Can anybody pls tell my chances of getting into an ivy league of other top universities like cambridge or oxford with a 3.3 gpa and a sat score of 1590
0.0-0.5%
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I’ll say less than 2% chance.
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Congrats on an amazing test score. In the context of your 1590:
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The classes that you’ve taken better be of the absolute highest rigor at your school for Ivy League consideration, at the very least some AP. If your schoolmates are delivering near-perfect grades and comparable standardized test scores, that will be a problem for you.
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re: “really good ECs:” Are you involved at an elite level that can explain the time taken from your studies? If so, do you have a coach/school official that can advocate on your behalf and has perhaps already reached out to college/university representatives on your behalf singing your praises about how you will add considerable value to their team/activity efforts?
It’s extremely difficult for students sporting 4.0 uw GPAs full of rigor with mid 1400 SATs to gain acceptance to Ivy League schools, just like the “Brilliant, lazy student” who drills a near perfect SAT while putting up average school grades. You BETTER have an amazing life story that sets you apart from the pack.
You know, I’ve been part of this group for a number of years now, and often posters would ask, “Do Top 10-15 schools want 4.0 GPAs or elite standardized test scores?” There was always some smart-aleck, one word poster that simply said, “Both.” And that used to really annoy me.
Except, judging from some school data that I’ve seen over the years, it’s mostly true.
I believe that there was a BRIEF moment in time (2020-2023, the “Test Optional” era,) where some kids with amazing stories, elite EC’s and maybe a friend or two on the inside, could find their way onto an Ivy League campus. Yes, Test Optional still exists at some schools and had existed in certain schools before the Pandemic crisis, but not nearly as widespread (or open-minded) as during the COVID era.
There are still certain colleges that will pay some scholarship money for your amazing score. You need to sit down with your guidance counselor and figure out what your “story” is, and again, if you’re at an elite, state-championship level with your ECs, then your coach/advisor needs to be reaching out to schools on your behalf, like NOW.
If you are an international student be sure that you are accurately converting your GPA.
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You may want to change your username to protect your privacy. Here’s how.
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Are you an international student for the United States?
I would strongly suggest you do a Chance Me/Match Me post because it will contain sufficient information to give you better responses…and also the ability to provide college suggestions if you want them.
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If you are international, how does this GPA compare to others at your school and in your country? Would this make you among the top 5% of students or so? Were you classes of the highest rigor?
If not, have you won a Nobel Prize? An Olympic gold medal? Can you parents donate $1 million to build your intended university a new library?
If yes to any or all of the above, you probably have a reasonable chance.
If not, then your chances are exceedingly low.
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Since you didn’t give us a clue about these great ECs you have, I’m not sure how we can even respond.
But generally speaking, your ECs will not make up for a lower GPA. They just won’t.
Also, if you are an international student needing need based aid, this could factor into your chances of acceptance.
IOW…please do a chance me thread and answer all the questions on it. You will get much better feed back with a more complete picture than this snippet you have posted here.
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This!
and…
This is important context. A 3.3 is not all that high for US high schools, but in other countries you might be the top student in your class.
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First off, your question here, itself, may be a signal that you are not likely to get in. There is a plethora of information easily available on the net that should have already indicated your chances.
If your GPA is truly 3.3 and your SAT is 1590, you’d better have an almost unbelievable explanation as to how that happened.
Add to it, your ECs probably need to include a major breakthrough in fusion energy or cure for cancer.
And your parents should probably donate a wing to the university’s hospital.
Do yourself a favor and do some research:
- Look at US News and World Report top 100 rankings.
- Check out the threads of some of those universities around the dates of their Early Decision/Early Action decisions, on this site, looking at the stats of those admitted, deferred, declined.
- Think about your chances.
If you can’t/won’t do this, it is another signal about your low likelihood of being accepted
If you are disappointed, sleep it off; then, come back determined to reset your expectations & demonstrate that your 1590 really means something. Align your expectations with universities that have >50% acceptance rate AND are within your budgeted COA.
There are plenty of great universities that will demonstrate their desire for you to attend. More importantly, if you put in the effort you will get THE SAME education that the elite schools provide.
At the end of your working years, you will look back and see that the college you attended had little to do with where you ended up.
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I think that @worriedmomucb got it right, except that I am not sure that $1,000,000 would be enough.
Your grades will be interpreted in the context of the high school that you are attending. As one example, I came from a high school where no one had straight A’s, and there was only one student who had an average GPA over 90%. This did not matter. Our grades were interpreted in the context of the high school that we were coming from. Several of us went to highly ranked universities.
@momofboiler1 also has a good point. International students coming from schools with different grades scales will sometimes convert their grades to a US GPA scale incorrectly.
If you are near the top of your high school (at least top 5%, top 2% might be better) then it might be worth an application to some of the highest ranked universities in the US. Otherwise your chances are bleak.
Of course other issues such as having won a Nobel Prize, having won a major international competition or an Olympic gold medal, or having a parent who is the official head of state of a medium sized country, can help. If you get to attend the welcome reception for international students at a top university, you might be amazed who you will meet (and might walk away wondering “how did I ever get accepted here?”).
A 3.3 at a normal high school in the US would make acceptance to an Ivy League university very unlikely. On the other hand, this plus a 1590 SAT might get you to a university that is good enough that doing a lot better in university might get you into a graduate program at an Ivy League or equivalent university.
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no way
Where are you attending school? What courses are you taking?