Hello, I was just wondering what people think colleges will think of me overall. I have taken the ACT once without any studying this past February and I got a 27 (I will be a junior this year). Broken down those scores are a 30 Reading 29 Math 25 Science 23 English and 10 Writing, I am hoping that score will go up. But right now my unweighted GPA is a dismal 3.06 and my weighted is a 3.55. I took 4 AP tests this past year and got 3’s on both the Economics tests and Pyshcology. I also took the test for US Government and Politics (I didn’t take the class and all I’ll say is I got below a 3, I was shocked I didn’t get a 4 or 5). Overall I have taken 2 AP classes and 5 Honors classes through my first two years of high school. I also play football and helped to start 2 clubs. I have had 4 internships, have a job and I run a political organization. I will probably write my essay about my political experiences as I only started to get greatly involved a few months ago yet I have already accomplished a ton.
The million dollar question though is: where should I even look at applying? I am from the suburbs of Chicago, obviously Northwestern would be a stretch, but is Illinois also a stretch? What types of schools should I be looking at? Also what decent schools generally accept 3’s on AP tests (if any such schools exist). Thank you ahead of time everybody!
I think most schools want 4’s and 5’s, but each school has a different policy on what they accept.
Northwestern would be an extremely high reach due to your GPA and ACT scores.
Are you talking about University of Illinois Urbana Champaign? Their average GPA is something like a 3.5~ something so that might be a stretch.
I’m just going to list some schools that I looked up, they should be matches to safeties with average UW GPA ranging from a 2.9-3.4. Since you have a bunch of activities, you should have good chances there.
Illinois State University
University of Illinois at Chicago
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
I really hate to say it, but you haven’t made the case for being unique. That doesn’t mean you’re not. But “extremely unique” isn’t “founded a club” or “had four internships.” My idea of “extremely unique” would be, oh, let’s see … Refugee who fled civil war, came to the US a year ago, and now has a 3.0. (So the unique experiences she’d bring to a class discussion could outweigh the low GPA.) Unicyclist who tours with a circus. (“Ordinary unique” might be just “passionate unicyclist.”) Someone whose essay about political experience ends with “and then I was appointed to city council as Chicago’s Official Representative for Youth.” See what I mean?
“Extremely” is a high bar. And “unique” definitely doesn’t mean typical ECs such as clubs and internships … it’s gotta be, well, unique. What you’ve got so far, from what you’ve written, is a passionate interest that defines and absorbs you, which is great, but a GPA that is problematic and will knock you out of contention for a lot of places. (Northwestern isn’t just a stretch. It’s Jupiter.) So you have to find both low-selectivity state schools (sorry, don’t know the Illinois system, but all the admit rates / GPA ranges are online) and holistic admission schools where you can really make a case for yourself in regards to who you are and what you’ve accomplished.
When looking online, make sure to check the percent of kids with under 3.0 GPAs they admit. (For instance Goucher is over 30%, I think. Good school, political environment near DC, etc.) Of course, money will be a factor for private colleges. Even if schools are open to admitting kids in the 3.0 range, they generally don’t give merit aid at that level; your options definitely go up if your parents are paying full freight, sad to say.
That 3.06 will be a real handicap at the more selective schools. You could use SuperMatch to see what schools you are a good fit for.
Getting all As in the most rigorous courses in the fall would help.
Google “common data set” for any school you’re considering… the most recent year you can find.
Take a look at section 3, which details the average SAT/ACT scores of admitted candidates for the year in question.
I’ll agree that the “extremely unique” won’t be the hook you hope for-- you sound like a pretty typical applicant for a lot of schools. Having accomplished “a ton” over a few months doesn’t carry the same weight as someone who has demonstrated a commitment and accomplished that same “ton” over a longer period of time.
Are you thinking only about large, public universities? Because if you are considering liberal arts colleges I’d take a close look at the College of Wooster in Ohio, and Earlham in Indiana.
Perhaps you are overextended and need to cut back on the ECs and bring up your grades if you want to get into the more selective schools. Schools will look at your unweighted GPA. Or if the ECs are vitally important to you look for colleges that are geared more toward solid B students. Less rigorous colleges will allow you’re time to concentrate on other activities while you are there.
I am missing how you are unique. Your description of yourself sounds very similar to many others that post. That’s not bad, but it also not anything that makes you stand out. I think you need to improve your grades. Maybe you should scale back a bit on your schedule. Its not good to take lots of AP’s if you can’t get good grades in the classes and on the exams.
And why are you shocked that you got a 3 on an AP test for a class you didn’t take? Most people who took the test, also took the class.
I’m from NY, so I’m not sure of what schools you should be looking at.
Start with the College Match feature here, and then google more similar sites. Keep your requests pretty broad, so you start off with a pretty big list of schools to look at. Then start to narrow it down:
- Find out a ballpark budget from your parents. That will probably cut a number of schools out.
- Obviously you'll want schools that have your major.
- Consider how far you're comfortable being from home. (Yeah, I know, Hawaii sounds fabulous, particularly after last winter. But know that if you're in Hawaii, you won't be home for homecoming. Or Thanksgiving, It may be rough getting home if something happens to grandma, or for your cousin's wedding. And mom won't be there for parent's weekend, or if you fall and break your leg. )
- Take a look at schools of different sizes to determine your comfort zone. We visited one school of 8,000 kids, and my son realized he was out of his comfort zone-- he really prefers a small school. OK, great, that narrowed down our list a bit.
Then take a look at those Common Data Sets for the schools on your list (thank you ,google!!). You can compare your ACT scores with the ones you find to determine the odds that you’ll get in.
What’s your parents’ budget?
Any idea of the field you want to major in?
Right now, you can probably apply to national LACs ranked 50 to 125, your local directional (UIllinois-Chicago, you’d probably make honors since they look at the weighted GPA, and if not it’s a safety). For the rest it’ll depend on your parents’ budget.
Visit Lake Forest, DePaul, Loyola, Illinois Wesleyan which are matches or reaches.