Where Can I Go With This GPA?

College Search & Lists
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>International student from Pakistan. No Financial Aid.</p>

<p>I have a 3.75 out of maximum 4.00 CGPA</p>

<p>Freshman: 3.57
Sophomore: 3.93
Junior: 3.76</p>

<p>AP classes: AP Macro, AP Micro, AP World Hist, AP Chemistry - definitely all 4s all above…most likely 3 fives and 1 four in chem.</p>

<p>2070 SAT first time - retake in october, expecting 2300</p>

<p>720 SAT Chemistry
760 SAT World History
800 SAT Math 2c projected</p>

<p>115/120 TOEFL iBT</p>

<p>A lot of amazing awards, student/class council positions, community service, internships - basically I have TOOOOOOOOO MUCH extra-curricular awards and activities including in-depth sports participation.</p>

<p>Where can I go with these stats?</p>

<p>My dream is u.penn - will be doing ED at college of arts and sciences</p>

<p>I was looking at other ivies as well…although I think I only have an average chance.</p>

<p>What other unis should I consider? Don’t really have any preferences…but my parents are hooked on prestige…and to an extent…so am I. I’m worried that my CGPA is too low and the trend too un-consistent.</p>

2

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<p>It’s “in-consistent”.</p>

<p>Upenn…I doubt you’ll get in. Its ultra competitive. </p>

<p>Try NYU, UMich, UVA, UIUC, and Wisconsin. All of these are prestigious (NYU, UVA, UMICH are more prestigious than UIUC and Wisconsin, but the latter are pretty good too).</p>

3

<p>with no financial aid? are you sure you want to go to upenn?</p>

4

<p>You could probably do better than NYU. Try UMich Honors Program, UVA, UChicago [reach], Northwestern [reach], Tufts [reach], Boston College [match/safety]</p>

5

<p>Yea no financial aid at all…and i’ll have amazing teacher recs.</p>

<p>If I were to apply to a reach school ED…where do you think it will be worthwhile and I can stand a good chance of being admitted…</p>

<p>strange i thought average upenn gpa was 3.6-3.7ish. and i’ll have 7 aps by the time of graduation.</p>

<p>Where do you think I’m lacking?</p>

<p>What about Duke? Cornell? Dartmouth? Rice?</p>

6

<p>Your SAT’s are also low for UPenn, and I know that you are going to retake, although a 2300 seems a little high (but certainly possible). I think that, especially with a higher SAT score and no financial aid, UPenn ED could happen. You should definitely have other apps lined up (others here have given you some good suggestions for other schools), but ED–especially at UPenn–does usually provide a boost.</p>

<p>EDIT: The other Ivies are also reaches similarly to UPenn. Rice is a high match school for you…you would be competitive, but admission is not guaranteed. Also, don’t look much at average GPA’s–it doesn’t tell you much, because schools use lots of different methods to calculate them.</p>

7

<p>At my son’s school they add on 8 extra points to the total for AP courses before dividing by number of classes. After calculating your GPA that way, if you have 4.3 or above and 2300 SAT you have a good shot at UPenn and other Ivies. Of course, this is just from my son’s school. It’s different for other schools (especially private prep schools), but that gives you a way to compare against the average outstanding public school.</p>

8

<p>For the Ivy League, I’d say you have a shot at Cornell University; however, the other seven are highly competitive. I applied to Penn myself this past year with testing stats and a GPA slightly better than yours but less impressive ECs and was rejected. However, I applied RD, so ED could give you the boost you need. Even though the school is a reach for you, it doesn’t hurt to try.</p>

<p>Some other universities you could try with a range of students similar to those schools in the Ivy League (more or less between 5000-15000) which fit your stats better include…</p>

<p>REACH: Cornell University (NY), Georgetown University (DC), Rice University (TX), University of California Berkeley (CA), University of Chicago (IL), University of Southern California (CA)</p>

<p>SEMI-REACH: Johns Hopkins University (MD), Tufts University (MA), University of California Los Angeles (CA), University of Michigan Ann Arbor (MI), University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (NC), University of Virginia (VA)</p>

<p>GOOD FIT: Boston College (MA), Brandeis University (MA), Colgate University (NY), College of William & Mary (VA), Emory University (GA), Tulane University (LA), University of California San Diego (CA), University of Notre Dame (IN), University of Rochester (NY), Vanderbilt University (TN)</p>

<p>LIKELY: Boston University (MA), Bucknell University ¶, Denison University (OH), George Washington University (DC), New York University (NY), Northeastern University (MA), Pepperdine University (CA), University of Maryland College Park (MD), University of Richmond (VA), Villanova University ¶, Wake Forest University (NC)</p>

9

<p>Penn is the only Ivy that openly states that it gives an advantage to ED applicants, so you would probably get the biggest boost here. I think you have a pretty decent shot ED as long as your essays and recommendations are really strong.
Also please bear in mind, since you state that you have TOO MANY EC’s/awards, make sure you only list those that you feel are relevant/important. Dont list EC’s that are too minor and didnt occupy much time/effort as this comes off as an attempt to “pad” your application with unnecessary info. (However dont leave out anything important! you never know what might give you that extra push). What I mean is, don’t try to create a laundry list of every time you stayed back in school to help on a presentation etc if it wasnt important. It’s easy to get carried away when you have too much to write. Before listing anything always ask yourself whether it shows the admisssions committee something important about you. A well-thought out, concise application always looks stronger than that of someone who wrote down everything theyve ever done. But in doing so, dont get carried away in cutting down stuff and end up leaving out something important! I too had too many EC’s and awards–my guidance counselor told me to sit and write them down and stop in exactly 6 minutes. Then continue after 6 mins on a seperate page. The stuff that took me more than 6 mins to come up with (barring one or two items) was the stuff that wasnt important and didnt need to be listed on my application.<br>
Competition is very strong, but several students from Pakistan are admitted to Penn every year so you do have a shot.</p>

10

<p>Also, schools like Penn really look beyond your grades and especially beyond your SAT scores to the sort of person you are and the potential you demonstrate. With your impressive EC’s and awards dont shy away from applying just because your SAT’s arent high enough. I know brilliant kids who had lots of EC’s and awards and SATs in the 1900 range who got in.</p>

11

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<p>I hear stories like that far too often and rarely know anyone get that lucky. Don’t get his hopes up.</p>

12

<p>haha…naa my hopes aren’t up…i think if I pull off a 2300 and sum 5s in the AP tests, i’ll stand a fairly good chance…with ED that is because for sum reasons upenn always takes 10+ admits from pakistan…and there are only 3 american schools in this country…if I’m the only kid applying ED from my school…hopefully i’ll take one of their seats</p>

13

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<p>USC kinda seem out of place for the reach category. And certainly the public schools you’ve mentioned in the Semi category are well worth a level boost.</p>

14

<p>Personally I think your GPA is on the low side.
If you get your SAT up to 2300+, however, that would help alot.</p>

15

<p>My friend got into upenn with a similar SAT score this year though her UW GPA was a 3.95-ish.
she’s insanely lucky though. she accidently discovered a new compound when she was at a summer program she didn’t even want to be at-- and i’m pretty sure that’s why she got in (versus the rejected applicants with MUCH better SATs and ECs).</p>

16

<p>READ MY LIPS… 2300 IS NOT NECESSARY FOR AN IVY (REFFERING TO COMMENT ABOVE) UPENN IS MORE RELAXED THAN YALE AND PRINCETON ON STANDARDIZED TESTS:</p>

<p>FROM FASTWEB THE 2005-2006 STATS:</p>

<p>SAT Math:
700-800 69%<br>
600-699 28%<br>
500-599 3%<br>
Below 500 0%<br>
SAT Verbal:
700-800 54%<br>
600-699 40%<br>
500-599 6%<br>
Below 500 0% </p>

<p>ACT Composite Scores:
30-36: 66%<br>
24-29: 31%<br>
18-23: 3%<br>
Below 18: 0%</p>