wrigleynoodles

I got a 2400 last year after practicing and preparing like crazy but have pretty bad grades. Got a 3.7 unweighted 4.35 weighted (got a C too in soph year). A lot of people at my school that I know have 4.5+, as I got to a competitive Socal private school. I do have great ECs and am expecting to get really good letters of recommendation though. Is there any hope of getting into Princeton/Yale/Stanford/Harvard or the likes?

thecreator96

It's a possibility if you have great SAT IIs and AP scores, and your ECs are in fact great and make you stand out. I would say go for it.

wrigleynoodles

I took a pretty rigorous course load too i guess with 9 APs and 7 honors. SAT IIs are all 750+ if that provides some more info.

floridadad55

I would suggest that you consider applying to colleges in the UK and Canada as well

It is my understanding that they go more by standardized test scores there.

fchris13

Who cares you can still get into Duke, Stanford, and Cornell. You just have a 0% chance at MIT and Princeton.

wilsun007

If you got a 2400 through hard work, why didn't you work harder at school? Other kids have been working hard for 4 years. You suddenly wisened up and realized too late that you need to work hard if you want to go to the best schools.

A 3.7 GPA isn't bad, but a 2400 kid definitely has the ability to do much much better.

Were you (one of) the best student in your teacher's class? If not, expect good but not stellar recommendations.

If your school is stupidly hard and you're still top 10%ish, or if you go to one of those pipeline schools (not likely since you live in SoCal), then ignore what I said. I apologize. If you're top 10% with a 3.7, it's not too big a deal. If you're outside top 25%, you're screwed unless you have a hook and Harvard really wants to bite.

PS did you ever score 2400s on practice tests?

SerenityJade

I hate how people try to say a 3.7 unweighted is bad. Are you kidding? That's an amazing achievement.

stewfoo412

fchris once again your comment is incorrect. To say that he has no chance at princeton and MIT yet he can still atleast get into stanford is flawed. I think that you have a chance at any school wrigley, and honestly stanford would be one of your toughest.

glido

You will be fine. You will have many choices for wonderful schools. Congratulations.

Waymer

After reading a bunch of threads about accepted/waitlisted/rejected from certain schools, it seems to me that colleges really like to see passion, which can be exhibited through your stats and especially your essays. I think your stats are pretty good, but most students who apply to HYPSM have good stats. At this point your essays and recs have a large weight.

mitchklong

As always, apply to schools you want plus some safer options. You have great credientials so im sure you will get some great offers.

The real place to leverage your SAT score is in scholarships. Apply for everything that takes SAT scores into account and you should be able to cash in big time.