<p>Hey guys! I am ranked 25th out of 209… I bet I can raise myself up a little more but I was wondering if being in the top 13% range rather than 10% range would make or break me? Considering I have a lot of ECs, 3.67 UGPA, SAT 1790 (I WILL RAISE THIS DON’T WORRY), and ya… </p>
<p>I don’t feel like this is good enough and I’m freaking out.</p>
<p>Good enough for what?</p>
<p>Google “common data set” and the name of a college you are interested in. Item C10 provides the information you want.</p>
<p>It depends where you are looking. Even being in the top 4% like myself didn’t get me into Hopkins, U Michigan and others. 1790 i’m afraid is not that good - as a 2000 + I got many rejections, sorry don’t want to see people as disappointed as i was 3 weeks ago on D Day… </p>
<p>@halcyonheather @wesatchwriter @streetcred Sorry! I really want to get into Rose-Hulman, UChicago, University of ND, Johns Hopkins, University of Cincinnati (BSMD), and ya. </p>
<p>Not happening with those stats, probably…</p>
<p>how much would my SAT have to go up? I feel like I can get myself 200/300 pts higher. @bodangles </p>
<p>For Johns Hopkins, for example (<a href=“Registrar - Homewood Schools (KSAS & WSE) | Office of the Registrar | Johns Hopkins University”>Registrar - Homewood Schools (KSAS & WSE) | Office of the Registrar | Johns Hopkins University) a majority of applicants have scores in the 700-800 range of each section. 53% of students had a GPA of 3.75 or higher. Your GPA isn’t great (there is no shortage of applicants with 3.9-4.0) and the SAT would have to be 2100+ in order to be competitive, probably.</p>
<p>To get into these universities hope for 2200 - some of the admittance rates that are announced are even skewed- for example Duke list like 12% - if you subtract the number of legacies, ED, etc – its more like 6% - I heard U Chicago is brutal - very low acceptance - I was really a ‘match’ for Hopkins per Naviance and my guidance counselor - I was rejected. ND as well - tough entries. Just do your best and as I said “LOVE YOUR SAFETIES”. I am not an expert, just a student like you with high aspirations and they were based on what I thought I could likely get into. I was wrong. I have a 3.9 GPA (two B’s in all of high school) 7 APs total, NHS, etc… good ECs, 2090 SATs ( I keep thinking that was the problem). Parents spend 1K for SAT tutor, i spent hour after hour going through SAT preps, it brought me up 100 points but not enough I guess. Just read, read, read so you can get good SAT scores. Don’t stress out, all you can do is do your best in school, get good recommendations, etc… and cross your fingers - you can dream big, you never know!!! BEST OF LUCK!!.. </p>
<p>
GPA is relative to the school, though. The OP’s school could be unusually challenging…at a lot of schools someone with a 3.6 wouldn’t be anywhere near the top 10%. </p>
<p>That is true. :)</p>
<p>You will certainly have a harder time. Just try to show some improvement in grades and explain some of the worse grades if you have a good reason (C or below).</p>
<p>@hacyonheather @bodangles @dextrous I have had a total of 1 B, and 2/3 B+ thus far (semester grades… not quarter grades). I honestly don’t understand how it’s THAAAAAAAT ‘low’. I was ranked 50-something freshman year and I jumped to 25th… I definitely improved since freshman year. Hopefully that upward trend would be impressive to admissions… not as impressive as getting straight A’s the first time around… but it’s still something. I feel like the essays are becoming more and more important so I will work extra hard on those; I have some really strong topics that I can write about.</p>
<p>Do you think my ECs would be a saving grace? city symphony, varsity soccer, olympic development program for soccer, NHS, other clubs, …</p>
<p>Seems like average ECs to me. However, the olympic development program for soccer seems interesting. Are you a junior? How many students typically get into these schools from your high school? This could serve as an indicator.</p>
<p>@classof2015HS
Rose-Hulman: no one applies - sort of selective
UChicago: no one got in … out of like, 4 people - really selective
University of ND: 25 people last year - moderately selective
Johns Hopkins: no one applies - very selective
University of Cincinnati: no one applies - sort of selective</p>
<p>OP, it is not THAT low for the average school. The problem is that when you start looking at highly competitive schools like Chicago, Notre Dame and Johns Hopkins the stakes go up considerably. Schools that area reach for you are considered ‘safety’ schools by those shooting for the MITs, Ivies and Stanfords of the world. Your competition is people with 3.9+ UW GPA and 2200+ SAT scores. Unless your soccer skills are such that schools are recruiting you for athletics, the ECs are not that different from other highly qualified students.</p>
<p>One of the things that many students do not realize is that to fill the freshman class of the Ivies, Stanford, MIT, Cal-Tech, etc., you could fill them all only with valedictorians and salutatorians. There are 37100 high schools in the US alone. Those top schools have maybe 3000 in the classes (Cornell is about there and leads all Ivies). Most of them have something like 1000 incoming freshman (Cal-Tech is only about 250). So you are looking at filling the 24+ most competitive universities with the top one or two. Of course, not all HS classes are equal and they do not all want to go to those school. The math still remains. There are 74K+ HS grads who are #1 or #2. Even they will get rejected based purely on the numbers.</p>
<p>As someone mentioned above…love your safeties (meaning a state flagship or other school that has broader admissions).</p>
<p>@toreaux Luckily, one of my safeties is IUPUI. It’s easy to get in but it’s hard to get into the pre-med program (that is offered at the school starting Junior year). So, if anything, I will go there. I’m really hoping to get into ND though. I heard 2100+ is favored with a 3.85 but I’ve looked at so many stats I don’t even know anymore. I think I will be able to raise my GPA to at least a 3.7 or low 3.8 by the end of 1st semester senior year. I can definitely raise my SAT score. The 1790 was from only studying for the critical reading and a little of math (I know naturally talented people don’t study at all and get better… but oh well). </p>
<p>There are about 25,000 high schools in the US. Each one has a top kid, a top ten percent, and on sheer numbers alone those are all more highly ranked than you are. That said, keep working hard! Love your safeties! </p>
<p>@toreaux @tempemom thanks guys! This brought me back down to earth. I’m not giving up on these selective schools but I’m not going to get my hopes up for anything extraordinary to happen.</p>
<p>
Most of them don’t care about going to a really selective college, though. </p>