Hi,
I have read recently that some schools who are trying to climb in the USNews rankings might favor SAT over GPA esp if the student is in the top 10% of his/her class (another metric on the rankings). My daughter has around a 3.3 UW (will be 3.4/3.5 by applications) and earned a 2260 on her SAT. She will have taken 12 AP classes and 6 or 7 dual enrollment classes and, therefore, will be top 7-8% by application time despite the lowish GPA. She has excellent, focused extracurriculars and is a good writer (when it comes to the essays). Also, she is a URM.
I saw on the thread about students getting into schools with below 3.7 UW GPA that some students got into WashU and Rice with 3.5ish GPAs. Are these schools that might be a bit test-heavy? What about Vanderbilt?
All this said, I agree that grades and rigor of classes are immensely important. I have been very happy when she has worked hard to get B+'s and B’s in the most rigorous classes offered at her school while maintaining a social life and her ECs… I do not believe that her grades, given that context, are so terribly low. But I know they could certainly be better. A final word: we are not bent on a tippity-top school, just want to make sure to make informed decisions about which schools to apply to as her reaches.
Thanks for any insight.
I noticed a lot of top LACs had fewer than 85% of students in the top 10 percent of their classes – would these be good schools to look at? For example Wesleyan, Wellsley, Davidson and a host of others. Also saw Emory had a decent number of students not ranked in the top 10%. My daughter is ranked in the top 10% but her raw UW GPA is lower than one would expect for that kind of ranking.
Was her PSAT score high enough to qualify be a National Merit Semi Finalist in your state?
if so, then USC [ Southern CAlif] should be on her list, as it greatly values students with hi standardized test scores. In fact, if she is a NMSF and is accepted there she will automatically be awarded a 1/2 tuition scholarship.
Here is a list of other colleges and U’s that give Merit scholarships to NMSF’s. USC is the top ranked school on this list. It begins with colleges that offer full scholarships. Scroll down to find the list of 1/2 merit scholarships below.
http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/
I suggest she take the SAT one more time to see if she can improve her M/V scores.
Villanova, Fordham and Vandy come to mind
@menloparkmom you recommend she retake a 2260? Huh? And the new SAT can’t be superscored with the old.
OP, with top 8% class and URM, LACs are a good set to look into. IMO they may be looking for certain types of students to fill out the class.
Cornell, UChicago, Vanderbilt, WashU and Northeastern don’t necessarily value SAT > Grades, but they definitely weigh them more than peer schools. Just as a reference, I’ll be attending Vanderbilt with a 3.5 UW Gpa (Upwards Trend), 35 ACT, URM, First-Gen, top 10% rank and very good ECs. I also didn’t get rejected anywhere (In at UIUC,Vandy,UF, and Northeastern) so who knows if I would have had a shot at the highest echleon of schools. As long as the rest of your app is top-tier, you should have a decent shot at any school except maaaaybe HPYSMC.