Doomed? SAT vs GPA.

Applying to College Common and Coalition Application
1

<p>Hi everyone,</p>

<p>I registered after lurking around for a bit. I’m very scared about the future, and I really don’t know where to go from here.</p>

<p>I intend on going to college, hands down. If I were to declare a major on acceptance, I’d declare Computer Science. I’m currently self studying C++ and C# for server deployment, and I plan on taking the CompSci AP test my senior year. My school no longer has a class, so I will have to take the AP test without having taken an AP class. It’s on Java, not C++ but once I have learned C++, learning Java will be a breeze. </p>

<p>I run into a big problem with grades though. I have an interesting situation.</p>

<p>Freshman year I took a lot of honors classes, and got B’s and C’s. I was an average student then, and overall my GPA was about a 2.8/2.7.</p>

<p>It was Sophomore year that destroyed me though. I got in an emotionally abusive relationship, it was a very bad decision on my part to even get into the relationship. I should have realized at the start that all she was in it for was for herself, and that she would use me throughout the entire year. Anytime I didn’t do what she wanted, she threatened suicide. In the end, I ended up calling the cops and having her checked out. My entire year was filled with paranoia because of it, and school took the back seat. </p>

<p>Junior year came, and I did poorly again. I have no excuses, I slacked off and I shouldn’t have. </p>

<p>Overall, my GPA right now is a 2.45…</p>

<p>I took my SAT’s though. My SAT score was a 1970. As far as my understanding goes, that is a relatively high score for where I’m applying to. </p>

<p>As I said before, I’m going to try and major in Computer Science, so I am looking at Purdue University, Wentworth University, and the University of Charleston. Charleston is a bit more competitive than Wentworth and Purdue, so that is my upward school. Wentworth is the least competitive of the three. </p>

<p>I know it looks really grim, and I honestly don’t know what to do about it. What are my chances?</p>

<p>I know there are hundreds upon thousands of these posts here, I’ve seen them all indexed on Google. I am ridiculously scared about my future though, I don’t know what to do.</p>

<p>As an extra note, I do plan on working on some Open Source Software projects, so I could probably add those to my applications. </p>

<p>I feel scared and lost, was anyone else in a similar situation and got good results?</p>

2

<p>Some good EC’s, but look into the schools stats and call up admission offices and ask where you would stand. I don’t think you should have a difficult time if you improve your GPA senior year and describe your desire to go to college in your essays</p>

3

<p>Thanks, I’ve looked into Purdue’s stats and Wentworth’s stats using Naviance.</p>

<p>What scares me is the average accepted GPA, Purdue has a 2.9 and Wentworth has a 2.89.</p>

<p>At first Wentworth then sounds like the more accepting college (if not by a .01 margin.). However, Purdue is a larger school by far. This means that the range of that average is much larger than Wentworth’s, giving Purdue a possibility for a much larger amount of accepted GPA’s (As the possibility of the entire undergraduate population coming in with a 2.9 or a number only .06 away is very very low.).</p>

<p>Interestingly enough, Naviance says that one person applied from my school and got accepted into Wentworth. His/her GPA was a 2.88, but his/her combined SAT 2400 score was extremely low, a 1420. Perhaps they are more heavy on GPA’s, but also will be interested in a higher SAT score to add into the average?</p>

<p>Also, this year I really expect my GPA to rise a lot. I’m taking two science classes in topics I enjoy, I have AP 2D Portfolio (A 7.5 credit class doing the one thing I love most: Photography.), and math has always been easy for me. So yes, I hope that my senior year GPA is much much higher than every year before.</p>

4

<p>Your GPA reflects what you’ve done in 4 years. Your SAT reflects 4 hours of a Saturday morning. As such, your GPA is far more important. That said, strong SAT scores can help make a low GPA more attractive.</p>

5

<p>Whenever you look at a college’s acceptance GPA, you are looking at the average. Meaning, there are people with lower GPAs that are enrolled as well as people with much higher GPAs.
If I was a college admissions officer, I would definitely notice the difference in your GPA and SAT score, so I definitely think you should address that somehow. If you get called back for interviews, it is very possible that they may ask you about it. Just be honest, and I’m sure you’ll do fine!</p>

6

<p>In general, a low SAT with a high GPA leads to the generalization of “hard-working” student who tests badly.</p>

<p>In general, a high SAT with a low GPA leads to the generalization of “slacker” or someone who is [only] driven to do the things they enjoy (which can work out for people, but can also be a red flag). </p>

<p>Emphasize that you do have a passion (computers) and talk to your guidance counselor about what she can do to explain your poor GPA in a counselor recommendation. Turn your self-study into something concrete (your AP score isn’t something that you can apply with, it will be out too late). See if you can get the words “Independent Study in AP Computer Science” on your transcript and show the school that you can learn the curriculum for the class that they used to have. Definitely try to turn your learning C++ into an extracurricular if possible. Would you consider using it in a business, getting an internship based off of it, teaching the basics of it to some group of people who could benefit? Making your own business always looks great.</p>

<p>The schools you mentioned get a lot of kids with either a high GPA or high SAT but not both. Since you are worried about your stats, make sure that you have a variety of backup schools. You’ve listed three schools and identified one as more of a reach - make sure that you have at least five schools that you apply to and that only two of the five are true reaches.</p>

<p>I feel that people on this site have a better chance of getting in, especially the ones who are concerned before senior year actually hits. Keep coming to sites like this one for advice to make sure your essay, recs, etc. are the best they can be! (and try My Chances or Cappex to see what they rank your chances for various schools as).</p>

7

<p>I’ll definitely find more schools to check out and add.</p>

<p>I actually am trying to get an internship at Merck in the software development department. I would love to get into it before I start applying so I can put that down. </p>

<p>I’ll check out those sites you said, do you have a preference or do they both work as well? Thank you so much everyone, all the help is really appreciated.</p>

8

<p>Unfortunately, grades are around 50% of your college application. But, if you write awesome essays with recs and other things like ecs you still have a good shot.</p>

9

<p>If you apply to enough schools, someone, and probably more than one school, will take you. Schools will look at your first semester senior year grades, and if those are solid, they will be far more forgiving of weak grades in 10th and 11th grade.</p>

<p>Wentworth is known for being easy to get into - most of the kids who get in won’t have test scores as high as you have. However, a fair number of their kids don’t graduate, so that means that they give kids a chance, but they don’t give them a degree if they don’t work hard. They have a high placement rate for their graduates, in part because of the co-op requirements.</p>

<p>Try Purdue and some others as well, of course, and the most important thing is to do well in the first semester of your senior year.</p>

10

<p>Grades are very important, but I still think you have a chance. There are so many other things going on, you never know. :)</p>