Hi, I just took my IB DP1 (first year) final exams, the last ones for the year. We were told they would affect our predicted grade, so I put extra effort into studying for it. As the results come in, I’m feeling more and more upset. I have a really good work ethic, that all my teachers are well aware of. I also really care about my academics, since I know they’re pretty important. I know some people may say a 35/42 is good, but in my eyes, they’re quite average. I know I can do better, I really, really tried as I always do, (please believe me.) and this is making me really upset and very worried with regards to university/college. The main reason it’s upsetting me is because I got this same score in my final exam last term, and I was determined to improve it if even by 1 point. But it didn’t, despite the improvement in my classwork and everywhere else. In this thread, don’t worry about my CAS, TOK, extracurriculars and everything else, I’m just concerned with the academic IB score.
Really basic info –
- UWC student (don’t know if that helps)
- Female Asian (not from China/Japan/India), 17 y.o at the time of university application
Score – 35/42 (estimation of what I will get, still waiting for the teachers to finalise the scores as they might change the boundaries)
Aiming for – 39/42 minimum
Subjects – Physics HL (5, was 6 before boundary change), Maths HL (4 or 5, teacher may change it), Eng. Lit HL (7), Chem SL (6 and usually 7), Russian a.b initio (6), Econs (6/7) - again rmbr I put multiple scores because the boundaries havent been finalised.
Please advise which universities in the States would take a student with these grades. I really appreciate it. big hugs
US universities are not like UK universities, they don’t set a specific minimum IB score for accepted students. It’s a holistic process. They will consider every single detail of your application, including your course load, your essays, your extracurriculars, your teacher recommendations, your test scores and your grades. They won’t see your IB scores since you will be either accepted or not accepted before you take the real IB exams. They will take into account your grades for the last 3 or 4 years (that depends on the specific university/college).
One thing you can do is to check what the past seniors of your high school did with similar GPAs and test scores. You can do that with Naviance. If your school don’t have an account you can ask to your college counselor at your school (you should take the advice of your counselor any way).
I should emphasize that it really is a holistic process. While a student with a GPA of 6 may be admitted to a certain university, another with a GPA of 6 may not be admitted by the same university at the very same year. Therefore, it might be a better idea to ask the same question with more details about what you accomplished upto now and what interests you most. That way people can give you a rough idea. But if I were you I would take those advices with a grain of salt. Nobody here could know the specifics of your high school, the details about yourself etc. So your counselor is the best person to give you an advise.
Lastly, 39 (or even 35) predicted is a good result. Students usually concentrate on the Ivies or on the top 20 universities. But please believe me that the differences between universities/colleges in the top 50 are not huge, all of them are excellent to get a undergraduate degree. Yes, some schools are more equal than others, but you should not concentrate a college’s place on a certain ranking.
Good luck.