Just how much does my [3.83] GPA bring down my application?

Applying to College
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Hi!

I feel that I’m a bit of an interesting case; I believe that my ECs, test scores, etc. do not match my GPA (GPA is a bit lower). Of course, GPA is basically the #1 factor in admissions, but I want some honest opinions. When replying, please offer your opinion of the schools you think I can get into (reaches/hard targets) without my GPA, and rate the schools I’m aiming for (don’t change ur previous!! Then, after reading my GPA, tell me if you think I can still aim for the schools you listed. Thanks you!

Part 1: Match me w/o my GPA:
Linguistics/Math Major
Classes, Scores, etc:

  • 760ELA+780M=1540SAT (3 times, highest single test was 750ELA+780M, probably not submitting)
  • 35S+36E+36W+35M=36ACT (1 time, submitting this if allowed)
  • 1470/1520 PSAT/NMSQT (only commended?? don’t even ask how that not semifinalist)
  • 5 on Human Geo 10th; 3s and 4s in junior year because of 104 fever and bad sickness (not given alt test dates)
  • Max possible AP/Honors courses at school (7-8H,10AP)
  • 14 College courses. 4 articulated to HS, rest I took for my own enrichment

Hooks/Main ECs:

  • 1st Gen in US; MIddle-Upper class asian male. English not first language. Moved 6-7 times throughout childhood.
  • TOUR OF MH 5k: 3 free 5K runs I hosted for my communit, with 500+ constituents each. $2K in sponsorships to keep event free, gave out free stuff to promote fitness and social interaction, esp. after covid (having 37/60 of my volunteers not show up to the first is my common app)
    • Created an active online map with updated 5k routes in mountain house; ~29k views
  • School Podcast co-founder, President (50+ episodes recorded, 200+ listeners)
  • Swim/Water Polo all 4 years; Affectionately named “Coach [name]” for reasons I can’t explain (generally, I was super positive and always ready to help/teach others)
  • 1000+ service hours, most in ledership in community or working on event directly with the City Hall. BIG!!! They sometimes call me randomly and ask me to show up to an event they are having just so I can help them. PVSA Gold 2x.
  • 900+ days on Duolingo learning language. Since learning English I’ve now learned a total of 5 languages (Hindi, Punjabi, English, Spanish, Japanese)
  • Eagle Scout (4+ years)
  • Spearheaded and ran entire local Covid-19 drive, managed 2000+ volunteers/members and vaccinated/tested 50k+ over 2.5 years
  • CA State & National competitor in Speech and Debate; Congressional Debate. Finalist/top 3 finishes at several Invitationals. Working on getting a Tournament of Champions bid. Only joined in March '24 so I’m still pretty new to it but I’ve had really good success so far lol
  • 3rd place, Stanford Math Tournament Integration Bee 2023
  • Created my own language called MathLang (on the side thing, really just a hobby)
  • (hobby) built 25+ jigsaw puzzles up to 4000 pieces. Less than 15 mins off of world record for 1000 piece puzzle (I’m washed up right now, though, I haven’t practiced in a while bc college!)

Rec Letters:

  • From AP Stats teacher: I worked with her on mathematical reasoning when teaching myself topology (taught myself calc bc over a weekend in 9th grade because I was bored). As our school’s resident “smartest teacher” we instantly clicked
  • From AP Spanish/Sp. 1/Sp. 3 teacher: Quote, “Made her cry” with my brag sheet. She said it’s one she’s been looking the most forward to writing in a long time (14+ years).
  • My Counselor Reccomenddation was written by a VP who knew me better. She asked me if she could write it in lieu on my counselor(!!) After the inital surprise I said yes lol

Here ends part 1. Ofc there is a lot more in my app but these are the main things! Pls write down 3-5 colleges you think I should put in my target/reach category!!
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Part 2: I’m aiming for T10/20 colleges. ED Columbia, in state for Berkeley/UCLA, but also applying to CMU/Harv/Stan/MIT. Yale/Princeton are still a maybe for me. Good place to aim or am I overshooting? (0 safeties btw)
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Part 3:
The part y’all’s have been waiting for! Will by 9-ish B’s (6 semesters of honors science courses, 2 from honors English, 1 from AP Lang(not first language) completely destroy my chances of any good college?

School doesn’t do class rank. My unweighted GPA is 3.83/4.00 on a standard scale.

This includes 4 of the college courses as articulated. I’ve understood that this can single handedly ruin my college chances. Science I’ve gotten straight Bs because I never recovered from bad teachers from K-8 and then Covid (I was part of 7th/8th/Part 9th online) and basically struggled. Even after my teachers didn’t improve. HOWEVER my AP Physics C teacher is super cool and I’m finally starting to udnerstand; I should have an A in the class for my RD colleges. In fact, I should have straight A’s this semester, finally. That being said, including my NON ARTICULATED college courses, my unweighted goes up to somewhere in the 3.87-3.91 range.

Part 3.5: Do you think the list you provided in Part 1 is still OK for me? If not, what would you change (don’t cheat lol)?

Thank you so much!!

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GPA is one part of admissions. It’s not the whole thing, and this is especially true for colleges that do holistic reviews of applications (they look at everything…not just your GPA).

This is a very heavy reach list of colleges. They are reaches for just about everyone who applies. I sure hope you have some more likely admissions colleges on your list.

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You need NO more reach schools. You need a couple of sure things for admission, that you like, and that are affordable.

Please read the thread I’m linking here. This was a VERY strong student who no one expected would be shut out completely his senior year of high school. You don’t want this to happen to you. This student did land very well on his feet after a good gap year…but his senior year second semester was horrible. Read the whole thread.

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YES Definitely
While you may get into one or maybe more
You need one or two safeties and
a couple targets you would be happy at

Colombia last year 3.85 overall acceptance rate
However ED was 11.9% which gives you a better chance than RD with was just under 3%

Berkley 25th percentile GPA was 3.89 Fall 2023 So you are below the 25th Percentile

they are all reaches and when a school builds a entering class there are many factors and UC’s don’t even look at your test scores
Again, you need some Target and Safety schools that you would be happy attending.
You can look in states that require Test scores to emphasis that part of the application

Or since you are looking at CMU… Pitt is right next door
Are you open to schools in other parts of the country except Cali and the NorthEast

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This seems wildly overstated. I’m sorry for doubting you, but how did you as a 15-16 year old, spearhead and run the “entire local Covid-19 drive” and manage 2000 volunteers? And the way it’s written here, you also vaccinated and tested 50k people yourself?

This is a recipe for disaster. Please don’t apply to only reach schools.

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This is an incredibly bad idea. Please rethink this.

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Yeaaahhh color me skeptical. How on earth did you vaccinate/test 50,000 people while going to school full time? How is a minor even authorized to administer a vaccine? Surely, this is inaccurate.

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Why 0 safeties?

Normally, starting at community college would be a safety in this case, but may not be very good if you have already taken 14 college courses while in high school (you could run out of courses, particularly in math if you are advanced in math).

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No doubt you’ve got an impressive resume, but you don’t mention affordability …what is your budget?

Also, yes, please add at least some targets. Other UC’s for example.

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3.83 may be competitive or not. We don’t know about your school.

Yes you’re overshooting - because everyone needs a safety.

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Of course… I’m guarenteed a UC through California’s ELC, along with uiuc and UW

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I make enough between my jobs and scholarships so far to afford at least 3 years at 80k, I’ll see after that… But cost isn’t a major issue. I do have ELC meaning I’m guarenteed at least one UC :slight_smile:

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I have ELC which means I’m guarenteed at least one UC :slight_smile: no point in safites bc I’d pick a UC over it anyway

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Sorry, let me clarify. I worked with my city hall to propose, create, Host, run, etc. the entire event. The whole nine yards. The clinic was on weekends only. We had hired govt. staff for vaccination administration which was part of the financial plan I presented to city hall and the CA state Covid branch. It wasn’t me individually who made it happen, but a combined workforce of anywhere between 20 staff (first few months) to around 150 by the end. I spent 24-30 hours per weekend, every weekend (I had no life lol). If I remember correctly the final number was some 44k vaccinations and 28k tests? but if we only count the number of people who visited (Poeple who tested more than once, got 2 vaccines I.e. booster, or tested & vaccinated, etc.) was around 50k. It sounds like a lot but it was the only one in a 30 minute radius so a LOT of Poeple came there, including everyone in my city

2nd clarification, 20 staff being those testing/vaccinating. In terms of actual holsters/planners etc, It was me and a panel of 4 adults managing the program. I’d often be the only person there out of us 5, managing the entire drive, often specifically focused on volunteers. It was going to be my common app essay but I decided that the 5K run would be better :slight_smile: that being said it is a supplemental essay and my #2 activity (sry if I went on for too long but it really was one of the biggest things I’ve been part of. I think I have over 500 hours there but I never tracked them (probably should have though)

hope that helps :slight_smile:

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CLARIFICATION TO ALL READERS:

I’m shotgunning my college list, but I also have other schools, I’m applying to most UCs and I’m guaranteed at least one through California’s ELC program (sorry for the scare!!)

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My school is known for grade inflation. It’s not a good look.

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So…for clarification…you are a high school senior with $240,000 ($80,000 times 3) in the bank to support your college costs?

It’s the look you have. So….you need to find colleges that will accept this as a good look.

I can’t imagine why this would be helpful. Colleges will look at your GPA. I am not changing my mind. Even without your GPA, your colleges are reaches. Like for all others who apply.

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I’ll admit I am not really sure what you are asking for out of this community. But in terms of honest opinions:

Are your grades a potentially serious problem with your Reach colleges? Yes. At least for the private universities on your Reach list, they are usually looking for perfect or near-perfect grades from their unhooked applicants (the UCs have their own way of assessing transcripts, so you can look specifically at that process to see what Cal and UCLA would be looking for and how your transcript compares). They sometimes make exceptions, but they are demonstrably rare, particularly if you pull out exceptions that were likely hooked cases.

Will your test scores, ECs, recommendations, essays, and so on be enough to persuade one or more of those colleges to admit you as an exception to their normal transcript standards anyway? Maybe, maybe not. It isn’t really possible for us to predict how they will react to any given application. Again, we know exceptions are demonstrably rare, but we also know they happen, and there isn’t really much more we can say on that subject.

Do your grades make it impossible for you to get into “any good college”? No. Including because there are so many more good colleges in the US besides your Reach colleges. Indeed, I am sure you are right the ELC program will provide one such option, because all the UCs are in fact good colleges.

Unsolicited opinion: many people here believe that one of the most powerful things you can do at this juncture is put a lot of care into choosing every college on your list, starting in fact with your Likelies and Targets. Among other reasons, properly defined most kids end up at a Likely or Target, not a Reach, and kids tend to be most excited in those scenarios when they had really good, specific to them, reasons for choosing each of those colleges to be on their list. And the community here is collectively very good at identifying potentially special colleges for any given kid.

But of course if you don’t want input on that subject, that is up to you. In fact, it is actually a little unclear to me what your list really looks like in total, but I gather it includes Illinois and Washington? As I assume you know, those are both very solid choices for someone interested in both Linguistics and Math, and I suspect you are going to be considered quite competitive for both of those universities.

And I am not one to insist you need a super long list. Indeed, I think for some people in your situation, including the ELC program, a list made up only of UCs, Illinois, and Washington could be fine.

You then add these private Reaches, and I think if a private university experience was really something you wanted to explore, you could consider a lot more privates, including ones that might offer you merit. I also think a very thoughtful approach to choosing those colleges, as opposed to “shotgunning”, is more likely to do something useful for you in the end.

But again, if that idea doesn’t interest you–that is up to you.

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I joined this board initially to drive home the importance of a balanced list after a close friend of my D’s way overshot their list and ended up at a safety the GC made them apply to last minute.

Similar profile to yours - very high test scores, great ECs, but just an OK GPA and class ranking for reach schools. And this was six cycles ago when it was less competitive than now.

If you’d be happy at Merced, then your list is fine. If you will be terribly disappointed, share what you are looking for in terms of size, location, vibe, budget and you will get many great suggestions.

In my experience GPA is the most important metric and you are not going to overcome it with a high test score without a major hook. And the UC schools and some other top schools are test blind so won’t even see your high scores.

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As an OOS applicant, UIUC and UW aren’t safeties. Unless UW is Wyoming, but I’m guessing you mean Washington.

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