microblaster

Ok heres the problem, I go to an International school in India and I want to apply to top schools. However my GPA is a 3.14 and I am in like the middle 50% of my class (i have 45 kids in my class, only 17 do the diploma and in that im like ranked fifth, out of the other 28 kids less than 6 take more than 2 APs)

here is the list of schools:
University of Pennsylvania
University of Chicago
Dartmouth College
Northwestern University
Vanderbilt University
Georgetown University
Middlebury College
University of Southern California
University of Michigan

Do I realistically stand a chance at any of the schools?

BTW here are the rest of my stats

IB Diploma: 38/45 (lowest) its more around a 40/45

AP's: 2 5's in microecon and calc ab (btw i didnt take the classes so it doesnt show on my transcrpt)

ACT:32

ECs:
250+ hours community service
Varsity swimming, and team captain
MUN. I went to an international conference in china, they only send 10 from each school from grades 9-12, so like a few 100 kids
Rotary Club
Student Coucnil
Me and my friends made a school newspaper which discusse controversial topics




Does all this mean nothing in the face of my GPA and rankinig?

kenf1234

I think you have a chance at University of Chicago if you write really good essays.

microblaster

anyone else?

schismmanifesto

Go for the university of chicago, they are the only school on that list that I could actually see understanding your situation

Hunt

What situation? Unless I'm missing something, I don't see anything that explains why your GPA doesn't accurately reflect your achievement. I think you need to make a more realistic list.

Columbia_Student

Your GPA is too low for any of those schools on your list. Need to add more schools.

sak09

You need more safety schools. I would apply to maybe a couple of the schools you listed (U Chicago, Middlebury, and Vanderbilt) but realistically, applying to all of those schools that you listed, especially the Ivys would be a waste of time. There really is no excuse for your low GPA, and besides that, I don't see anything else about you that sticks out. Your ECs are good...but it won't cover up your GPA and rank.

microblaster

No i have safety schools, these were just my reaches, this is infuriating as with a 40/45 i could get an offer from Oxford, Cambridge or LSE

NewEngSocSciMan

Explaining your situation will put you over the top. Plus, an IB diploma looks very strong. You should be a fairly good candidate, even for Ivies (if you apply to three or four, you could probably get into one?).

Hunt

You need to understand that the US schools will not know what your IB score is until too late for a decision, so it won't help you. They will probably not pay much attention to your predicted score. Right or wrong, US schools will look at IB test scores the same way they look at AP scores: primarily for placement, not so much for admission. They will focus on your GPA and your standardized test scores.

Columbia_Student

It's best that you apply to UK schools then. US schools are more focus on GPA. Even good SAT with 3.6/3.7 GPA from top 100 US News High school get rejected from multiple schools. This is not just one person but it happens to a lot of people. Unless you have a hook, like URM, your GPA should be around 3.8-4.0 to be competitive. Only U of C is not as stats conscious but you still have to have high GPA. Most schools will discount low SAT if you have high GPA.

Hunt

Well, it's not quite as simple as Columbia Student suggests, but 3.14 is not a highly competitive GPA by US standards. To offset it, you would need some extremely unusual achievements. (One note: it is possible that some secondary schools have extreme grade deflation, and at such a school maybe a 3.14 is a very high grade. If this is the case, you will need to find a way to convey this information to colleges, probably requiring the assistance of the guidance department of the school.)

dconcerned

microblaster:

i assume that you're taking ib full diploma program with predicted grades of 38/45. does 38 include bonus points? with 38 predicted grades excluding bonus points, you have a much better chance than just 36 or 35. but are you doing both gpas and ib full diploma program together?

anyway, i strongly suggest that you're trying to improve your predicted grades to about 39, excluding bonus points which will provide you a much better chance. many good uk schools will accept around 37-39, excluding bonus points as the minimum requirements. most elite schools understand the scoring of ib diploma program very well. don't be discouraged. many us elite schools including mit, harvard, upenn, stanford, give credits for those hl subjects with 6 or 7. check the websites of schools that you're interested in.

but you still need to improve your standardized test scores. perhaps you should consider taking sat tests that might give you better chances. you need to make sure that you have good essays and tech recs.

as for your college list, i suggest that you include cornell for the ivies. i'm sure you have decent chances on at least a few good schools on your list.
add a few more safeties so you have good overall balance.

Hunt

"many us elite schools including mit, harvard, upenn, stanford, give credits for those hl subjects with 6 or 7"

Yes, they give credit for placement, but they don't have those scores when they are considering admission. In the US there is not (as far as I am aware) the situation of conditional admission based on predicted IB scores. The IB scores you already have from your junior year may help you , of course, if they are high, but you will need to rely on regular grades and standardized tests for your other courses.

chocolatealtoids

i'd say you have a chance at michigan. But I applied to a bunch of schools this year with a 3.18 and got rejected from villanova, UMCP and waitlisted at William and Mary and Wake Forest so I'd say a def no on most of the other schools.