My SAT score is 1140, gpa is around 2.5.
On the SAT registration, I put some college majors such as undecided and Neuroscience, computer science too.
I am decently interested in neuroscience and would be glad if they take me. Though if it’d happened, I’d be decently surprised.
Would there be any college willing to accept grades like this? I kind of want to attempt “Stony Brook” because it seemed to be a popular school. Though my SAT falls under average…
Idk if this is necessary to mention, but I am qualified for free lunch. Do colleges like low income families? Or do they avoid them? Should I write my income when I register for SAT or pick “prefer not to answer” ?
@mayuyu why Harvard? Given your GPA, SAT, and income, you have virtually no chance at Harvard.
Harvard would not admit with these stats even if your last name is Kennedy.
Like what @MITer94 said, why Harvard? Harvard rejects people with a 4.0 and a 1600 all the time. Also, what grade are you in? What type of classes have you taken? Is you SAT on the 2400 scale of the 1600 scale? To be blunt, Harvard wouldn’t take you even if your last name was Obama. And most colleges are need blind, so income is not even a factor.
I dunno…supposedly GWB was right around there & he went to Yale… 
But yeah. OP: Harvard is out. Not gonna happen. Best of luck to you!
Many community colleges would take you!
On the chance this is a serious member, I have redone the title to better reflect the question in the post itself. @mayuyu you need to provide more information for people to be able to make helpful suggestions. I am assuming you live in the state of New York since you mention Stony Brook. Please confirm or correct. What grade are you in this fall? What kind of courses have you taken so far? EC’s? What college environment do you think would suit you best? The more information, the more people can help.
An 1140 SAT is a ~23 ACT, and a 2.5 GPA is equivalent to about an 80. Those are low for Stony Brook. Their middle 50% ACT is 26-31 and their GPA range is 90-96. You might want to try Purchase, Plattsburgh, Fredonia, or Oneonta.
Are you a senior? SUNYs cost ~$20-22k/year to dorm. If you’re a low income NYS resident, you’ll likely qualify for a federal Pell grant (up to ~$5k/year), a NYS TAP (tuition) grant (up to ~$5k/year), and the federal student loan (~$5500/year). Even with all of those you’d still be ~$5-7k short unless you work every summer. Even then it will be a stretch. Is there a college you can commute to that you can use as a financial safety?
I live quite close to Long Island University, and also close to NYU and Brooklyn University.
Can anyone explain to me why people with low GPA and SAT were able to get into harvard according to this scatterplot?
http://collegeapps.about.com/od/GPA-SAT-ACT-Graphs/ss/harvard-admission-gpa-sat-act.htm
I see you live in Brooklyn, so SUNY’s are not in commuting distance.
NYU’s tuition is $50k, and they’re notorious for awful FA. LIU is overpriced as well, as a low-income student my net price was over $30k. NYU is great, while LIU has a 7% graduation rate.
Brooklyn University? Do you mean CUNY Brooklyn?
Have you heard of hooked applicants? I would guess athletes or parents who are large donors.
My guess (and remember, only the admissions committee actually knows) would be major development cases or kids who have such extraordinary and exceptional circumstances that the adcom believes that the student has promise and potential far beyond the low grades and scores and so the they decide that the student will be one of a handful they take a risk on. I’d be surprised if merely being a good athlete were enough. There are plenty of top notch athletes with far better numbers.
And all that assumes the graph is accurate. If the data didn’t come directly from Harvard, you can’t know.
I have no extracurriculums, and low grades. I checked out Brooklyn College and I think my chance may be 30% to get into there…
I also want to know more about NYU. Are my grades good enough?
I’ve been told NYU consist of more than one college, and they are located in different location. Do they all accept the same type of grades?
I heard most colleges need college application essays. Is this true? Or is this a thing of the past?
NYU is highly competitive-all of their schools are actually. Do you have naviance, you should look on there for ideas.
Look at the CUNY schools. No essay sunless you’re applying to the honors program. Check admissions data in one of the many places that provide info about average SAt’s and GPA’s of admitted students. CUNY has a bunch of schools that are moderately competive in admissions and your SAT scores are actually ok for those, but your grades are very low for those schools. You should be able to get into Medgar Evers or City College of Technology, both in Brooklyn, as they accept 90% or more of their applicants and your SAT scores are above their averages. With one application and one application fee, you can apply to up to 6 CUNY schools, so it might be worth your time to look into a few others and see if anything appeals and if you have a chance.
When I apply to schools, I believe I should check their majors first.
Medgar Evers has a really low graduate rate after 6 years… I don’t think that is good at all, but if possible explain this in a better way to me.
I am aiming for a bachelor, masters, or possibly higher degree. I’m not decisive in my major yet, but I want to work in technology or biology, something similar to those would be nice.
I realize that the colleges I checked have “general education core curriculum required”. What does this mean?
Another question, is there really no way I’d get in any of NYU’s schools? Not even a slim chance? If I do have a chance, please explain.
Hows my chance at getting into Baruch College, Fortham university, or majority of the CUNY schools? I believe admission rates depend on grades. Are my grades low for their standards? I do realize my GPA is absurdly low, but it’s not exactly 2.5(possibly a bit higher such as 2.7). I’m a junior going to senior year this year. I heard I should send college applications by october, so I don’t think I’ll have time to make up the GPA with a extra senior semester… (Is sending in college application early really that advantangeous?)
EDIT: I might of used the wrong GPA scale.
Is this website good for GPA scale? http://www.collegeboard.com/html/academicTracker-howtoconvert.html
My grades really varied all semester. However I always got around 85%. Which means I actually had a GPA of 3?!
The following might explain why:
http://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/cuny-medgar-evers-college/academic-life/graduation-and-retention/#
Many colleges/universities require you to take a certain number of core classes as a prerequisite to graduating. They may include one or two courses each in math, sciences, literature, writing, history, etc.
Largely, yes, but it also depends on test scores, HS course rigor, and sometimes recommendation letters and other factors.
https://www.nyu.edu/admissions/undergraduate-admissions/nyu-facts.html
Here are some stats about NYU. They are a very competitive school, and without hooks you would want above a 1250 SAT, preferably more, to be within range.
NYU and Harvard? It seems you picked those schools just because they are famous. Look more into the SUNY and CUNY schools and see if you can get your scores up any (I would also try the ACT).
You might consider starting out at a community college, kicking butt there, and then transferring to a college. You’d likely have more options.
And you could potentially be saving up some money while you were at CC.
Since you’re low income, I wouldn’t bother with NYU. They don’t give much aid. I don’t think Fordham does either.
The competition to get into the schools that give great need based aid is tough. There are so many high stats kids vying for those spots that many get rejected. Can you commute to a CUNY? That might be an affordable option.