<p>I have a 2250 superscore on the SAT, 2170 on both tests.
First sitting: 730 Math, 720 Writing, 720 reading
Second sitting: 720 Math, 800 reading, 650 writing (I dont know what happened)</p>
<p>On my SAT2’s, I have:
710 lit
730 bio
720 MathII</p>
<p>I have a 3.8 UW gpa and a 4.1 weighted, which puts me at 17% of my class. However, this was partly due to external factors during my junior year, which I wrote an essay about/ my counselor explained away in her LOR. I also have a few middle school grades that bring down my gpa a lot, and I have a 3.9 with a 4.28, putting me at the top 5% of my class, just without the middle school grades. I am hoping that the admissions officers will forgive me for this?</p>
<p>I feel as though my extracurriculars/essays/recs/etc are good enough for top ivy league colleges (not to be cocky or anything, but its just what I think after comparing to other threads).</p>
<p>I know that my test scores and GPA are low for top schools like Uchicago, MIT, ivy leagues, etc. I have read around and it seems like as long as I jump the first “hurdle” and admissions officers believe that I can handle the rigorous course load, Ill be fine. Are my scores and gpa too low to jump this hurdle? I have one month to take another set of SATs, and Im thinking of taking MathII and Lit again (polysci major). I have straight A’s, almost A+'s for my senior year first semester grades, although I hear that these don’t factor into admission until after you’ve been accepted.</p>
<p>short version: Are my scores bad enough to keep me out of competitive colleges?</p>
<p>Is the rank your hs reports to colleges the 5% or the 17%? Most top colleges want students in the top 10% of their class. Everything else looks good.</p>
<p>The official transcript shows 70ish/450, but Im hoping that my GC’s LOR will help alleviate the damage? The transcript very clearly shows the rows of Bs I got in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade, so I am hoping that the adcoms will be a little lenient. I have a 4.13 right now, I would have a 4.3 without the middle school grades, which would put me in the top 5%. After first semester comes out, I should have a 4.3 anyway, even with the Bs from middle school. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>Your GPA is a 3.8 unweighted? That’s not going to hurt you at all lolol. Neither will your middle school grades (they aren’t used in admissions).</p>
<p>@babyaztec
While that may be the case for a majority of other high schools, my high school is special in that we have MAJOR grade inflation. The valedictorian has a 4.6x I believe, and as I’ve stated before, my rank is 17%, after I received 3 Bs junior year because of the problems I mentioned before. As for the middle school grades, my county has a program that allows middle school students to take high school classes, so although I took them in middle school, they technically count as “high school courses”, which is why they have an effect on my GPA.</p>
<p>If your counselor explained it, it will help. </p>
<p>Your scores and GPA aren’t bad for those schools. Stop worrying and enjoy your Christmas!</p>
<p>Your grades might hurt your chances pretty badly at top 10 or 15 schools, but you’ve got a great shot at plenty of highly competitive schools. You have nothing to worry about.</p>
<p>That being said, kids still do get in without being in the top 10%, though they usually have something pretty impressive on their resume as well.</p>
<p>Your rank is going to hurt, top schools want top 10% as almost a minimum. But if you have a very compelling story they may overlook it, for example my friend has a very low GPA/class rank (don’t know it exactly but probably around 30%) and she was accepted to UChicago, Northwestern, NYU, etc but she had a huge medical thing all of junior year and is also a 3x state champion being recruited.</p>
<p>If you have a good excuse for the Bs junior year that will help, the fact that the other Bs were in middle school will also help. Good luck.</p>
<p>Did you take AP courses?
Try to remember that even if your test scores and GPA were perfect, the acceptance rates at Ivy league and others at the top are often less than 10%. Most of the applicants at those schools are very highly qualified, so even a perfect student has low odds. So do apply to some top schools, but be sure to have lots of other schools on your list where your odds are better. There are many excellent schools that are less selective than the Ivies, and MIT.</p>