Which colleges should I aim for? 3.5 GPA, top 15%, 1500+ SAT

Chance Me / Match Me
21

We first have to see why. He likes Gtown for politics - so GW and AU would be natural backups. Even UMD. Au he can get into - because they live and die by demonstrated interest. A more likely target and very good politics school with good aid is U of Denver. GW - not as easy to get into and you really have to like the “urban-ness” - they don’t even have dining halls.

Again, nothing wrong with reach schools - and that’s UMich and UVA. Since he likes the location of Vandy and USC, I’ll assume he wants to be more in cities - so forgetting the weather - Miamii, Syracuse, U of Az (easy in and $$). I’m thinking Emory and WUSTL are out of reach - but you never know. Pitt would be another match - in city and great programs…maybe on a little smaller scale, Butler, an LA area schools such as Occidental or LMU (depending on religion), SMU - many are reaches though. Not sure Kelly fits - he’s not looking at business. I do think Denver would be a solid fit though - and maybe a school like U Cincy or even U KY.

Mid size schools in cities sounds like what he needs.

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Yea I know, it’s a bit hard for me to get many information but I’ll do my best

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In the U.S., your Abitur is looked upon as a foreign credential. Do you have any chance to take CLEP tests (College Level Preparatory Examination Program)? They could save you up to a year of college. Since you doing the Abitur you are basically on all Honors/AP level courses since at least 11th grade, if not 9th grade, correct ?
One can apply with an Abitur and no AP exams to U.S. universities, and it is still possible to “CLEP” out of certain classes or get credit (especially in the areas of math and language), but this is very specific to each university. I recommend contacting the admissions offices of the ones you are aiming for.

Out of curiosity, how did you convert the german grades to GPA ?

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Wow okay thank you for the advice I could benefit hugely from you comment. Thank you very very much🙏 I didn’t know that. Yes it’s from 11th grade on. I used a conversion table from the internet. So what you’re basically saying is that I could still get credit and have my Abitur evaluated like honors/ap classes, right?

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Are you currently attending a German gymnasium as an exchange student or have you attended a Gymnasium for the past 3 or 4 years (or just this year)?
If attending a Gymnasium, did you just “translate” your GPA and what’s your 1… expectation on Abitur?
For the record, 1.3 or 13 = 4.0.

Abitur from 9th grade on = all honors/AP and post-AP.
You could take AP exams if you wanted to validate some subjects, especially if you’ve been taking some classes not at Leistungkurse level. You can also take Subject tests, the last ones are offered in June, after that they’ll be cancelled. CLEP is another good way to get credit.

When you say “top 15%” do you mean “in your Gymnasium” or do you mean “compared to your 4th grade class before you were all split into 3 groups” (or whenever you left the comprehensive system to go to Gymnasium)?

Are you a US citizen studying/living abroad?

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I lived nearly my whole life in Germany so I attended Gymnasium as early as possible. Abitur starts in 11th grade and I am working hard to get a 1.8 which is my goal and the Abitur I expect. With top 15% I mean top 15% percent in my gymnasium, in my Abitur class. Furthermore, yes I am a US citizen but born and raised in Germany.

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15% of Gymnasium is not “15% of HS class”. It’s like “Top 15% of prep school”.
Edited because I thought you meant you started Gymnasium in the 11th grade when I realize you attended Gymnasium in the 9th and 10th grade (I assume) and started the Abitur cycle in the 11th grade.

If your 1.8 ~12 Abitur, it would be an A-, roughly 3.7, perhaps 3.6. That’s unweighted.
Your weighted GPAwould be much higher.

All in all, the best way to proceed is to indicate a scale like this for your school
1.1-1.3: …% students (1%, 5%…)
1.4-1.5: …%
1.6-1.8: …%
1.9-2.1:…%
2.2-2.5:…%
2.6-3.0:…%
3.1-4.0:…%
4.1-5.0:…%

This way, the American college has a way to establish how you rank compared to your peers.

In addition, you indicate what % of a typical “class” (think of your 4th grade class if the paths separated then, of your 8th or 9th grade class if the paths separated then) would proceed to Gymnasium – for instance, “from a typical class, 40% are directed to Gymnasium (15% re-evaluated and sent to … Schule before 11th grade), 40% to Realschule, 20% to Hauptschule.”

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How much do you think would be my weighted GPA approximately?
And thank you very much🙏

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You’d have to calculate yourself but most universities will use the scale as presented above and your actual number. Your guidance counselor would present the scale (% students who reach 1.8, % that reach 2.5, or whatever) and your own results, as given on your transcripts.

Only large universities that want a weighted GPA for the purpose of scholarships or universities not used to German applicants would need the weighted and unweighted GPA.
APPROXIMATELY, you would consider that
1.3 = A=4
1.4-1.9= A- = 3.7 pts
2-2.4 = B+ = 3.3
2.5-3 = B =3
3.1-3.4= B- =2.7
3.5= C+ =2.3
3.6-4.0=C =2
Everything else =F =0

In terms of Abitur, 15-13= A, 12-10= A-, 9=B+, 7-8=B, 6=B-/C+, 5=C, 4=C-/D (where 4= lowest possible “pass”, “meets the most basic standard despite considerable deficiencies” - I know there’s also a scale where that standard is a 5, and I get confused with the Bavarian Scale being different from the others and may mix them up at that level, since most applicants to the US are in the high range).

The basic weighting tends to be
+0.5 for honors, +1 for AP
9th and 10th grade Gymnasium (academic) classes tend to be honors, most 11th and 12th grade courses tend to be AP, with the Leistungkürse “post AP” (but also +1). Physical Education, Cooking, etc, are never “Honors”.
If your guidance counselor were to indicate a weighted GPA, this scale would need to appear since many schools use other systems (such as +0.1!)

The most selective colleges would use the scale with the percentages, ie., (1)…% of your Gymnasium receive 1-1.3, etc.
So the uw/w GPA is only for the purpose of this board and your own, in order to estimate your chances more accurately (+ for large universities that aren’t used to German scales or need a US style GPA for their scholarships).

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What information are you trying to find?

Again, if you can’t explain why you like three schools that on the surface are very different than one and other, no one here can guide you.

Your explanation may be as simple as “they are respected names” or “they are highly ranked” or “I heard about them from friends.” There’s no problem with that. Most everyone here though will try to dig a little deeper into your likes and dislikes to help you avoid landing in a situation you don’t like just because it was a fancy name.

Note: schools don’t use weighted GPAs unless they recalculate themselves. There are too many different systems. In your case though it will help them understand your rigor a little better.

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If I calculated it correctly, I should have a 3.6 GPA (UW) and weighted 4.45 out of 5. But again, I’m not 100% sure.

32

Yeah, I mean, as a student at a German high school, it’s a little bit harder to understand everything and also to figure out which colleges are right for me.

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it’s ok, it’s just to give you an approximation so that you can properly target colleges.
I’d say colleges such as Dickinson, Kalamazoo, perhaps St Olaf that are very international-minded, would be interested in your application.
With your “GPA” (German or US) USC, Vanderbilt and Georgetown are almost impossible (they’d really expect more, you’d need 1.3-1.5 to have a legitimate shot). You can keep them on your list, because everyone has reaches. But right now your focus must be on affordable safeties and matches.

What’s your budget? (how much can your parents afford out of pocket)?
What are you interested in studying?

Having a 3.5+uwGPA/4+weighted GPA +1500SAT will guarantee a full tuition scholarship at University of Alabama and an opportunity to apply to “Honors within Honors” (competitive further scholarships). Good opportunities for merit at Miami-Ohio and Ohio University, Truman State - check out the merit scholarships there.
However, if you’re lower income, your best bet is at LACs that meet need as well as universities that offer good financial aid to lower income US citizens (being internationally-educated will be a plus).

You need to find several safeties (universities where your GPA places you near or within the top 25% applicants) and matches (universities where your GPA is at/above the average) then run the NPC to see if they’re affordable.

34

Probably about 8000 Euro (10,000$) per year, which colleges do you think should I aim for now that you know a little bit more about me, my application, GPA…

35

I also looked at Wisconsin-Madison, given from the NPC, they tend to give me a good amount of financial aid but to be honest if I had the choice I would like more to be at a place with better weather

36

You’re going to have a tough time without loans if that’s your “all in” budget. Room and Board will eat that quickly. You still need to factor in travel, etc.

As for how to look for schools, you need to decide what’s important to you. Weather is a perfectly legitimate factor. You mentioned the cold of Madison. That helps.

What about size? Geographic location in the US? Class size? Coop opportunities? Support for hobbies like hiking, arts and culture, skiing, surfing, etc? proximity to a big airport? Anything else you can think of will help.

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Yea I think our maximum what we can pay is actually 12,000€ ~15,000$ but I am also ready to take loans if it’s not tooo much and it is necessary

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I would like to be in a more urban area with a medium to large university in terms of enrollment. And as I already mentioned with good weather would be great. Maybe UNC chapel hill could be a more realistic and better option because as far as I’m concerned they have a good financial aid program

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Practical question: Do you already have your Certificate of Citizen Birth Abroad and/or a US passport? If not, you need to get on that urgently.

Practical observation 1: if your budget if $15K + loans your budget is ~$20K. You can only borrow $5-7K/pa for college. As a US citizen many private and a few public colleges (including UNC) will “meet need”. The challenge of that is that they will meet what they calculate your need as being, not what you / your parents think is your need. Applying from Germany makes it a little harder, as the NPCs may give inaccurate EFCs. Therefore, you need to start with identifying colleges that are definitely affordable to you with no aid and only the FAFSA loans. That is going to be a real challenge.

After that you can look at schools that say they “meet need” and try some of the online calculators. Just don’t fall in love with any of them.

Practical observation 2: Are you sure that UWi will give you good financial aid? you are not an in-state student. Also, UNC-CH is a tougher admit than you might expect: by law they can only accept 18% out of state students (which is what you are). Because they meet need for both in and out of state students, and because it is a really good school, there is a lot of competition for those places. The In-State/OOS divide matters for public (state funded) universities.

Practical suggestion: you have all of the EU to work with. Look at Trinity College Dublin, where you could do Law & Business, PPES etc for ~€6K in tuition (and have a year abroad in the US, including at USC, UNC-CH & more), or one of the Dutch universities.

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40

UNC CH is a reach for you, first because your GPA is below 3.75 (although your weighted is within range) and second because North Carolina only admits 18% students who are not from North Carolina, so the number of places for OOS applicants is very limited, more so if they’re low-income (UNC-CH meets need for OOS applicants but is need aware for them).

Before you look for reaches, you need to find matches and safeties you like.
UAlabama is a safety for you, for instance. Go to their website, explore what they offer, their scholarships, etc.
Then you’ll need 2 more financial and academic safeties.
Then you’ll need to find several matches (probably 5 due to your GPA and international education).
Only then can you focus on your reaches.
Finding dream schools is easy. The hard work is in finding the safeties and matches.

So, first, figure out what colleges are affordable. Run the NPC on the colleges I mentioned (Kalamazoo, Dickinson) as well as on UNC CH. Research UAlabama and Miami Ohio.
You can compare University of Richmond and VCU. Both urban and in the South (not he Deep South but not North), one large and relatively easy to get into, one smaller and elite. Run the NPC at both, look at their merit scholarships.

Then, create your list, starting from the bottom up.
ONLY at the end should you cull based on weather and location, because it’s already going to be difficult to find universities within budget that you like and can get into.

You’re only allowed to take 5.5K in loans for freshman year.
Most importantly, you need to calculate your EFC = the minimum your parents will be expected to pay. If your EFC is above 12-15K, then you are in a different situation than if it’s at that level. (The EFC is rarely what people expect, generally much, much higher).
https://fafsa.ed.gov/spa/fafsa4c/