about a lot here, but they're out there and they're not awful places. </p>
<p>If your profile is so weak that you really can't make it into a place you think it worthy of your aspirations and talents, then go to a lesser place, make the best of it to prove yourself, and then transfer. </p>
<p>I've got a person example. My husband was a screw-up in high school. Didn't attend class, didn't get good grades, etc. He had decent SATS (he's smart enough) but the grades showed his laziness. He ended up admitted to a public university in Michigan. It's not a bad place-- it has an honor program and is a top choice for many fine resident students, but (lucky for him) it still fills in a lot of its class with students like my husband. He went there, proved himself, and transferred to U-M, which is considerably more selective. Happy ending for him, and not that hard to duplicate if you have drive.</p>
<p>I'm guessing you're not anywhere near as bad a candidate as he was.</p>
<p>His unweighted GPA (average) is 93.8. His actual rank, we just learned, is 5/158, rank is unweighted but is based on weighted average-per the GC highest weighted rank in his school is 96.3.</p>
<p>yeah, especially for schools that Don't weight GPAs, i think difficulty of courses has to count for something (especially honors classes, whcih in my school, are very different from regular courses). </p>
<p>Also, don't some schools discount freshman year grades? I've heard Princeton does.</p>
<p>Also, New York is a Regents state, and the Regents Exams scores are listed separately (they are based on a highest possible score of 100, and are never weighted) on the transcript-NYS colleges are very aware of these scores-also the val and sal of my son's school chose not to take the non-required Regents exams (e.g. Chemistry and Physics) in some courses-my son sat for all Regents (total of 9), and this year received the Scholarship for Academic Excellence, which is for the student who took all the Regents exams, and had the highest Regents exam score average in the school.</p>
<p>"Lets all correct this. Its your rank not GPA that matters, unless your school doesnt rank."</p>
<p>um no because your GPA is earned on your own merit while a rank is given relative to what other people are doing in the class. rank will only matter for tie-breaker situations between two equally qualified candidates (usually from the same school).</p>
<p>"um no because your GPA is earned on your own merit while a rank is given relative to what other people are doing in the class. rank will only matter for tie-breaker situations between two equally qualified candidates (usually from the same school)."</p>
<p>GPA is relative to the school as well. I know of some schools that have rampant GPA inflation... Obviously a kid who goes to one of the GPA inflated schools is going to have a higher GPA than a kid who goes to a more selective private school. Colleges know that too. </p>
<p>Yes, rank is based on the class you are in. However, ranking highly in any class - may it be at a poor school or at a rich private school shows that you are ahead of the pack. Some classes may be less competitive, but also remember with less competition, there is also less drive.</p>
<p>Each of you has part of it right. It's a lot of factors. How your high school is viewed, your rank and GPA all play a part. When your school is lesser known, rank and SAT scores are necessary for perspective. If you're number 2 at Andover, they could care less what your GPA is.</p>