Low GPA, what to do?

Question

I’m a Turkish-American that recently moved to Turkey, now completing the greater part of high school (Now a junior). I go to a small competitive IB school (British system) that also gives required Turkish courses which I do poorly in. In other words my GPA is very low. I hope to get a high SAT score in order to overshadow my low GPA. Most universities require a minimum GPA, what can I do to overshadow my very low GPA? Should I take the ACT as well? (Don't do any extra curriculars or sports)

Answer 1

Definitely study in order to do well on both your SAT and ACT (with writing). Take SAT II Subject Tests. In all applications, there is always a section where you can explain problems in your academic career. That would definitely be a section to take advantage of. If you do a great job on your standardized tests, you should be alright---at least you will look a lot better than if you had put no extra effort in.

Answer 2

You should try to do extremely well in your other courses to try and bring up your GPA. Also, you should explain your difficulty with the Turkish courses when you write your letters to the schools you are applying to, explaining that you had recently moved to Turkey and you found the Turkish courses difficult. Most importantly, you must do very very well on the SAT exam! Schools look at a number of things, including extra curriculars and sports so work harder and try to do better. Good luck!

Answer 3

SAT or ACT doesn't matter. If the schools you're applying to don't require the ACT, I'd just concentrate on getting that high SAT score.

Since you have no extra currics, it all may not matter too much. Some so-so school may take you, but no prestigious school since you don't have any extra currics.

You might as well just move to the US, attend a community college for a couple of years, and then transfer.

Answer 4

Maybe you should study more and raise your GPA.