TcherryPie

Ok, so Im a junior at an extremely competitive public school on Long Island which sends A LOT of it's students to top notch schools.

Since freshman year, I've been taking all honors/AP courses, and this year Im currently enrolled in 4, and planning on 9 for when I graduate HS.

so here's where the bad-part comes in....
My weighted GPA thats on my transcript is an 93.4 (3.8)...which is certainly great in my opinion but apparently that doesnt mean anything for (top) colleges.
they recalculate an UW GPA with only the "core" classes, which would probably leave me at an 86-87 (3.3)
Its certainly not a surprise to me that I've been doing B+ work, i mean those were the grades on my report card after all.....but I always relied on that little weighting to get me into the mid 90's.
darn, had I known that, I woulda taken regular courses and gladly accepted a 100 GPA.

so with a 93 GPA, I was confident with sending apps to schools like NYU , Carnegie Mellon, BC, Emory.not Ivies, but still top schools
especially knowing that I have good EC's and I got a 2140 on my 2nd time taking the SAT1.
but now, being that I'm a "B+" student, those schools seem WAYYYYY out of reach.

should I just stop worrying or will I most likely have to settle for a school of a less-caliber (like Syracuse or Fordham) and hope to transfer to NYU after one year

swirlygirl73

I am in the same situation (except im a senior).

At first, like you, I regretted the hard classes and ending up with around a 3.2 (tough school, no 4.0s in my class). But ultimately, colleges, esp selective ones, look at the whole transcript, not just the number. They will consider the fact that you took the hardest load available and the fact that you go to a competetitive school. Additionally, not every school re-calculates GPA the same way, and you may have a higer gpa when your school of choice re-calculates. If you are worried, you still have a semester to get your grades up before you apply and to increase your SAT score even more.

Either way, I think you have great scores and should certainly still apply. Even with your GPA, you are competetive at most of the schools you listed.

moomoo431

you should stop worrying and apply to a range of schools, making sure you have safeties that you like.

i actually had very similar gpa stats to yours (9 ap classes overall, B+/A- average, 2180 SAT). I applied and got accepted to BC and Cornell. Actually in BC, i got admitted to some honors program that's for like the top 5% of applicants. But i did SEVERELY doubt my chances to all these schools.

and don't regret that you didn't take regular courses and aced them. Colleges want to see that you pushed yourself in hs.

Sabster

You have a shot at the schools you wanted to apply to before (NYU, BC, etc). Admissions officers always stress that you should take the heaviest course load possible, so you should definitely not regret challenging yourself. The fact that you did challenge yourself may prove to be more valuable than a perfect GPA.
Just find a safety (just in case) and you'll be fine. No need to be worried =).