In September, I will start my Senior year in High School. As of now, my gpa is an 88 and my sat score is an 1170. I wanted to apply to schools like NYU or Stony Brook. However, I realize that my grades are pretty low. I plan on retaking the SAT to try and get a 1300, and do the best I can in the first term of my senior year to raise my gpa. I am also learning Android Development, after learning Web Development, to put it on my resume and hopefully have a better chance at being admitted. I made sure to increase my grades every term from freshmen year since i started out pretty low. I joined a sports team in Junior year and got a cisco certification. I got mastery in almost all my regents. What else can I do in a short time to help me get admitted?
Write very strong essays, and get good teacher recs. Definitely retake your SAT, and try aiming for at least a 1400. Focus on getting good grades in first semester of senior year.
I disagree with @yonceonhismouth At this point, apply to schools that will accept someone with your academic background. Mostly, those that are likely for you don’t require any ECs, essays or even teacher recs. Use the SuperMatch tool on the left.
@T26E4 I’m curious why you are telling the OP to look at schools that don’t ask for teacher recs or ECs? OP has experience in web development, as well as a sport (not a lot of ECs but it isn’t none) and OP never said that she can’t get teacher recs…
i disagree with @yonceonhismouth by the time senior year comes along its not really about your first quarter of senior year improvements, by now there should be a clear picture of the type of student you are. Not saying not to try your best and aim for alll A’s in the first quarter, just the impact it might have on your GPA might be small. I definitely agree on aiming for a much higher SAT score, it is vital to getting into good schools. @T26E4 is right in applying to schools that fit your background academically as you don’t want to apply to a lot of high reaches without having a school you know you will get into and potentially like/enjoy. Most schools ask for EC’s, essays and teacher recs so disregard that part. Aim for a match with your grades first, then go to the next step.
Is 88 unweighted? If so, that would equate to a 3.52 GPA.
Try to get that up to a 90 (3.6) by the time you apply. And try hard to get the SAT up to 1300+. With a 3.6 and 1300 (or 29 ACT) you can start looking at good LACs like Trinity, Connecticut College, St. Olaf, Beloit, Kalamazoo, Sewanee, maybe even Richmond, Whitman and Holy Cross; private universities like Marquette, Villanova, Syracuse, George Washington U, Miami(FL), SMU, maybe even Boston U; and Stony Brook. NYU would be a bit reachy but your chances would be better than they are now.
@yonceonhismouth OP reports a B+ GPA and middling SATs (hopefully improvement w/retake). The sorts of schools that would likely admit him/her aren’t the cream of the crop, you know. Those, by and large, admit solely based on transcripts and SAT/ACT scores. Thus, worrying about essays or teacher recs is likely a moot point. The OP like the vast majority of college bound seniors – simply won’t need them b/c the likely suite of target schools don’t want them, don’t need them. OP should start with a list of nearby public schools that are affordable, google their common data sets and see where he/she stands.
OP, I found an article titled: A+ Schools for B Students. Might help you create a college list!
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/a-plus
OP you need a good mix of schools. Schools like NYU and Stony Brook have lower acceptance rates (mid to upper 30’s) already and you are below their 25% quartiles. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply, just that they are reaches, and somewhat high ones.
You are getting some rather impossible advice here in my opinion. If you have a 88 now, that equates to a 3.3 on most scales, not a 3.5 (which is a 90). Either way, even if you get a 4.0 your first semester senior year, it will not come up to a 3.6. Yes, you should shoot for the absolute best grades you can but be realistic about what can really be pulled off. If you managed a 3.8-4.0 first semester you could get it up to a 3.4 or 89, same thing second semester and it could come up to a 3.4-3.5/89-90 depending on that first semester grade. A more likely result might be a 3.6 each semester.
Likewise, going from an 1170 to a 1400 is pretty unlikely. A 1300 is a lofty goal but not impossible with hard work and studying. Do know though that the 1170 does line up with your gpa and I imagine mid/upper 1200’s is probably more realistic in terms of a goal.
Also, you will likely be applying with your junior year grades and sending first semester grades as an update, depending on whether you are going for Early Application or Regular. You may or may not have any grades or a new sat score to even submit for early application schools so focus your search on the stats you know you have.
There are plenty of good schools for someone with your stats, your options and chances just increase the higher the gpa and test score. You only mention 2 NY schools, what is it you want to study, what is your budget? Does it have to be in New York? Those kinds of things will help people make some suggestions if you would like ideas.
I would suggest you look for schools where you fall into the middle 50% but it is ok to include some where you are at the low end of the range. Look for schools that admit 60% or greater, that will up your odds quite a bit. Look for a couple that admit in the 75%+ category and/or have rolling admissions as your safeties. There may be a few that don’t want essays or LOR’s but most do, at all levels so I’d not use that as a filter at all. My rising senior has similar stats and the vast majority of schools we are looking at require both, I think only 2 out of the 14 under consideration at the moment do not require an essay and/or LOR. Most of them offer ED and/or EA. Cream of the crop or not they are still competitive and not just stats based, many pride themselves on holistic admissions.
In his case, schools where he might be the 75th percentile or higher aren’t schools we are interested in. Instead we are choosing schools that have high acceptance rates (lowest on our list is 62%), he falls in the middle 50th % and our schools naviance has track records that show 100% acceptance at his stats to define his safeties. Oh, and that fits our budget. That’s a pretty key element at our house. Were cost not a consideration we might have 1-2 on there that had a lower acceptance rate but they’ve weeded themselves out.
The A+ schools link mentioned above is a good reference list, so is the Colleges that Changes lives onehttp://ctcl.org/category/college-profiles/ While they are not “how” we came up with his list of schools, every school on his list is in fact on one or the other of those 2 lists (or both) so that does say something (to me).
You can certainly apply to a couple of reaches like NYU or Stony Brook but at this point it woudl be wise to put the bulk of your focus on finding match and safety schools that you would be happy to attend.