I go to a high school that is not competitive at all. I have a kind of low GPA and I’m still ranked 15/364 or something like that so it’s obvious that my school isn’t competitive. Will this hurt my chances? I’m also pretty sure that my school’s average act/sat scores are pretty low too.
Here’s some more info about me, I’m wondering if they will help my admissions significantly: half white, half Korean, low income, first-gen. What do you think?
I know being Asian isn’t good from an admissions perspective but I’m not sure if it makes a difference that I’m biracial.
My S attended a low income high school (not suggesting yours is) that had little experience with students applying to highly selective schools. It had a good college placement track record, but vast majority of that was in CCs and local state U. Big deal if someone was admitted to state flagship.
I mention that for two reasons: 1. If your aim is set on schools outside the norm for your high school, you will have to be your own advocate as your GC likely will be less familiar with the greater admissions process (my son repeatedly had to ask his GC to send info to several out of state schools). 2. The colleges will have very little (if any) track record with your high school. That makes it more difficult but not impossible. On many college tours and websites it refers to Admissions Officers knowing the schools in their region, visiting, etc. Not in my S’s case. They never came to his school and I imagine he was the first student to ever apply to some of the colleges he chose (many of which he was admitted so very doable!!!)
Low GPA is a concern. What is your GPA, test scores, etc. Class rank matters but less than actual scores for most colleges. Rigor is also important. A 3.5 with all honors / APs is more impressive to AOs than a 3.8 with less rigor (if it was available).
Most students at my school apply to in-state schools, as far as I know. The best schools that people have gone to from my school are UNC-Chapel Hill (3-5 people per year at most) and 2 kids went to Harvard 2 years ago, but honestly my school never gets Ivy League applicants. I have a 3.86 unweighted with all APs/honors, its not bad but when you look at other people who apply to these top schools, it’s nothing