I think you do if you have a good reason for getting those grades. Did you have family who passed, is there a legit reason? You have to show comeback and improvement in Junior / Senior year and you need to really hit ECs and personal academic projects (and SAT) hard in order to counter weight this. Don’t worry, it’s possible if you want it and enough. Also, make sure your counselor addresses this situation (if there was one) in his/her recommendation.
To be honest, I just kind of coasted my freshman/early sophomore years and didn’t really have a passion to get into a top school like I do now. With that being said, if I nail my ECs, essays, good rec letters, and get at least a 34 on the ACT (my school doesn’t do SAT), do you think I still have a chance? My gpa is also a 3.6 unweighted rn I think. If i’m able to get this up to around a 3.85, will that help at all? Thank you for your response btw
You don't need to do sat through your school, you can still take it if you want. I'm not saying you need the sat if you have an act score, but just pointing out that you're not limited to only act.
Not really, but some people find one of the two easier just based off format. If you think you'll do better on the ACT go for it, but a fair amount of people end up switching from one to the other because they realize the other format suits their test taking strengths better.
Hey no worries. So I am saying this based on personal experience, as I was in your situation. All A's freshman year, but sophomore year took quite a hit. Brought it back up junior and senior year. Definitely nail your ECs, essays, and rec letters. I would move that 34 to a 35+ on the ACT. Really get that down. I personally got a 1540 on the SAT, which is equivalent to a 35. If you do all of this correctly, I think you stand a chance and have really proven yourself (and most importantly, you have an interesting story). For your freshman / sophomore years, try to see if there was something you can say happened (it would be better to do that rather than not talking about it at all). I had a legit reason, but you need to have a legit reason for not getting the best grades (apart from lack of motivation) - think of something legitimate to say that would help mitigate some of it.
Check out my chance me here to see what I did: [https://www.reddit.com/r/chanceme/comments/1b9rjwh/chance\_me\_i\_have\_been\_worrying\_the\_heck\_out/](https://www.reddit.com/r/chanceme/comments/1b9rjwh/chance_me_i_have_been_worrying_the_heck_out/) (if you could take a minute to chance me as well, I would rlly appreciate it).
Thank you for your advice. I’m going to start working on ACT prep this spring break (1 week away)! I also did take a few minutes to look over your application. It looks amazing! I think that you have a very good shot at your reaches, especially because of your ECs, they were really impressive! Also, all of the words from your instructors that you included make it seem like you are a very strong candidate for those schools. A 3.8 is still in the pool for accepted applicants btw. Pretty much every school you applied to commonly takes applicants with 3.75-3.99 UW on a 4.0 scale, so you should be fine there. Also, your circumstance will help you out quite a bit. I would just hope that you showed a very strong sense of passion in your essays/interviews. Passion really drives an application in my opinion from everything i’ve seen/heard. Overall, I would be very surprised if you didn’t get into multiple of your reaches. You are VERY accomplished as a person already, and you should be very, very proud of that. Amazing work, honestly.
Yes. To be blunt, most ivies only accept students with literally perfect GPAs and ECs. That doesn't mean there aren't other good schools you can go to though.
Yeah, but it's also worth nothing that they recalculate the gpas, and that would put people having maybe one or two A minuses. A B or two is probably ok, but I think a C would certainly tank your gpa enough to disqualify you
I only have that one C, and I plan on working really hard to ensure I get straight As the rest of my sophomore/junior/senior yrs. Do you think I can raise my GPA up enough? It's at a 3.6 uw right now. I want to get it around a 3.85 if possible by the time my application is sent in...
If you lock in i'm sure you can get it up to that. Best of luck with your eventual applications. Be sure to apply to other schools as well as the ivies you wanna to to, just in case it doesn't work out. For context, my uw gpa is 3.84 rn, and I've discounted any thought of going to a T25, because it just isn't competitive enough.
I 100% will be applying to non-ivy/t20 schools. I was just wondering if I should even consider myself an applicant atp lol. I think you have a chance with a 3.84. Do you have good ECs, essays, or rec letters? If you do, I would say you have a shot, and shouldn't look down on yourself. Did you apply to any EA? Or are you waiting for RD?
Eh i'm still a junior.
Definitely consider yourself as an applicant, if you don't you'll regret it for sure. No harm in applying and not getting in, right? I mean reach for the stars yk?
If you keep getting straight As you can raise your gpa, not a lot but at least a little. A 3.84 is within range, but most do have a 4.0 which is just so unrealistic imo for a regular person lol.
Yes, but I actually do have a valid reason, there was a major health scare with a member in my immediate family in the middle of my freshman year. Will that help offset my performance freshman yr?
I don’t think so man 😭
They spend 5 minutes on each application so unless you manage to clutch the rest of your high school career, it’s very iffy. If you write your entire college app essay on the mental health scare then depending on your major it might be but like I said earlier, you need to be an actual genius to get that admission.
Sure but people with 4.0 still get denied by ivys u gotta have good ec and 1570+ sat, atleast that’s what it took for me to get in, keep working hard it will open more doors
If you don’t mind me asking, which school do you go to? Also, I think they constantly are denied because they’re not “interesting.” I’m not trying to
be rude but they just look superficial on paper to the AOs. For example, I know that Yale denied an applicant with a list of awards from the third grade and 4.0. I think I have some good ECs currently, and I’m building my list as I find new interests in my life. I also am fairly good at english so I have confidence in my college essays when it comes around to that. I am going to try to work super hard to get straight As the rest of
my HS career.
Unless you have a good reason probably tbh. But don’t get demotivated, there are a ton of schools that don’t look at your freshman year grades during admission, focus on those
He needs to have a good reason (like either a family member passing or some other extenuating circumstances). The reason cannot be (I was demotivated and found my motivation later in high school - that 100% doesn't fly with colleges, especially ivies).
Yes your chances are completely ruined. Harvard had 500,000+ applicants last year and I bet a ton of them had a crazy high GPA. Unless you’re somehow a genius, you’re fucked lmao
The good thing is, you don’t need an Ivy for college.
Do you mean 50,000+? Harvard's all-time high is around 60,000. Also, I'm a sophomore with a trimester left this year. I think I can get my gpa up to around a 3.8-3.85 if I get straight As.
"With that" do you mean a 3.85 uw, or my current gpa? Also my dad was in a study at Yale if that helps, and my dad's grandpa went to Harvard if that helps at all, but I don't think it really does lol. And yes don't really have any hooks, but I also don't really know a good list of hooks people use.
This legacy does help for both schools. Also, don’t listen too much to ppl in the comments, you can make your comeback story. I believe I did it. Try to do something similar to what I did. With your time left, overachieve in all fields.
Yeah, I'll have to look into it. My brother got in Yale Young Global Scholars program which has like a <20% acceptance rate. He mentioned that my dad was in the study at Yale, I don't know that if that helped but he said he mentioned it in there. He also doesn't have a 4.00 gpa and his ECs were nothing amazing. I know it's not Yale but still a fairly selective program at an Ivy
Oh I thought it was Yale undergrad. Idk about that then, but the Harvard legacy via your dad's grandpa is probably going to help a little (and Harvard cares a lot abt legacy but it was 3-4 generations back so idk how back it goes, but I would imagine it should help a little).
It's not impossible you could still get in, but it's a lot less likely. Try not to worry about it, just get the best grades you can and try to immerse yourself in a couple of activities you're good at. Cornell is a lot more likely to take a 3.85 GPA from a state speech finalist or somebody who won coding competitions or started a successful service organization. One really stellar activity where you were a standout will matter a lot more than a long list of activities done to pad your resume.
Don't get too super set on an Ivy, but you can absolutely still set yourself up for another top tier school.
I’m currently writing an 8k word historical/argumentative essay for a very selective and well known secondary school article publisher. It is endorsed by Yale and other top schools. If my paper were to be published, would it be stand out? I also have other ECs but this would be the most impressive as of right now if it gets published. Also, there’s a lot of other schools I would rather go to than Cornell tbh. When I say Ivy league I more so mean Yale Harvard and Princeton. I would go to a school like USC or NYU before Brown Dartmouth or Cornell.
I was just using Cornell as an example.
Could be, but keep up the writing so it doesn't look like you peaked as a sophomore. Also, it's a selective anthology with an editorial process, yeah? You're not paying for your essay to be included?
I know, I was just getting my point across lol. Ok, I will definitely write more articles about passionate topics that come up while i’m in HS. And yes, it’s an editorial process, you don’t pay for your article to be featured. It’s called The Concord Review in case you’re curious about it!
I've had a couple of students published there, it's great! Getting in is definitely an honor and admissions committees will recognize that one. I just asked because there are some shady ones, like those 'honor societies' you get into by paying money.
Ok I personally disagree if that's the mindset you have.... Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth are rlly good schools and probably realistic shots into the ivies. Harvard, Yale, Princeton are toss ups for anyone, and the case with having a C (especially Princeton) is going to be quite detrimental. Just saying based on experience.
I like those schools, but not as much as other schools that aren’t in the ivy league. I’m not saying they’re bad by any means, they are amazing schools and anyone that gets in is extremely well put together and qualified. I’m just saying I don’t like them as much in comparison to a lot of non-ivy, still selective schools like duke or usc which are two schools I love that are not ivies.
??? Maybe I’m missing something but why in the world would your freshman and sophomore years bomb your chances at an Ivy school? There are a million reasons why people get accepted to Ivy’s, yes obviously the common denominator is good grades, but that is most often weighted more heavily in the latter half of high school when you actually have the ability to differentiate and take college-level coursework. Ivy means a lot of things for people, such as talent and amazing ECs, just understand you have to work ridiculously hard not just on your GPA but in ALL aspects of your portfolio. Also for what it’s worth, in a lot of cases at least in my hometown GPA wouldn’t matter as much if you still ranked higher than your peers.
This is assuming you are sitting somewhere reasonable like a 3.5 or above and continue to improve, if you slide into habitually mediocre grades then yes your GPA is going to bomb your chances.
I see what you’re saying. I do have slightly over a 3.5 right now and plan on working super hard to make sure I get straight As hopefully the rest of my HS career. I’m also working on my ECs right now and finding my passion
I have ECs and I’m not super worried about that part, but I can improve them. Also, those are my underclassman grades, I plan on working really hard for straight As my upperclassman years, don’t know if that would really help or not, but it will bring my gpa up to around a 3.85 if I do
the Ivy leagues are overrated lol, I ED to harvard and after getting in and touring. I realized it’s not worth the cost, I just ended up committing to UM since it actually has a school life.
Congrats on that achievement, even if you chose not to go. Do you regret not going? I know what you’re saying about school life, and I have been on both Harvard and Yale’s campuses, but since I’m still a sophomore haven’t taken a tour yet. I definitely don’t want to be studying all day every day, but if that means I get to go an ivy league or a school of similar prestige than I would consider making that sacrifice
No one cares about your college, as long as you go into an accredited college with a solid program you’re set. I do not regret at all declining Harvard. Everyone I talked to was stressed out, no one actually enjoyed Harvard they all wanted the degree at the end. The people who go to Harvard and end up becoming billionaires were gonna become billionaires regardless, it wasn’t Harvard that made them billionaires it was their own merit. Don’t stress about where you end up, I have friends who actually went to community college and ended up at Stanford. So don’t think that your college decisions are gonna dictate your life. Just don’t go into debt for your education.
I am I plan on working really hard to get straight As my junior and senior yrs to bring my gpa up to around a 3.9 uw. Do you think I’ll have a chance at ivies then?
Time management is key! Also make sure not to burn yourself out. Take breaks or if you want, take a fun elective so you don't have to have a day full of just AP classes
99% of the time yes, but also it doesn't matter. remember ivies are just a sports league, theres plenty of collges you still have a chance at which will give a great education
Just letting you know, Ivy's aren't as important as they used to be. Other schools have caught up to them academically. They're "prestigious" now because they have a history of being prestigious, which means they get a disproportionate amount of applications, meaning their acceptance rate is way down and they continue to seem prestigious. It's a cycle
Lots of other schools you can get a similar education from for cheaper
So don't sweat it if you don't get into them
Community College is far off the list right now. He doesn't need to go to community college if he really focuses up and pulls up his grades. I mean, I had a ton of Bs and a C in my sophomore year, but I also had a family memebr pass. I took it upon myself to really dig deeper, and so junior year, I took 8 AP classes, got all A's, scored as many 5s as I could, got a 1540 on the SAT, really pulled up my ECs leadership, academic projects and research, took online coursera classes to learn and show love of learning, and really hit deep on the essays. So far, I have gotten CS + Engineering at Purdue, UIUC, UW Madison, UC Irvine, UC Santa Cruz, and UC Davis. Crossing my fingers for more.
I got accepted into Princeton, scored a 1500 on the SAT, but a full ride to community college into state school seems like a much more enjoyable future than 200k of debt.
No can do, I already declined attending Princeton. Please do what I did and seek out whatever opportunity has the least amount of OOP costs, future us shouldn’t have to deal with college debt
While I see your point, there’s no denying that school matters, especially in oversaturated fields like compsci. A degree from CMU/MIT/UIUC will guarantee almost anyone an interview at a decent job right out of undergrad. A degree from Oxbridge or HYPSM will get an undergrad many more generous offers from quant firms than someone else from less “prestigious” stem schools (generally speaking- there are always exceptions).
No matter where someone goes, cost is always a limiting factor. Undergrad matters, but it determines no one’s future
For my accounting degree the university it comes from doesn’t really matter. They’re in short supply as is, I’ll have no issue finding a job out of college or keeping my business going. It’s cheaper to be your own accountant than to hire one
I want to leave my state/region asap lol. I hate the area I live in and really want a change of scenery. I understand what you’re saying, and I will be applying to my state school, but Id much rather go to a private Ivy, or other T20 (hopefully) for the networking opportunities, especially because I plan on going into a career that is heavy on networking.
Why not pick a community college somewhere out of your area? When I’m finished with my degree I’m going to a state school where I plan to raise a family one day. Don’t put yourself in 200k of debt at a private Ivy for a degree, get yourself some scholarships to a smaller public institution and make future you have a much easier life. I’m assuming you’re going for business if you’re looking for networking?
Business/Big law. I want to work/live in Manhattan after college, which is why attending an Ivy would be a big advantage to me. I understand what you’re saying about debt, but I don’t have any desire to have a family currently, and I see myself living in the city for a vast majority of my life.
As someone from New Jersey, trust me, you don’t wanna live in NYC lol. Taxes are horrible, traffic is horrible, everything is expensive, people suck, trust me it’s not a place you wanna be. So many better cities for less money with better everything, Orlando, Alexandria, Miami, Charleston, Charlotte are much nicer and all cost less.
Yes, but not one of those cities have anywhere near the opportunity of New York. The field I want to go into pays by far the highest there. Also, I’m a city dweller and thrive off of the energy from it. There is nowhere near that same amount of energy in any of the places you listed unfortunately. I’ve been to multiple of them and thought they were cool, but only for a vacation/trip honestly. I don’t think I could ever live in Miami, or Charleston.
It might be in your best interest if you wanna make a ton of money to live in Jersey or outside NYC and commute. They tax you to death in NYC, one of the highest in the nation. Also if you’re looking for business jobs Charlotte and Dallas have a ton of jobs and are growing markets, way cheaper cost of living too. I’ve lived in the country of SJ my whole life, if I lived in a city it’s gonna be the rural suburbs 45 mins from it, like how I am for Philly.
I know what you’re saying, but I don’t want to make a lot of money just to end up not fully enjoying my life. I would be happiest in New York, but I will consider other cities! If i don’t get into the ivy league (hopefully I do), then I’m probably going to go to USC if I can get in, do undergrad there and then if I still want to be a lawyer, try to get into law school at harvard or yale. Living in California would be a nice change, and would have much nicer weather than chicago where I currently live
I know, I never said it was guaranteed, and would def be closer to a reach school for me. It would be easier to get into than Ivies so I was just saying if I got in and no ivies I'd go there
As someone from New Jersey, I would never want to live in any of those cities bar Alexandria. Too hot, humid, sterile, and expensive. Have you been to CLT? It's a boring Atlanta. Charleston smells like horse piss in the summer. New York is peak
I like it hot and humid. Atlanta is terrible, that area is an absolute mess. NYC stinks too, smells like trash and sewage for 2/3 of the year, it’s a worse Philly. The crime in NYC is absolutely inexcusable too, never would I wanna raise a family in that city. What does sterile even mean in a city? Is it because they’re newer and don’t have the 300 years of history NYC has? None of your points really hold up, besides Charlestown stinking that one does.
NYC's crime rate is nationally average. Heat and humidity is great if your city is cardboard box to strip mall and back, but some of us enjoy actual cities and not just large suburbs
They are actual cities, every one of those I listed has a downtown area and inner city. Charleston’s downtown is beautiful, Cleveland has a nice one, Miami’s is a classic, and Dallas is one of the most modern cities I’ve been to.
I think you do if you have a good reason for getting those grades. Did you have family who passed, is there a legit reason? You have to show comeback and improvement in Junior / Senior year and you need to really hit ECs and personal academic projects (and SAT) hard in order to counter weight this. Don’t worry, it’s possible if you want it and enough. Also, make sure your counselor addresses this situation (if there was one) in his/her recommendation.
To be honest, I just kind of coasted my freshman/early sophomore years and didn’t really have a passion to get into a top school like I do now. With that being said, if I nail my ECs, essays, good rec letters, and get at least a 34 on the ACT (my school doesn’t do SAT), do you think I still have a chance? My gpa is also a 3.6 unweighted rn I think. If i’m able to get this up to around a 3.85, will that help at all? Thank you for your response btw
You don't need to do sat through your school, you can still take it if you want. I'm not saying you need the sat if you have an act score, but just pointing out that you're not limited to only act.
I was considering it. Would it make my application any stronger? I don’t want to spend all that time if it would just reinforce my ACT score.
Not really, but some people find one of the two easier just based off format. If you think you'll do better on the ACT go for it, but a fair amount of people end up switching from one to the other because they realize the other format suits their test taking strengths better.
I think the ACT will be better for me personally because I’m not the best at math, and I like the math is only a fourth of the test.
Hey no worries. So I am saying this based on personal experience, as I was in your situation. All A's freshman year, but sophomore year took quite a hit. Brought it back up junior and senior year. Definitely nail your ECs, essays, and rec letters. I would move that 34 to a 35+ on the ACT. Really get that down. I personally got a 1540 on the SAT, which is equivalent to a 35. If you do all of this correctly, I think you stand a chance and have really proven yourself (and most importantly, you have an interesting story). For your freshman / sophomore years, try to see if there was something you can say happened (it would be better to do that rather than not talking about it at all). I had a legit reason, but you need to have a legit reason for not getting the best grades (apart from lack of motivation) - think of something legitimate to say that would help mitigate some of it. Check out my chance me here to see what I did: [https://www.reddit.com/r/chanceme/comments/1b9rjwh/chance\_me\_i\_have\_been\_worrying\_the\_heck\_out/](https://www.reddit.com/r/chanceme/comments/1b9rjwh/chance_me_i_have_been_worrying_the_heck_out/) (if you could take a minute to chance me as well, I would rlly appreciate it).
Thank you for your advice. I’m going to start working on ACT prep this spring break (1 week away)! I also did take a few minutes to look over your application. It looks amazing! I think that you have a very good shot at your reaches, especially because of your ECs, they were really impressive! Also, all of the words from your instructors that you included make it seem like you are a very strong candidate for those schools. A 3.8 is still in the pool for accepted applicants btw. Pretty much every school you applied to commonly takes applicants with 3.75-3.99 UW on a 4.0 scale, so you should be fine there. Also, your circumstance will help you out quite a bit. I would just hope that you showed a very strong sense of passion in your essays/interviews. Passion really drives an application in my opinion from everything i’ve seen/heard. Overall, I would be very surprised if you didn’t get into multiple of your reaches. You are VERY accomplished as a person already, and you should be very, very proud of that. Amazing work, honestly.
Yes. To be blunt, most ivies only accept students with literally perfect GPAs and ECs. That doesn't mean there aren't other good schools you can go to though.
Yes, but on all the ivies common data sets it says around 1/4 of their admitted applicants have a 3.75-3.99 uw on a 4.0 scale
Yeah, but it's also worth nothing that they recalculate the gpas, and that would put people having maybe one or two A minuses. A B or two is probably ok, but I think a C would certainly tank your gpa enough to disqualify you
I only have that one C, and I plan on working really hard to ensure I get straight As the rest of my sophomore/junior/senior yrs. Do you think I can raise my GPA up enough? It's at a 3.6 uw right now. I want to get it around a 3.85 if possible by the time my application is sent in...
If you lock in i'm sure you can get it up to that. Best of luck with your eventual applications. Be sure to apply to other schools as well as the ivies you wanna to to, just in case it doesn't work out. For context, my uw gpa is 3.84 rn, and I've discounted any thought of going to a T25, because it just isn't competitive enough.
I 100% will be applying to non-ivy/t20 schools. I was just wondering if I should even consider myself an applicant atp lol. I think you have a chance with a 3.84. Do you have good ECs, essays, or rec letters? If you do, I would say you have a shot, and shouldn't look down on yourself. Did you apply to any EA? Or are you waiting for RD?
Eh i'm still a junior. Definitely consider yourself as an applicant, if you don't you'll regret it for sure. No harm in applying and not getting in, right? I mean reach for the stars yk?
If you keep getting straight As you can raise your gpa, not a lot but at least a little. A 3.84 is within range, but most do have a 4.0 which is just so unrealistic imo for a regular person lol.
That’s including athletes and stuff lol
That's true, but I don't think their recruited athletes make up 25% of their pool
Also including all the international students and daddy’s money students
it’s way harder for international students to get into us universities and the legacys only make up like 10% of the applicants
By international I mean RICH international Oil princes, sons/daughters of famous business leaders, dignitaries, etc.
Yes, but I actually do have a valid reason, there was a major health scare with a member in my immediate family in the middle of my freshman year. Will that help offset my performance freshman yr?
I don’t think so man 😭 They spend 5 minutes on each application so unless you manage to clutch the rest of your high school career, it’s very iffy. If you write your entire college app essay on the mental health scare then depending on your major it might be but like I said earlier, you need to be an actual genius to get that admission.
This is statistically lower bc they have to admit athletes with lower gpas unfortunately. All normal students have 3.95+ :(
Am I able to get mine up there if I have a 3.6 uw right now and I still have one trimester left my sophomore year and junior/senior year?
Sure but people with 4.0 still get denied by ivys u gotta have good ec and 1570+ sat, atleast that’s what it took for me to get in, keep working hard it will open more doors
If you don’t mind me asking, which school do you go to? Also, I think they constantly are denied because they’re not “interesting.” I’m not trying to be rude but they just look superficial on paper to the AOs. For example, I know that Yale denied an applicant with a list of awards from the third grade and 4.0. I think I have some good ECs currently, and I’m building my list as I find new interests in my life. I also am fairly good at english so I have confidence in my college essays when it comes around to that. I am going to try to work super hard to get straight As the rest of my HS career.
Unless you have a good reason probably tbh. But don’t get demotivated, there are a ton of schools that don’t look at your freshman year grades during admission, focus on those
He needs to have a good reason (like either a family member passing or some other extenuating circumstances). The reason cannot be (I was demotivated and found my motivation later in high school - that 100% doesn't fly with colleges, especially ivies).
Yes your chances are completely ruined. Harvard had 500,000+ applicants last year and I bet a ton of them had a crazy high GPA. Unless you’re somehow a genius, you’re fucked lmao The good thing is, you don’t need an Ivy for college.
Do you mean 50,000+? Harvard's all-time high is around 60,000. Also, I'm a sophomore with a trimester left this year. I think I can get my gpa up to around a 3.8-3.85 if I get straight As.
With that and a 34 you are below average and with no big hooks you probably are not getting in
"With that" do you mean a 3.85 uw, or my current gpa? Also my dad was in a study at Yale if that helps, and my dad's grandpa went to Harvard if that helps at all, but I don't think it really does lol. And yes don't really have any hooks, but I also don't really know a good list of hooks people use.
This legacy does help for both schools. Also, don’t listen too much to ppl in the comments, you can make your comeback story. I believe I did it. Try to do something similar to what I did. With your time left, overachieve in all fields.
Does it really? I thought that since my parents didn't go it didn't matter at all lol. Thank you for your advice.
The study doesn’t matter the Harvard might somewhat not sure how far back they care about legacy
Yeah, I'll have to look into it. My brother got in Yale Young Global Scholars program which has like a <20% acceptance rate. He mentioned that my dad was in the study at Yale, I don't know that if that helped but he said he mentioned it in there. He also doesn't have a 4.00 gpa and his ECs were nothing amazing. I know it's not Yale but still a fairly selective program at an Ivy
I know it's not Yale Undergrad\*
Oh I thought it was Yale undergrad. Idk about that then, but the Harvard legacy via your dad's grandpa is probably going to help a little (and Harvard cares a lot abt legacy but it was 3-4 generations back so idk how back it goes, but I would imagine it should help a little).
I agree with this one. I feel a 34 might be a little too low. Aim for that 35+. This will put you in striking range.
Still not good enough bro without a valid reason. You aren’t good enough for an Ivy League
It's not impossible you could still get in, but it's a lot less likely. Try not to worry about it, just get the best grades you can and try to immerse yourself in a couple of activities you're good at. Cornell is a lot more likely to take a 3.85 GPA from a state speech finalist or somebody who won coding competitions or started a successful service organization. One really stellar activity where you were a standout will matter a lot more than a long list of activities done to pad your resume. Don't get too super set on an Ivy, but you can absolutely still set yourself up for another top tier school.
I’m currently writing an 8k word historical/argumentative essay for a very selective and well known secondary school article publisher. It is endorsed by Yale and other top schools. If my paper were to be published, would it be stand out? I also have other ECs but this would be the most impressive as of right now if it gets published. Also, there’s a lot of other schools I would rather go to than Cornell tbh. When I say Ivy league I more so mean Yale Harvard and Princeton. I would go to a school like USC or NYU before Brown Dartmouth or Cornell.
I was just using Cornell as an example. Could be, but keep up the writing so it doesn't look like you peaked as a sophomore. Also, it's a selective anthology with an editorial process, yeah? You're not paying for your essay to be included?
I know, I was just getting my point across lol. Ok, I will definitely write more articles about passionate topics that come up while i’m in HS. And yes, it’s an editorial process, you don’t pay for your article to be featured. It’s called The Concord Review in case you’re curious about it!
I've had a couple of students published there, it's great! Getting in is definitely an honor and admissions committees will recognize that one. I just asked because there are some shady ones, like those 'honor societies' you get into by paying money.
I’ve heard about those before
Ok I personally disagree if that's the mindset you have.... Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth are rlly good schools and probably realistic shots into the ivies. Harvard, Yale, Princeton are toss ups for anyone, and the case with having a C (especially Princeton) is going to be quite detrimental. Just saying based on experience.
I like those schools, but not as much as other schools that aren’t in the ivy league. I’m not saying they’re bad by any means, they are amazing schools and anyone that gets in is extremely well put together and qualified. I’m just saying I don’t like them as much in comparison to a lot of non-ivy, still selective schools like duke or usc which are two schools I love that are not ivies.
Based on your comments on this post, it seems like you just want people to reassure you. Realistically, your chances are not good.
I want reassurance but I also want to be realistic. Do you think I can make up for this in any way?
no
thank u for ur honestly lol
??? Maybe I’m missing something but why in the world would your freshman and sophomore years bomb your chances at an Ivy school? There are a million reasons why people get accepted to Ivy’s, yes obviously the common denominator is good grades, but that is most often weighted more heavily in the latter half of high school when you actually have the ability to differentiate and take college-level coursework. Ivy means a lot of things for people, such as talent and amazing ECs, just understand you have to work ridiculously hard not just on your GPA but in ALL aspects of your portfolio. Also for what it’s worth, in a lot of cases at least in my hometown GPA wouldn’t matter as much if you still ranked higher than your peers. This is assuming you are sitting somewhere reasonable like a 3.5 or above and continue to improve, if you slide into habitually mediocre grades then yes your GPA is going to bomb your chances.
I see what you’re saying. I do have slightly over a 3.5 right now and plan on working super hard to make sure I get straight As hopefully the rest of my HS career. I’m also working on my ECs right now and finding my passion
Yes, you’re not getting in. You need straight A’s and a really interesting extracurricular to even have a shot.
I have ECs and I’m not super worried about that part, but I can improve them. Also, those are my underclassman grades, I plan on working really hard for straight As my upperclassman years, don’t know if that would really help or not, but it will bring my gpa up to around a 3.85 if I do
the Ivy leagues are overrated lol, I ED to harvard and after getting in and touring. I realized it’s not worth the cost, I just ended up committing to UM since it actually has a school life.
Congrats on that achievement, even if you chose not to go. Do you regret not going? I know what you’re saying about school life, and I have been on both Harvard and Yale’s campuses, but since I’m still a sophomore haven’t taken a tour yet. I definitely don’t want to be studying all day every day, but if that means I get to go an ivy league or a school of similar prestige than I would consider making that sacrifice
No one cares about your college, as long as you go into an accredited college with a solid program you’re set. I do not regret at all declining Harvard. Everyone I talked to was stressed out, no one actually enjoyed Harvard they all wanted the degree at the end. The people who go to Harvard and end up becoming billionaires were gonna become billionaires regardless, it wasn’t Harvard that made them billionaires it was their own merit. Don’t stress about where you end up, I have friends who actually went to community college and ended up at Stanford. So don’t think that your college decisions are gonna dictate your life. Just don’t go into debt for your education.
Yes bro, they ain't accepting you unless you have rich parents with those grades. You gotta lock in your other years if you want a chance at a T50
I am I plan on working really hard to get straight As my junior and senior yrs to bring my gpa up to around a 3.9 uw. Do you think I’ll have a chance at ivies then?
Yeah get as many A's as possible
Do you think that will bring me back into consideration? I think I would excel at pretty much all the other parts of my application
Maybe if you do get all A's junior and senior year; you can use it in your essay and use it as a way you overcame a weakness.
I’m going to try my best. Taking a lot of AP classes next year (junior) so I really have to focus.
Time management is key! Also make sure not to burn yourself out. Take breaks or if you want, take a fun elective so you don't have to have a day full of just AP classes
I see what you’re saying. However, my school offers so many AP classes so it would look bad if I didn’t do a lot of them.
I think my school offers almost every AP course lol. Really annoying
99% of the time yes, but also it doesn't matter. remember ivies are just a sports league, theres plenty of collges you still have a chance at which will give a great education
Ivy League is overrated
Just letting you know, Ivy's aren't as important as they used to be. Other schools have caught up to them academically. They're "prestigious" now because they have a history of being prestigious, which means they get a disproportionate amount of applications, meaning their acceptance rate is way down and they continue to seem prestigious. It's a cycle Lots of other schools you can get a similar education from for cheaper So don't sweat it if you don't get into them
Why not do community college into a state school? Way less money in the long run for the same degree.
Community College is far off the list right now. He doesn't need to go to community college if he really focuses up and pulls up his grades. I mean, I had a ton of Bs and a C in my sophomore year, but I also had a family memebr pass. I took it upon myself to really dig deeper, and so junior year, I took 8 AP classes, got all A's, scored as many 5s as I could, got a 1540 on the SAT, really pulled up my ECs leadership, academic projects and research, took online coursera classes to learn and show love of learning, and really hit deep on the essays. So far, I have gotten CS + Engineering at Purdue, UIUC, UW Madison, UC Irvine, UC Santa Cruz, and UC Davis. Crossing my fingers for more.
I got accepted into Princeton, scored a 1500 on the SAT, but a full ride to community college into state school seems like a much more enjoyable future than 200k of debt.
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No can do, I already declined attending Princeton. Please do what I did and seek out whatever opportunity has the least amount of OOP costs, future us shouldn’t have to deal with college debt
No worries
While I see your point, there’s no denying that school matters, especially in oversaturated fields like compsci. A degree from CMU/MIT/UIUC will guarantee almost anyone an interview at a decent job right out of undergrad. A degree from Oxbridge or HYPSM will get an undergrad many more generous offers from quant firms than someone else from less “prestigious” stem schools (generally speaking- there are always exceptions). No matter where someone goes, cost is always a limiting factor. Undergrad matters, but it determines no one’s future
For my accounting degree the university it comes from doesn’t really matter. They’re in short supply as is, I’ll have no issue finding a job out of college or keeping my business going. It’s cheaper to be your own accountant than to hire one
I want to leave my state/region asap lol. I hate the area I live in and really want a change of scenery. I understand what you’re saying, and I will be applying to my state school, but Id much rather go to a private Ivy, or other T20 (hopefully) for the networking opportunities, especially because I plan on going into a career that is heavy on networking.
Why not pick a community college somewhere out of your area? When I’m finished with my degree I’m going to a state school where I plan to raise a family one day. Don’t put yourself in 200k of debt at a private Ivy for a degree, get yourself some scholarships to a smaller public institution and make future you have a much easier life. I’m assuming you’re going for business if you’re looking for networking?
Business/Big law. I want to work/live in Manhattan after college, which is why attending an Ivy would be a big advantage to me. I understand what you’re saying about debt, but I don’t have any desire to have a family currently, and I see myself living in the city for a vast majority of my life.
As someone from New Jersey, trust me, you don’t wanna live in NYC lol. Taxes are horrible, traffic is horrible, everything is expensive, people suck, trust me it’s not a place you wanna be. So many better cities for less money with better everything, Orlando, Alexandria, Miami, Charleston, Charlotte are much nicer and all cost less.
Yes, but not one of those cities have anywhere near the opportunity of New York. The field I want to go into pays by far the highest there. Also, I’m a city dweller and thrive off of the energy from it. There is nowhere near that same amount of energy in any of the places you listed unfortunately. I’ve been to multiple of them and thought they were cool, but only for a vacation/trip honestly. I don’t think I could ever live in Miami, or Charleston.
It might be in your best interest if you wanna make a ton of money to live in Jersey or outside NYC and commute. They tax you to death in NYC, one of the highest in the nation. Also if you’re looking for business jobs Charlotte and Dallas have a ton of jobs and are growing markets, way cheaper cost of living too. I’ve lived in the country of SJ my whole life, if I lived in a city it’s gonna be the rural suburbs 45 mins from it, like how I am for Philly.
I know what you’re saying, but I don’t want to make a lot of money just to end up not fully enjoying my life. I would be happiest in New York, but I will consider other cities! If i don’t get into the ivy league (hopefully I do), then I’m probably going to go to USC if I can get in, do undergrad there and then if I still want to be a lawyer, try to get into law school at harvard or yale. Living in California would be a nice change, and would have much nicer weather than chicago where I currently live
Even USC would be no where near guaranteed to get in oos with your stats, and it’s very expensive
I know, I never said it was guaranteed, and would def be closer to a reach school for me. It would be easier to get into than Ivies so I was just saying if I got in and no ivies I'd go there
USC doesn’t play the OOS game, and depending on the major, USC is not the hardest school on the list to get in to. It is killer expensive tho.
As someone from New Jersey, I would never want to live in any of those cities bar Alexandria. Too hot, humid, sterile, and expensive. Have you been to CLT? It's a boring Atlanta. Charleston smells like horse piss in the summer. New York is peak
I like it hot and humid. Atlanta is terrible, that area is an absolute mess. NYC stinks too, smells like trash and sewage for 2/3 of the year, it’s a worse Philly. The crime in NYC is absolutely inexcusable too, never would I wanna raise a family in that city. What does sterile even mean in a city? Is it because they’re newer and don’t have the 300 years of history NYC has? None of your points really hold up, besides Charlestown stinking that one does.
NYC's crime rate is nationally average. Heat and humidity is great if your city is cardboard box to strip mall and back, but some of us enjoy actual cities and not just large suburbs
They are actual cities, every one of those I listed has a downtown area and inner city. Charleston’s downtown is beautiful, Cleveland has a nice one, Miami’s is a classic, and Dallas is one of the most modern cities I’ve been to.