College Question! Do I have a chance at an Ivy League or a college of the same caliber?

Question

I'm stuck with a 3.5 GPA Unweighted, but I have a 2250 on my SATs, and I am very involved with my extra-curricular activities: (please bear with me) I founded and currently conduct San Francisco's very first high school chamber orchestra, I'm the president of my school's Pre-Medicine Society, I'm on the San Francisco City Hall's Youth Commission representing District 4, I'm on the National Ocean Sciences Bowl team, and I am almost done writing a book. I really don't know if I can still get into any elite institution since I've been told that GPAs matter most in any college application and acceptance. And unfortunately, 3.5 is quite low compared to the average GPAs of most Ivy-Leaguers. Any advice or feed back would be deeply appreciated!

-DM

Answer 1

GPA generally does matter most, and there is no guarantee, but if a school were to make an exception, I would say that you are a good bet. With your SAT score, there is evidence that you are capable at very strong work; their only concern would be that you might be underachieving. My guess is that it could come down to the pattern of your grades - if you got lower grades earlier in high school and higher ones more recently, you have a chance. If the other way around, probably not. By the way, wonderful extracurriculars! You show wonderful leadership potential.

Answer 2

If you're a minority you'll get in for sure.

But if you're not a minority, you'll just be another typical applicant to an Ivy League School. I think you need to ask yourself why you want to go to an Ivy League School and why it's so important. Harvard is a completely different school and has a different atmosphere than a school like Darthmouth has. Yale is completely different in atmosphere than University of Pennsylvania, and so on and so on.

By atmosphere I'm talking about the people, social life, the way they treat undergrads, and just environment overall. Most Ivy League schools give preference to their grad students, so a lot of the classes you'll have will at the undergrad level will end up being taught by teacher's assistants.

I would recommend applying to more schools that aren't necessarily Ivy League status but are still well known like Northwestern, Carnegie Mellon, Vanderbuilt, USC, Emory, Georgetown because you'll definitely have a really good chance into getting schools like that.

Answer 3

GPA is not important at all. Rank in class is what's important. Colleges are fully aware that the grading standards vary a lot from school to school. If a 3.5 GPA leaves you in the top 10% of your class, or even the top quarter of your class with your extracurriculars and test scores, then you should have a very good chance. The rank-in-class standards can be relaxed a bit if you go to a selective high school.

Answer 4

Don't buy into the "You can't get in" propaganda you might hear.
It doesn't hurt to apply, so do it no matter what you hear. About you having a chance, you definitely have one. Colleges don't really want a good GPA specifically, but signs that you will be successful at their institution, which GPA is only one. The fact that you have done so many amazing things outside of high school only says to the college that you're hardworking and committed (just make sure you mention that in your app). Besides a 3.5 GPA isn't bad at all

Answer 5

You might have a chance at a prestigous college, but I sincerely doubt the Ivy League part. However, I commend you on your extracurricular activities. Those will look nice on a college application. Unfortunately, to get into an Ivy League school, you'll be likely needing a 4.0 and a perfect on your SAT. There was a girl in my school who graduated first in our class, had a 4.0, and a perfect on her SAT's...she didn't even get into an Ivy League school.

You've done an extraordinary job. None of us are on the panel who would decide whether you would be in or not. Best advice, apply, but have a backup college just in case.

Best of luck to you!

Answer 6

Your GPA could be a disadvantage - in case you probably did not have the form of remarkable extracurriculars selective faculties look for in those circumstances. needless to say, you would be up against babies who've the two remarkable extracurriculars and sturdy grades, whether that is unquestionably nicely worth a shot once you have an interest in any Ivy League-high quality faculties on their very very own reward. (Given your innovative bent, it extremely is recommended to contemplate faculties like Brown which will value those pursuits.)