Near the culmination of my junior year, I achieved a 93.79 out of a possible 100 GPA. Despite being irrelevant to future academic success; admissions officers tend to overemphasize the combination of standardized test scores and GPA when selecting prospective applicants from a highly competitive pool. I admit, I flipped up during high school days and now I shame the badge of my mistakes.
My grades have been on a downward trend since freshman year, from high A’s to low A’s and high B’s during the end of my Junior year. I can attribute this to my nonchalant attitude at the time, however it is to late to turn back the hands of time and alleviate my errors. As it is my senior year, applications will already be out by early November, leaving my little time to clean up my shenanigans.
Not to excuse my erroneous ways, but after I was diagnosed with mono in my Junior year I lost any willpower I had. Absent a total of 17 days, my grades rapidly slipped into the red. From A’s to grades averaging from 79-85, I had no hope for the first semester. I pulled myself up during the second semester and received marks of 88-91. I feel this is not strong enough.
So, will admission officers take “mono” as a valid excuse for my slip in grades? When I send in my transcript of a 93.79 with a downward trend how badly will it affect my chances of getting into a good school? How can I include the fact that I was diagnosed with mono and marginally avoided repeating my junior year due to absences on the application?
My October SAT and ACT scores should be around 2000 and 30 respectively. Coupled with my poor GPA, what standing does this put me in for acceptance at prestigious State schools that often skimp over extracurriculars in favor of raw numbers that standardized tests and GPA provide?
Here are my “stats”. They are rather lackluster but I have to work with what I have.
Academics
Senior in High School and Texas Resident
93.79 GPA
Top 25% in my class of 700 students. Rank is near 190
Taken AP US History (3 on AP test), AP World History (5 on AP test), Spanish 4 AP (3 on AP Test), AP English 3 (3 on the English Language Test), and AP Government and AP Microeconomics.
2000 SAT Score
30 ACT
AP Scholar Award
“Green Cord” Awarded for 100 hours of community service
“Red Cord” Awarded for donating blood twice during senior year.
Extracurriculars
Operated my own business that developed and hosted websites for local companies
Was one of the webmasters for school website in my Junior year
Member of Spanish Club for Junior and Senior Year
Member of Art and Design Club.
Member of Business professionals of America for 1 year. Held treasury position.
I was member of a church group for 4 years.
Volunteered at my local library, food shelter, and at my father’s restaurant that provided food to a halfway house.
I am namely looking into applying at UT Austin (probably won’t get accepted due to top 10% law), Penn State, Texas A&M, LSU, UNC Chapel Hill, and Michigan Ann Arbor.
What are my chances at the aforementioned schools?
@ Mark, I was told that the schools including Penn State, Michigan, UT, and UNC were reaches and I’d have a 15% chance of getting in.
I don’t what to believe nor can I afford to drop 500+ dollars on application fees.
@rpe, none of these are top ten schools. They are in the top 30-50 range.
And regarding my class rank. If I transferred to a different school within my district I’d be in the top 4%. I can handle college course work; otherwise I would have failed my AP classes.
Best reply by mark:
You are better off for ivy leagues, despite the trend, you have so much extracurricular activities, that they might understand why there s a downward trend. You had a heavy course load while you were getting involved with your school, and with those scores on those test, i highly recommend applying to ivies, you have a chance. The schools, you listed, you are way above there academic recommendations.
Read the original question here
Atrocious Gpa, how the hell to get into college?
