High ACT, Low GPA?

Maybe things have changed over the last 25 years (when I was applying to college...). My numbers, although my GPA was not as extreme as the OP, were probably unusual. I was a national merit scholar and - this was before grade inflation had become so dramatic and before they re-normed the SAT - had a 1520 on the SAT, 33 on ACT and a 3.1 H.S. GPA. I got into Johns Hopkins, UMich (where I went because they gave me lots of $) and Cal Tech. Many colleges - elite colleges, even - see themselves, I hope, as places where unrealized potential can be turned into greatness. The OP ought to be able to find one of them.

Yeah. These days a 3.1 is considered terrible for high school, no offense. Times have changed obviously, there has definitely been high school grade inflation. If you're an overrepresented minority it's worse.

Check out CollegeConfidential.com to find out how ridiculously insane and obsessed people are about details. It's a whole different thing, the college process. Every point counts these days.

Great talent, pathetic work ethic. I guess colleges will be willing to take a gamble on you. Maybe they think they'll inspire you to get up off your fat lazy butt and work for once in your godforsaken piece of crap existence. I'm just assuming that you're fat, you fat tub of mashed potatoes and chives. You bacon bits looking, Don Knotts hating, mustache wearing, son of a one-balled muskrat.

Stewfry - I think your points are well taken with regard to GPA but it is likely that one of the schools the candidate lists, if he presents himself well, will accept him. (Likely not UW Madison or Illinois).

Pissed and frisky wrote:

2.46?!? Jesus!

What good is a high IQ if you can't apply it. No college is going to want your lazy ass.

A 2.46 is not necessarily the product of laziness, and colleges know that. It could be the product of being bored by a bullshit curriculum. Or, it could be laziness. Or it's both. Colleges know that bright, but unmotivated students have loads of potential once they "find themselves". And colleges offer a place where you can explore the possibilities of who you want to become. A place where, for once, you can become excited about academics. Many mediocre high school students do quite well in college once they figure out what they want to do with their lives.

I graduated high school with a 2.8, partially due to laziness and partially due to boredom with the curriculum, but I had a high SAT so I was accepted into a fairly reputable engineering program. I'm sure the admissions people at the university figured "well he doesn't apply himself in the classroom, but his SATs indicate that he could do quite well if he finds something he wants to do. Let's give him a go". And I did quite well. I graduated with a 3.9 gpa. This sort of thing happens all the time.

Learning disability is not the same as mentally handicapped. I'm guessing that whatever situation you're talking about, you're misinformed. The UofM does not accept just anyone, especially now that the general college is gone.

if you search the ncaa web-site you will find the curve of eligibility. the way it works is that the lower your GPA the higher your SAT or ACT score has to be. they know that some schools are tougher than others and some schools inflate grades.

it wouldn't be the end of the world if you had to attend a junior college before a big school.

this website probably isnt the best resource for you. i dont advise sharing your goals on letsrun. dont let these idiots analyze your life. this is a place to come to get ripped on.

What does a HS average of 75 convert to in GPA? 80? 85?

What do two 700s SATs(1400) pre'74 convert to in ACT? 1200? 1000?

How do they deal with small grad class size like a mid year or summerschool graduation?

What do you think college will cost per year excluding room&board for a freshman in 2015? 2020?

Thanks

GPA is kind of bullshit. Colleges should really change over to numeric GPA and have a national weighted scale for APs. You look at one guy who could have easily got a 2.0 but has a lot of 80s and then you look at another guy who was just barely outside the 4.0 range with a numeric avg of 89 and has a 3.0. Two completely different ranges of academic merit but seen at equal.

AP's are total bullshit. They should get rid of the AP system altogether. Most people who get 5's on AP's would only get C-'s or C's if they took the college class at any respectable college.

Kele wrote:

While a 30 doesn't make him a top tier student, it still puts him in the 97th percentile which isn't bad at all. 2.46 is a pretty mediocre GPA though. Assuming your 30 wasn't some sort of fluke, it shows that you've got the ability to do well academically but have been too lazy to actually do it. If this is the case, you're going to have to change your ways in college if you plan to study anything challenging.

How, exactly, does that not make him a top tier student?

Professor2.0 wrote:

30 is a pretty solid ACT score. I think the average at most decent to good schools like the ones you listed have an average of between 24 and 26. I say apply to the schools you want to go to. If you don't get in go to junior college for a year and get your grades up then apply again.

Completly agree with professor. High School doesn't nesscessarily determine how your life's gonna play out. You want to change the kind of school you'll get that undergrad degree from? Work your ass off that first year of college(be it a Junior College or Community College) then go for a transfer into that Wisconsin or Minnesota. People do that type of thing all the time. Rudy! Ruuudy! RUUUUUUUDY!

exd3er wrote:

How, exactly, does that not make him a top tier student?

Because top tier is at least 34 and above. Times are crazy - I had a 34 ACT and a 2390 SAT (for all you old crusty people who haven't heard, the SAT has been reformulated and now includes a writing section), 3.97 "unweighted" (honors courses count as a '5' in the weighted average) pretty good running times for where I was applying, National Merit Scholar, and tons of other stuff (not just saying this as a catch-all for stupid crap) blah blah blah blah blah blah

And? Rejected from Caltech and MIT (at least MIT wait-listed me to be polite)

grades are important, kids, when you're on the bubble: that one 'B' was in a math class.

Note that the above post is addressing the meaning of 'top-tier' and has little relevance to the thread topic.

Pics?

[quote="runningfortheprize"] BEST EXAMPLE EVER!!! we've got a kid at our school who doesnt even show up at least one day out of the week, rarely ever does his homework and spends all his freetime on video games and gets like 3 hours of sleep a night. Im not posotive, but i wouldnt be surprised if he didnt have a 3.0 even, and he barely passed the AP tests he took last year, but somehow this kid managed a 35 on his ACT--the highest score ever in the 30 year history of a D1 HS with over 400 to a class. The kid is a genius and will get a free ride to whatever college he wants gaurenteed (especially since im pretty sure his family is well below the poverty level, but thats besides the point...) My point is, with a Decent ACT, nothing else matters. A 30 isnt a 35, but im sure theres plenny of colleges who will take you with that[/quote]

bullshit. I had a 1580 on the sat, a 96 average grade, and am a decent runner, and the most money I got anywhere was about 10k. Even in-state didn't give me a full ride.

the way I see it is that you have two more quarters to raise your grades. if you work your but off for 2 qtrs you could get it very close to a 3.0

what is your class rank?

Alass of 2003, GPA of 2.7, taking AP courses in history, government, western civilization, english/literature, and having complete physics, calc 1, and chem. ACT of 30 with a 36 on the reading and a low math score (24? I think 24 or 26, I try to block it out). Rejected from: Wisco Madison and Michigan State Liman (sp?) Briggs undergrad pre-law program. I thought my ACT was gonna save my lazy ass from a poor GPA, it really didn't at all. My scholarship options at accepting universities were also nil as I was under the 3.0 gpa mark, a minimum cut off for a lot of academic aid. I saw kids getting into UofMich with padded transcripts full of phys ed and life skills courses, completely absurd. Get that GPA up any which way you can sir, good luck! The Mexican thing might help in a lot of cases, I am completely caucasian and without minority consideration.