Right now my GPA is a 3.78, which I have always been a bit disappointed in but not distraught over. And not surprised about considering I haven’t really put all that much effort into the majority of my classes. This last semester, however, my previous math teacher quit and the new one that they hired to replace her has a dramatically different methodology than any other teacher I’ve had before. I also seem to have had made a less than stellar impression on her at the start of the semester, and because of that, I may fail the class. I am now concerned that this grade will have severely negative implications on my GPA and college applications, and it being near the end of junior year I probably will not be able to do much to bring it back.
I have only taken the ACT once and without much preparation scored a 29. Most of my scores were well above 30 but, unsurprisingly, my result on math is dragging the average down considerably. I plan on retaking it and am hoping that if I can raise my math score, bringing the average closer to that of my other scores, this will be able to balance out my lower GPA. But I am uncomfortable leaving so much riding on improved test scores.
I also have a solid resume of extracurriculars and community service all of which tie in well with my interests and many of which are fairly coveted. I am hoping that this might help my case but I’ve heard many schools will not even review these if your GPA doesn’t meet or exceed what they generally expect.
The schools that I am looking at are competitive but not the Ivy League. Some of the ones I’m looking at include NYU (I’m planning to apply ED and potentially applying to their film school, their Liberal Core program, or their Abu Dhabi Campus), Mount Holyoke (which is probably a severe reach) Fordham, BU, Chapman, UCSD, SDSU, UCSB, and LMU. I’m worried that this semester may cause my entire GPA to take a steep downturn and put these all much further from my reach.
This summer I am taking classes at CU Boulder since I live nearby and I’m doing a large number of AP classes next year. I’ve also done very well in my current and past AP classes, and I’m hoping that these will speak to my ability to succeed doing college work despite what my math grade might suggest.
So how much can one bad grade one semester bring down my overall GPA? And how much bearing will this have on my admissions chances to these schools?