College confidential is filled with 4.0’s and rarely do I see ppl in the 3.0-3.5 range, which is normal bc not everyone’s a genius. (imo) But no one on cc seems to be having a gpa in that range. It gives me anxiety because I have a 3.5 weighted and people are like "I’m not getting into ___ bc I have a 4.0 not a 4.2 like ???)
College confidential is not filled with the average student. We are students basically shopping for the most prestige at the lowest price. This is not true in all cases, but most.
Trying to compare yourself to students here will only make you depressed.
Remember, GPA is only one factor of your application. Most schools accept you based on holistic review. This means they take into consideration your extracurriculars, test scores, awards, rank, essays, etc…
Also remember, grading scales vary greatly. My old high school was on a 6.5 GPA, and my new one is on a 5.0.
Hopefully you’ll realize that finding prestige is less important than finding a school that fits you. The US is blessed with a wealth of high quality schools: big schools, mid-sized schools, small schools; urban, rural and suburban schools, in all regions and in multiple types of climate; intellectual and pre-professional schools; schools with standard, core and open curricula;; private, public, university and LAC; colleges that are affordable and those that are not, of varying levels of selectivity, with emphasis on research or undergrads, etc.
It’s natural to go after prestige. Just realize you can get a prestigious education and one that fits your preferences.
What’s far more important than prestige is the actual utility of what you learn. The name of the school on your degree might help to get you a job, but it won’t do much to help you keep it.
You might find this thread informative: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1871275-parents-of-the-hs-class-of-2017-3-0-to-3-4-gpa-p164.html
Remember that everyone has their weaknesses and strengths! A 3.5 isn’t bad at all! Don’t compare yourself to anyone else. Sometimes, the applicant with the “lower” GPA gets the acceptance and not the “genius”! It helps if you have strong extracurriculars and/or passions that you really enjoy. That can really make you stick out as a student in comparison to the genius who spends all her/his free time glued to a book.
Hi!. I have a 3.5 on a 4.0 scale (that’s my unweighted GPA) but my weighted isn’t much better (3.85 on a 5.0 scale…I think? Not sure.) There are a number of factors when it comes to college admissions.
Yeah, I get upset reading through the threads here to see so many students with perfect GPA. But, that shouldn’t lower your confidence. Push yourself to do your best because that is what matters. Did you do your ultimate best? If not, then now start working so that you can say you are doing your best.
With my stats, I got some full scholarships at some places, which is pretty cool. You will do fine even if you don’t end up going to a well known university. My favorite phrase for myself and my friends is “it doesn’t matter where you go, but where you end up”. Whatever education you receive, you should make the most of it and take it upon yourself to seek opportunities. I have family friends who went to top schools…and because of bad planning and so on forth…they don’t have jobs now. Shocking, right?
Factors that matter in Admissions:
- GPA & Class Rank
Although, these are usually one of the most important factors in admissions. It is not the only thing that decides your fate. And these aren’t always true indications of your ability.
- SAT/ACT/Standardized Tests These tests will usually validate a #1 or in some cases make it not as important of a factor to evaluate a student. High scores usually give an indication of important critical thinking and analysis skills that colleges want.
- Difficulty of Course Load Are you challenging yourself by taking APs or Honors classes? Are you making the best use of your resources available? Colleges want to see that you do and can handle rigorous courses.
- Extracurriculars Finally, colleges want to see that you weren't just a book focused person. They want to see a well rounded student or someone who also pursued their interests. Participating in clubs can broaden your horizons and allow you to pursue passions. If you're not involved at school, then maybe you're involved in the community by raising money for non-profit organizations or maybe you're tutoring students, volunteering, etc. Or if that's not what you're doing, maybe you're doing academic stuff outside of school-doing internships, lab research. The list goes on. A student who pursues their passion actively, even if they have a lower GPA will sometimes win over the 'perfect 4.0 student' with no extracurriculars.
I hope this helps you out and soothes some anxiety.
I am certain there are many people with 3.0-3.5 GPAs on this site; they just have not made the information public due to the competitive stigma against <3.7 GPAs. Too many people believe so strongly in the numerical value of the GPA, when your transcript is evaluated holistically (yes, I’m sick of hearing that word too). AdComs won’t look at a 3.5 GPA and think, “hmm, this person can’t take the workload”. They may see that you only did badly in freshman and sophomore years, and then bumped it up for junior and senior year, which will warrant an explanation for why this upward trend happened. It is a very case-by-case thing, and there is certainly no one metric to measure grades.