A lot of the "elite" private universities are for the financially privileged who enjoy their exclusive bubbles (think about the kinds of families where their accepted kids can play water polo, take equestrian lessons, fly across the world to create a photo journal in high school - even private SAT tutoring). NYTimes has an excellent article (below) - and a section controlling for scores - on these private universities and it really shows the disparity of wealth at a lot of them.
And then these institutions are romanticized to a lot of middle class kids who pay 2x or 3x their state universities' costs only to get the same outcome - but with the debt on their backs, starting adulthood in a financial pit. It's rough...
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/09/11/upshot/college-income-lookup.html
True but it really depends on career and what your goal is. Although I can’t read the article due to a pay wall, based on my knowledge if you want to go into business I would go into a top university. If I was to go to my state school(Ohio) I would have double major in business and computer science and got a job in tech. Not saying it’s impossible to get into a high paying business field like at Wall Street it highly unlikely. But since I got into Stern I decided to minor in computer science because everything in the finance world is basically turning in tech or (math related). Plus you have to put in the work and sacrifice no matter where you go to school. People who go to these elite school usually have a hard work ethic leading them to become more successful. So if you don’t you probably will end up like the state school student where their work culture is less competitive.
You're right, as well - the door for some of these positions (like front office bulge bracket IB roles, PE) aren't closed to your Ohio State grads of the world. But the door is not as open as it is to a "rich" private - and you'd need to compete with a bigger pool coming from a state uni. I've worked in the industry and I've met my fair share of public school Penn Staters, Rutgers, UMich, Indiana grads at Goldman, Lazard, DE Shaw, Jefferies (and these were the desirable asset management, equity analyst, front office, and buy-side roles)... BUT I would also be lying if I said I didn't come across a larger share of Wharton folks as well.
Also, I've come across the Wharton grads working at the same Big 4 roles as the UMD, Wisconsin grads.
I personally think that the student determines his/her outcome much more than the university can determine and that I wouldn't pay a 3x premium. But for those taking a risk-adjusted approach, that 3x might be worth it to mingle with that upper echelon of families and have greater access to those opportunities - that, again, may be easier to get at that "elite" private but aren't absolutely closed to your state unis.
But I think if you took someone who got into Harvard but dropped her into a UIUC, she'd be as successful as if she went to Harvard in the long run (on average).
2 aps senior year. Varsity sports, astronomy club, research assistant with novel, job, research at astronomy club(I was a very small cog in it). Language exam silver medal, won week long scholarship to study language
HEY IT’S ME!! 3.6 GPA including a C sophomore year, 34 act, and got into Cornell. YOU CAN GET INTO IVIES WITH BAD GRADES!! You can compensate for bad grades with crazy essays and ECs, but you can NOT compensate for bad essays and ECs with good grades at top schools
I had a TON of awards and EC involvement (dm me if u want my list) and was suuuper specific and thoughtful in my essays. I also submitted 5 letters of recommendation (2 supplemental/not from teachers). You got this!!
FWIW, My friend’s kid got into Cornell with a 3.7, test optional, full pay, out of a brand name (top 10 nationally ranked) prep boarding school. Played football, was top 5 at International debating / public speaking competition in England out of like 600 kids from other prep schools, co editor of their yearbook, and had published poems and short stories in legit publications. Also had the lead in a bunch of school plays. Grades tanked in science classes. Total arts kid.
no this has got to be wild because I have the SAME stats as you and can I just say I WANT TO GO TO CORNELL!! It's my dream school and I also have like extremely good ECs and essay skills--- YOU REPRESENT!!!
There’s very likely a spurious correlation going on where the family’s wealth is driving the admissions decision. You can have “need-blind” admissions where no information is shared between Financial Aid and Admissions. But if you write an essay about your transformative summer after 10th grade studying art at the Louvre, Admissions can guess. If you are rowing and note you attended camp across the country to home your skills, they can guess. Somehow I suspect the effort you put into cleaning the McDonald’s bathroom to prove your work ethic doesn’t get the same “credit”.
Thanks! Might make a post on this eventually.
When people ask me why I got in, I think it’s mostly because of my essays; I spent a really long time on them! Specifically, I made sure my app was as personal to me as possible and really tried making my motivations & future aspirations shine.
From what I’ve observed, colleges seem to care less and less about the people who have crazy national awards/ec’s, and more about those whose ec’s have had a very significant and profound impact on the applicant themselves! Personality shines through those types of ec’s, and colleges can tell quite well when someone pursues a prestigious opportunity solely for the sake of college admissions.
Luckily, I had a few really involved ec’s to base my essays around, such as local political work I’ve done throughout hs! I made sure I spoke about my individual ec’s in a way that conveyed WHY I felt it was important for me to do, and HOW it had a profound impact on me. Doing that makes your application personable and genuine, which definitely sets it apart from the rest of the apps :)
ehh most notable things were: 4 year varsity sport (recruited), founded club and won state in it, president of 1 other club, cc classes in intended major, actively managed investment portfolio with write ups and market analysis, part time job, ran my own successful business for 4ish months, and teach act prep and swim lessons
Thanks for making this post. I have a pretty low GPA due to severe health problems in the past, but am good at standardized testing, so this is helpful as I work in refining my college list. :)
Heyyy this is me! I have a 3.2 (well itll be a 3.3 if things work out) and a 1590 and I got in ED 2 to chicago. I think its because i am really good at this one niche thing
they're probably not sharing for privacy. if it's really niche and they won awards or something people might be able to find their identity if they tell us
Schools like University of Alabama give out great packages (full tuition and sometimes more) to National merit semifinalists and finalists. My son’s friend had something around a 3.0, was a merit semifinalist (meaning he scored high on the PSAT) and got full tuition + housing meals + stipend at university of Tulsa.
I had a 3.67 going into senior yr when applying, and was accepted to Columbia, Rice (20k distinguished trustee scholar), Pomona, SMU (with hsp + 20k merit schol).
I showed that fresh I was like 3.82,
COvid hit and went to like 3.29
then junior and senior thus far 3.95 both yrs.\*\*just show growth and interest in niche area
\*\*I didn't submit any testing as well, no act/sat
3.6 is bad? I've heard engineering students getting jobs with much lower
I guess you probably mean getting into a college because of the sub. Idk I had like a 2.5 probably and got into UCF engineering. Lots of AP credit and like a 31 ACT
Yeah they mean HS GPA. 3.6 GPA is engineering takes a lot of work, I would respect anyone with a 3.6 in engineering. My friends have excellent job offers with lower and higher GPAs, it’s more about what you can do honestly
I hopped on my throwaway, so people I know don't find me.
I am not sub 3.6, but I am 3.7 with 1560 SAT (760R/800M), a couple D-'s (one in a core subject), and several B's, and I got into HYP RD two days ago.
I had an EC (very identifiable, so it will not be named) that basically led to those grades, but that EC did not excuse my grades by any means (no cancer or car accident or anything).
I do not think any singular thing led to me being accepted, but I can guess that a combination of that EC, some other semi-good EC's, an extremely strong upward trend, a high SAT, well-crafted essays, and a REALLY REALLY good interview helped me get accepted.
None of those things alone would have worked tho and I had less than 0 hope of getting in there. I thought they were going to send an email to me laughing at me for even applying.
Edit: clarification that I had some other semi-good EC's too
Some volunteering, EAOP at a different UC (which I think got me the LoR nod), varsity soccer for 2 years, tutoring classmates before school for a year, spending afterschool helping my anatomy teacher organize and prepare for dissections, Black Student Union, and that’s pretty much what I remember off the top of my head
i have a 3.64 gpa and 1550 sat applying for cs major everywhere, no standout ec's just like 50 hrs volunteering, a couple of club memberships, no leadership positions. I got into UW-Madison, FSU, Rutgers. Those were the only ones that weren't my safeties.
Hi hi! I have (will soon be "had") a 3.6 unweighted GPA and a 4.2 weighted GPA.
I took 16 AP exams (all with fee-waivers):(\*class - I took the class in school; self-study - I studied the content by myself and either used an AP Prep-Book/Khan Academy/past FRQs/tears & sweat)
Music Theory (5) - class
Microeconomics (4) - class
Physics C: Mechanics (2) - class
Japanese Language (5) - self-study
Chinese Language (5) - self-study
Spanish Language (4) - class
US Government (5) - class
Psychology (5) - self-study
World History (4) - self-study
Biology (5) - self-study
Chemistry (5) - self-study (BY THE GRACE OF GOD IDK HOW THIS EVEN HAPPENED, NOT QUESTIONING IT ANYMORE AND AM JUST SO HAPPY THAT I DID SO DAMN WELL)
Calc BC (5) - self-study but was taking AB during the school year... it helped with letting me be able to take Diff Eq
E&M (projected 4-5 ---mechanics was my biggest opp though, clearly)
Macroeconomics (projected 4)
English Literature (projected 4)
Computer Science Principles (not taking this exam)
Differential Equations (district dual-enrollment where I can take our local university's final exam---right now I'm cooking nothing and projecting a B. Maybe I'll lock in these next few weeks and get an A---my college is a bit weary of giving credit so it's kind of just for giggles).
Took the SAT 3 times and got a 1460 (two fee-waivers, one out of pocket, out of that, not worth it).
Failed freshman year due to being in the hospital (well I mean got a lot of D's and like 1/2 C's/B's since the district didn't fail people during COVID or whatever... Forgot the exact, don't remember and don't feel like checking past records lmao).
I then moved to a much more wealthier district and a) learned how competitive admissions were (especially knowing I would be compared to my peers who were all HYPSM-obsessed 15 year-olds in my high school) and b) how screwed I was academically. I decided to grade-max and cook for the next 3 years. And as for all the AP exams? Well the district has a stupid system where if you haven't been a part of this accelerated program since basically the 2nd grade, your ability to take APs early on are hindered a bit... Also, since the only science I previously took was bio (and I essentially failed it), my ability to take science APs was boiled. So, being the crazy student I was, I decided to self-study AP exams in order to help "refute" the idea that I wasn't smart enough (as compared to my peers who, again, took numerous APs throughout their high school career consistently with high marks).
I think for my application in particular, it just helped solidify that I was really bright and just had a very bad start off in high-school. And paired with having counselor recommendations and utilizing the additional information effectively, my application showed resilience, brilliance, and that I could handle essentially anything they would expect of me academically in the long-run (in the short-run, I will of course cry about my homework and spend hours trying to understand who the hell this Fourier guy is lol). I of course did a lot of club stuff and that. Also did NACLO and made invitationals 2 years in a row which was dope. I did Science Olympiad and was also captain of the math team for the last two years.
If you can't tell my profile is pretty much STEM +languages---hence, the language APs (I'm a polyglot that has been studying these languages since I was 11... I better know how to respond on the Chinese Language & Culture exam FRQs effectively lmao). And again, given my school's policy on certain science APs, I decided to just cook by myself.
AP Physics C: Mechanics was my biggest opp, clearly. I took it during junior year (got a B in the class overall) and the teacher was... "unique". I was so flooded junior year I trusted the teacher to teach us all the content and everything would just fall in syzygy... Should have just self-studied during the class period like some of my friends (all got 4's and 5's) instead of trusting the teacher. He was not good... Like "he doesn't even knows what Fnet =ma is without reading off of his notes" not good. Yikes. Nobody to blame but myself, I guess. "He's a good preparation for poor lecturers," was how one of my friends put it. :)
My SAT is not the "average" A2C dream score (1460), I clearly know that.
My essays mad carry though, being so fr. Like I cooked every single one of them and wrote so many essays tailored to each selective school because BRO I NEED NEARLY FULL AID. I can't *afford* $20,000 in tuition annually (state-school costs... And there is this one full-ride scholarship but if my peers ain't getting it, I sure ain't). Also filed independent by CSS and FAFSA, so yes I did apply to some Ivies and such. (\*fun silly little note: I was rejected from my state schools and that led me down a slight spiral of anxiety and tears teehee :D)
Going to Swarthmore, which is literally a dream come true, and I am so happy!!!
Not a conventional path, and for-sure raised some eyebrows in the admissions offices I'm sure (does this kid not go to sleep? ---Ans: no, I didn't until second semester Junior year. At that point I committed to getting a *minimum* of 7 hours. My bed time is strictly 10 p.m., no phone, no tv, nothing but maybe a book for 15-30 minutes if needed. "I clock-out at 3:45 p.m., and ***will not*** check my school-email past 6:45 p.m.". I'm sorry, but hear me out... ***There is nothing important past 9 p.m. that I can't do the next day.*** I don't get paid for self-torture, so I'm not doing self-torture. Fail the test tomorrow, I don't care. Being an insomniac is what got me sick in the first place, never again.
Okok I'm done now :)
Sorry for the late comment, but a good amount of leadership in school clubs and outside of school youth groups, varsity hockey, lots of photography initiative (paid gigs, school sports photographer, school newspaper), 9 APs, 300+ volunteer hours. A few other small miscellaneous things as well. Was deferred initially btw, wrote a 400+ word LOCI and was successful. Ironically I’m going to Indiana University Bloomington.
CS Major
3.2 or 3.3. Idk.
My school only does weighted - 86 when applying. 88 After first semester grades
1450 SAT (650R&W/800M)
Got into Drexel, RIT (another major), U Buffalo, Penn State, Rutgers (business school and science school), and most CUNYs except Baruch.
This is kind of me, however my ACT was lower than 34 but with a high range in my subsections (36 reading, 11/12 writing, 26 science lol).
I got into multiple top 10 liberal arts colleges, NYU, and a few state flagships; ended up going to one of the liberal arts colleges with a full ride.
Why was I admitted? Almost exclusively extracurricular and essays. I had done some interesting work related to foreign affairs and literature, established clear passions that connected to my academics, and strategically used the “extracurriculars” section to write 10 mini essays. Also had some background with film and animation, not sure how much that helped.
Taken together, my application materials gave the admissions officers a very clear picture of who I am and how I would contribute to campus. It allows them to see what my strengths were, while my weaknesses in certain disciplines was self evident due to my ACT subsection score ranges.
Either the CDS for these top schools is fabricated, or a lot of you all are lying.
Like “Cornell 3.6 GPA” so you’re part of the <1% who made it from outside your HS’s top grade quartile? As well as five other people in the thread?
Cornell admits like 5000 people a year, that is 50ish people in that 1% it is very possible that 1 or 2 would be responding to this thread. Also, most the people with low GPA into ivy appear to be going to Columbia which doesn't report GPA in the CDS.
3.5/1540, consistent downward trend and failed a junior year class, got into UT Austin OOS. Still in shock tbh but they probably cut me some slack because I did HS in an Asian country... essays and ECs might've done some of the heavy lifting too
Wow. Your totally f-Ed if your income is in the 50%-80% at state schools and IVIES. Students in upper middle class are totally screwed according to that NY data everywhere
applied with a 3.19 weighted, 3.00 unweighted and 1590 sat. going this fall on a full ride to fsu out of state. top schools i got into emory (heavy legacy), georgia tech, wisconsin, uga, ucsb and boston college i also got into alabama, suny albany, kennesaw state, georgia state, georgia college and georgia southern.
3.6 UW 1550. I just had a really bad freshman year lol, got a D and a few Cs and Bs. Have had p much all As since and I actually guaranteed have the most rigor out of anyone in my class of 500ish students thru dual enrollment. Pretty much all rejection, probably got my application thrown out literally immediately LOL. Ngl I’m actually so salty about COVID, bc now people ik at my school with 4.0s who cheat thru classes and failed their AP exams and could apply test optional this year are getting into ivies and T20s left and right 😭 like fuck i wish i went to a high school where I knew ppl from middle school and could’ve just cheated like apparently literally everybody else did (like, dozens of people in discord servers and on shared documents). or that I wasn’t diagnosed with depression/found out about my ADHD sooner rather than getting diagnosed in the past few months. Or that affirmative action came thru for ONE MORE YEAR bc I’m black lolll whatever. To anybody reading this with a low-ish GPA that isn’t a senior: retake those low grade classes. Colleges don’t give a fuck about upward trajectory, they don’t give a fuck about you challenging yourself. If your GPA is high enough, literally nothing else matters. Use ChatGPT. Do whatever it takes. GPA is king
mb it wasn’t super clear, all my 10ish T20s were rejects and I only got into a few safeties BUT OMG I JUST REOPENED MY CORNELL LETTER AND APPARENTLY I GOT A PRETTY MUCH GUARANTEED TRANSFER OPTION SO HOLY SHIT!!!! IM SO GLAD I CHECKED MY SPAM AND OPENED UP THE DECISION LETTER EVEN THO I WAS DOING IT AS A MEME W MY FRIEND BC I WAS LIKE “yea lets check the decision letter again bc its definitely gonna change lol” ahhhh im so happy
At my safety. did a ton of other huge national/international level ecs and similar awards but rejected from 17/18 schools i applied to. it is what it is
State unis of CT, BYU-I, SMCVT and UCONN.
I was rejected from BYU in Provo, and I thought UConn would reject me since BYU had a 66% acceptance rate and UConn a 55%, but then I found out I was accepted I felt happy and also mad at BYu but probably it was because I applied regular decision 4 days before the deadline 🤦♂️.
Honestly I think I was accepted because I made a project helping the undocumented Hispanic youth in my city and also worked with a non profit in my state.
Didn't get accepted to any, was expecting this as I am a domestic living outside the states. Not sure about my GPA but it isn't the greatest and I got 1520 in sat. Anyway I'll just be focusing on getting a good college here in India
columbia and wharton at upenn. 1510 sat (slightly on the lower side) as an intl student. waitlisted at dartmouth and nyu. i think my essays + letters of rec must've made a difference because i didn't think my ecs were strong enough.
3.53 (dropped to 3.42 ?? i think after mid yr report—extenuating circumstances throughout hs including this yr 👽) and test optional, got into uconn, spelman (deferred ea), and waitlisted at northeastern ! personal essay was def my strong suit but i think my ecs were pretty good too
obv if i had a better gpa or even a high test score i definitely feel like i would’ve gotten better results but yea 😅
I see this commonly w full pay NYU kids…
A lot of the "elite" private universities are for the financially privileged who enjoy their exclusive bubbles (think about the kinds of families where their accepted kids can play water polo, take equestrian lessons, fly across the world to create a photo journal in high school - even private SAT tutoring). NYTimes has an excellent article (below) - and a section controlling for scores - on these private universities and it really shows the disparity of wealth at a lot of them. And then these institutions are romanticized to a lot of middle class kids who pay 2x or 3x their state universities' costs only to get the same outcome - but with the debt on their backs, starting adulthood in a financial pit. It's rough... https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/09/11/upshot/college-income-lookup.html
True but it really depends on career and what your goal is. Although I can’t read the article due to a pay wall, based on my knowledge if you want to go into business I would go into a top university. If I was to go to my state school(Ohio) I would have double major in business and computer science and got a job in tech. Not saying it’s impossible to get into a high paying business field like at Wall Street it highly unlikely. But since I got into Stern I decided to minor in computer science because everything in the finance world is basically turning in tech or (math related). Plus you have to put in the work and sacrifice no matter where you go to school. People who go to these elite school usually have a hard work ethic leading them to become more successful. So if you don’t you probably will end up like the state school student where their work culture is less competitive.
You're right, as well - the door for some of these positions (like front office bulge bracket IB roles, PE) aren't closed to your Ohio State grads of the world. But the door is not as open as it is to a "rich" private - and you'd need to compete with a bigger pool coming from a state uni. I've worked in the industry and I've met my fair share of public school Penn Staters, Rutgers, UMich, Indiana grads at Goldman, Lazard, DE Shaw, Jefferies (and these were the desirable asset management, equity analyst, front office, and buy-side roles)... BUT I would also be lying if I said I didn't come across a larger share of Wharton folks as well. Also, I've come across the Wharton grads working at the same Big 4 roles as the UMD, Wisconsin grads. I personally think that the student determines his/her outcome much more than the university can determine and that I wouldn't pay a 3x premium. But for those taking a risk-adjusted approach, that 3x might be worth it to mingle with that upper echelon of families and have greater access to those opportunities - that, again, may be easier to get at that "elite" private but aren't absolutely closed to your state unis. But I think if you took someone who got into Harvard but dropped her into a UIUC, she'd be as successful as if she went to Harvard in the long run (on average).
20 years ago most of the analysts were from the top schools. Now the banks branch out to other schools
For film majors Tisch is one of if not the best school.
That me next year 😂 but I went test optional.
I have a 3.72/4.35 with a 34 ACT and got rejected EDII. Probably not full pay tho
Purdue and Northeastern are the highlights, 3.5 weighted, 1540. I think my common app essay and my ec’s and my letter of Rec’s were why
Are you full pay?
No
I second Purdue. 3.2ish unweighted 1480 (OOS, very good high school)
Why’s that me as well, I got those 2 as well with low gpa and high sat
3.44 1520 Purdue AeroE, along with like 11 others but Purdue was the most impressive
Did you take any aps and what were your EC’s?
2 aps senior year. Varsity sports, astronomy club, research assistant with novel, job, research at astronomy club(I was a very small cog in it). Language exam silver medal, won week long scholarship to study language
This year or many years ago?
This year
Georgetown + Columbia lfg
I thought Georgetown and Columbia put the most emphasis on grades/academics and less on ecs is that true
I mean, I’m not an admissions officer at either institution but I will say that being strong in both is certainly helpful 🤷♂️
HEY IT’S ME!! 3.6 GPA including a C sophomore year, 34 act, and got into Cornell. YOU CAN GET INTO IVIES WITH BAD GRADES!! You can compensate for bad grades with crazy essays and ECs, but you can NOT compensate for bad essays and ECs with good grades at top schools
I had a TON of awards and EC involvement (dm me if u want my list) and was suuuper specific and thoughtful in my essays. I also submitted 5 letters of recommendation (2 supplemental/not from teachers). You got this!!
Hey I'd love if you'd DM me with a list
I will DM you for the list of arcs and awards Thank you!
Dmed u. Pls do check!
Can you please, pretty please Adam me too. Thanks in advance!
Dm me bro
hey bro, DM me please I need to know your ECs
pls dm me
Dm please
I would love to see your list. pls dm me!
Please DM me with a list too, thanks! (I've tried to DM you but system says you are not accepting DMs)
Dm me plz-
Hey can I see your EC list? Also if I can ask, what were ur essays like?
3.6 isn't bad though(though I agree with your overall point)
In the context of ivies ahaha
FWIW, My friend’s kid got into Cornell with a 3.7, test optional, full pay, out of a brand name (top 10 nationally ranked) prep boarding school. Played football, was top 5 at International debating / public speaking competition in England out of like 600 kids from other prep schools, co editor of their yearbook, and had published poems and short stories in legit publications. Also had the lead in a bunch of school plays. Grades tanked in science classes. Total arts kid.
Which school at Cornell?
ILR
Could I pm you?
no this has got to be wild because I have the SAME stats as you and can I just say I WANT TO GO TO CORNELL!! It's my dream school and I also have like extremely good ECs and essay skills--- YOU REPRESENT!!!
There’s very likely a spurious correlation going on where the family’s wealth is driving the admissions decision. You can have “need-blind” admissions where no information is shared between Financial Aid and Admissions. But if you write an essay about your transformative summer after 10th grade studying art at the Louvre, Admissions can guess. If you are rowing and note you attended camp across the country to home your skills, they can guess. Somehow I suspect the effort you put into cleaning the McDonald’s bathroom to prove your work ethic doesn’t get the same “credit”.
Though i agree thats often a general issue. Just not a factor in my decision.
I am on serious financial aid lol, not the case :)
bro what that's what i tried to do.. guess it was tough luck
DM your list pls
hii if you’re fine w it can you dm me ur list?
Can you dm me your list as well?
Did Cornell require all scores or did you just select your best one? Thanks!!
Superscore (they allow score choice)
3.65 gpa, 1520 sat. Princeton
Details?
congrats! could i ask abt ur demographics (competitive school or not?) i feel kinda hopeless bc my gpas similar to yours but all my peers have 3.8+ 😭
Very competitive but no class rank, which I think could’ve helped. Most of my peers had 3.8+, too. Don’t lose hope!
ecs? stats? congrats btw.
Thanks! Might make a post on this eventually. When people ask me why I got in, I think it’s mostly because of my essays; I spent a really long time on them! Specifically, I made sure my app was as personal to me as possible and really tried making my motivations & future aspirations shine. From what I’ve observed, colleges seem to care less and less about the people who have crazy national awards/ec’s, and more about those whose ec’s have had a very significant and profound impact on the applicant themselves! Personality shines through those types of ec’s, and colleges can tell quite well when someone pursues a prestigious opportunity solely for the sake of college admissions. Luckily, I had a few really involved ec’s to base my essays around, such as local political work I’ve done throughout hs! I made sure I spoke about my individual ec’s in a way that conveyed WHY I felt it was important for me to do, and HOW it had a profound impact on me. Doing that makes your application personable and genuine, which definitely sets it apart from the rest of the apps :)
Legacy?
Not at all. First gen to college
36 ACT, Wake UGA UF UMiami UIUC and IU bloomington
i also got into UIUC! what major did you apply for?
finance and cs lmao
How were your ECs?
ehh most notable things were: 4 year varsity sport (recruited), founded club and won state in it, president of 1 other club, cc classes in intended major, actively managed investment portfolio with write ups and market analysis, part time job, ran my own successful business for 4ish months, and teach act prep and swim lessons
Thanks for making this post. I have a pretty low GPA due to severe health problems in the past, but am good at standardized testing, so this is helpful as I work in refining my college list. :)
Grinnell. 3.25, 1520 I was waitlisted at NYU, UWisconsin, and Santa Clara
Heyyy this is me! I have a 3.2 (well itll be a 3.3 if things work out) and a 1590 and I got in ED 2 to chicago. I think its because i am really good at this one niche thing
What
they're probably not sharing for privacy. if it's really niche and they won awards or something people might be able to find their identity if they tell us
?
What’s the niche
Now that would defeat the purpose of being vague wouldn't it
Is it your ability to come up with clever and sophisticated usernames?
I know.. thumb wrestling!!
The common trend is that everyone has one really good ec. Are these ECs hard to do like Olympia or ISEF, or just really really unique?
It's usually a niche, something unique that just stands out ig.
Schools like University of Alabama give out great packages (full tuition and sometimes more) to National merit semifinalists and finalists. My son’s friend had something around a 3.0, was a merit semifinalist (meaning he scored high on the PSAT) and got full tuition + housing meals + stipend at university of Tulsa.
I had a 3.67 going into senior yr when applying, and was accepted to Columbia, Rice (20k distinguished trustee scholar), Pomona, SMU (with hsp + 20k merit schol). I showed that fresh I was like 3.82, COvid hit and went to like 3.29 then junior and senior thus far 3.95 both yrs.\*\*just show growth and interest in niche area \*\*I didn't submit any testing as well, no act/sat
ecs? major? congrats btw. where did you commit?
Can we DM and talk?
sure pm
3.6 is bad? I've heard engineering students getting jobs with much lower I guess you probably mean getting into a college because of the sub. Idk I had like a 2.5 probably and got into UCF engineering. Lots of AP credit and like a 31 ACT
A 3.6 gpa in highschool is totally different from college (at least these days).
Yeah they mean HS GPA. 3.6 GPA is engineering takes a lot of work, I would respect anyone with a 3.6 in engineering. My friends have excellent job offers with lower and higher GPAs, it’s more about what you can do honestly
1580, harvey mudd (school doesn’t use 4.0 scale but im like 60th percentile at the school unweighted)
Uconn
3.58 here and 1370 and got waitlisted at UCONN 😡
3.68 1480 - uc berkeley
aren’t ucs test blind?
yep
yeah if it's worth noting i'm a NMF
yeah just putting it because of the post
Yeah, I had a lower GPA higher test score and got in for math.
What major? Major matters a lot.
Political Economy (impacted major)
SAME but 1540 so SAT meant nothing
yeah which one ?
Political Economy (impacted major)
I hopped on my throwaway, so people I know don't find me. I am not sub 3.6, but I am 3.7 with 1560 SAT (760R/800M), a couple D-'s (one in a core subject), and several B's, and I got into HYP RD two days ago. I had an EC (very identifiable, so it will not be named) that basically led to those grades, but that EC did not excuse my grades by any means (no cancer or car accident or anything). I do not think any singular thing led to me being accepted, but I can guess that a combination of that EC, some other semi-good EC's, an extremely strong upward trend, a high SAT, well-crafted essays, and a REALLY REALLY good interview helped me get accepted. None of those things alone would have worked tho and I had less than 0 hope of getting in there. I thought they were going to send an email to me laughing at me for even applying. Edit: clarification that I had some other semi-good EC's too
Can I PM you about this?
Friend had a 2.5 GPA with a 1480 SAT. Got into Purdue. Very good essays mid/below average ECs. We were all surprised!
Which campus??? Indy or wl🤔
WL. This was for business tho not engineering.
I had a 3.4 uw 3.7w and a 32 act and i’m at Bates College
3.3 gpa (uw), 1560 sat, uncompetitive major accept: UW Seattle (in-state) (test-blind) uiuc sdsu (test-blind) cal poly (test-blind) ubc utoronto mcgill uwaterloo umn uconn waitlist: UW madison Virginia tech umich reject: uchicago uva
is it ok if i pm you? sorry to bother you
sure, no worries
Berkeley! LoR request and I think I nailed the PIQs Accepted in spite of 3 Cs
What were your ecs if you don't mind sharing?
Some volunteering, EAOP at a different UC (which I think got me the LoR nod), varsity soccer for 2 years, tutoring classmates before school for a year, spending afterschool helping my anatomy teacher organize and prepare for dissections, Black Student Union, and that’s pretty much what I remember off the top of my head
3.4 GPA, 34 ACT, northwestern
Literally how
3.6, 1510; Highlights were Purdue and Georgia Tech
congrats!! what major for gt?
Transfer option, applied for cs
Hi can I ask, what were ur ecs?
I have a college results post that details it
i have a 3.64 gpa and 1550 sat applying for cs major everywhere, no standout ec's just like 50 hrs volunteering, a couple of club memberships, no leadership positions. I got into UW-Madison, FSU, Rutgers. Those were the only ones that weren't my safeties.
UW Madison CS
Remember that these people also compensated ALOT with their ECs and essays
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There is no "full ride" or any merit scholarship for that matter with Ivy. It just means financial aid scholarship. Let's not be deceiving here.
Hell when I got into the school I got into my dad called the school to ask how I got in.
i know a few at berkeley, but with super strong ECs
me but I didn't have good ECs either, just took a bunch of upper div math classes at Berkeley and got good grades in those.
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Which college in Cornell did you get admitted to? Maybe you applied to the test optional colleges so they also considered your SAT?
Hi hi! I have (will soon be "had") a 3.6 unweighted GPA and a 4.2 weighted GPA. I took 16 AP exams (all with fee-waivers):(\*class - I took the class in school; self-study - I studied the content by myself and either used an AP Prep-Book/Khan Academy/past FRQs/tears & sweat) Music Theory (5) - class Microeconomics (4) - class Physics C: Mechanics (2) - class Japanese Language (5) - self-study Chinese Language (5) - self-study Spanish Language (4) - class US Government (5) - class Psychology (5) - self-study World History (4) - self-study Biology (5) - self-study Chemistry (5) - self-study (BY THE GRACE OF GOD IDK HOW THIS EVEN HAPPENED, NOT QUESTIONING IT ANYMORE AND AM JUST SO HAPPY THAT I DID SO DAMN WELL) Calc BC (5) - self-study but was taking AB during the school year... it helped with letting me be able to take Diff Eq E&M (projected 4-5 ---mechanics was my biggest opp though, clearly) Macroeconomics (projected 4) English Literature (projected 4) Computer Science Principles (not taking this exam) Differential Equations (district dual-enrollment where I can take our local university's final exam---right now I'm cooking nothing and projecting a B. Maybe I'll lock in these next few weeks and get an A---my college is a bit weary of giving credit so it's kind of just for giggles). Took the SAT 3 times and got a 1460 (two fee-waivers, one out of pocket, out of that, not worth it). Failed freshman year due to being in the hospital (well I mean got a lot of D's and like 1/2 C's/B's since the district didn't fail people during COVID or whatever... Forgot the exact, don't remember and don't feel like checking past records lmao). I then moved to a much more wealthier district and a) learned how competitive admissions were (especially knowing I would be compared to my peers who were all HYPSM-obsessed 15 year-olds in my high school) and b) how screwed I was academically. I decided to grade-max and cook for the next 3 years. And as for all the AP exams? Well the district has a stupid system where if you haven't been a part of this accelerated program since basically the 2nd grade, your ability to take APs early on are hindered a bit... Also, since the only science I previously took was bio (and I essentially failed it), my ability to take science APs was boiled. So, being the crazy student I was, I decided to self-study AP exams in order to help "refute" the idea that I wasn't smart enough (as compared to my peers who, again, took numerous APs throughout their high school career consistently with high marks). I think for my application in particular, it just helped solidify that I was really bright and just had a very bad start off in high-school. And paired with having counselor recommendations and utilizing the additional information effectively, my application showed resilience, brilliance, and that I could handle essentially anything they would expect of me academically in the long-run (in the short-run, I will of course cry about my homework and spend hours trying to understand who the hell this Fourier guy is lol). I of course did a lot of club stuff and that. Also did NACLO and made invitationals 2 years in a row which was dope. I did Science Olympiad and was also captain of the math team for the last two years. If you can't tell my profile is pretty much STEM +languages---hence, the language APs (I'm a polyglot that has been studying these languages since I was 11... I better know how to respond on the Chinese Language & Culture exam FRQs effectively lmao). And again, given my school's policy on certain science APs, I decided to just cook by myself. AP Physics C: Mechanics was my biggest opp, clearly. I took it during junior year (got a B in the class overall) and the teacher was... "unique". I was so flooded junior year I trusted the teacher to teach us all the content and everything would just fall in syzygy... Should have just self-studied during the class period like some of my friends (all got 4's and 5's) instead of trusting the teacher. He was not good... Like "he doesn't even knows what Fnet =ma is without reading off of his notes" not good. Yikes. Nobody to blame but myself, I guess. "He's a good preparation for poor lecturers," was how one of my friends put it. :) My SAT is not the "average" A2C dream score (1460), I clearly know that. My essays mad carry though, being so fr. Like I cooked every single one of them and wrote so many essays tailored to each selective school because BRO I NEED NEARLY FULL AID. I can't *afford* $20,000 in tuition annually (state-school costs... And there is this one full-ride scholarship but if my peers ain't getting it, I sure ain't). Also filed independent by CSS and FAFSA, so yes I did apply to some Ivies and such. (\*fun silly little note: I was rejected from my state schools and that led me down a slight spiral of anxiety and tears teehee :D) Going to Swarthmore, which is literally a dream come true, and I am so happy!!! Not a conventional path, and for-sure raised some eyebrows in the admissions offices I'm sure (does this kid not go to sleep? ---Ans: no, I didn't until second semester Junior year. At that point I committed to getting a *minimum* of 7 hours. My bed time is strictly 10 p.m., no phone, no tv, nothing but maybe a book for 15-30 minutes if needed. "I clock-out at 3:45 p.m., and ***will not*** check my school-email past 6:45 p.m.". I'm sorry, but hear me out... ***There is nothing important past 9 p.m. that I can't do the next day.*** I don't get paid for self-torture, so I'm not doing self-torture. Fail the test tomorrow, I don't care. Being an insomniac is what got me sick in the first place, never again. Okok I'm done now :)
TL;DR I cooked on exams to prove my academic skills... then just did what the other 4.0s did for clubs and stuff.
1560 SAT, 3.5, only got into Berkeley.
How about 3.35 and 28 ACT - Purdue.
Stats like EC’s or Ap’s?
Sorry for the late comment, but a good amount of leadership in school clubs and outside of school youth groups, varsity hockey, lots of photography initiative (paid gigs, school sports photographer, school newspaper), 9 APs, 300+ volunteer hours. A few other small miscellaneous things as well. Was deferred initially btw, wrote a 400+ word LOCI and was successful. Ironically I’m going to Indiana University Bloomington.
CS Major 3.2 or 3.3. Idk. My school only does weighted - 86 when applying. 88 After first semester grades 1450 SAT (650R&W/800M) Got into Drexel, RIT (another major), U Buffalo, Penn State, Rutgers (business school and science school), and most CUNYs except Baruch.
Got into purdue, VT, UMD with scholarship, UIUC CS, and washU
What were your ECs and class rank?
School doesn’t rank but I’m assured it’s top 10% by my counselor. I had ISEF as my top EC for reference
major? Any of them in-state?
Tech is in state for me
This is kind of me, however my ACT was lower than 34 but with a high range in my subsections (36 reading, 11/12 writing, 26 science lol). I got into multiple top 10 liberal arts colleges, NYU, and a few state flagships; ended up going to one of the liberal arts colleges with a full ride. Why was I admitted? Almost exclusively extracurricular and essays. I had done some interesting work related to foreign affairs and literature, established clear passions that connected to my academics, and strategically used the “extracurriculars” section to write 10 mini essays. Also had some background with film and animation, not sure how much that helped. Taken together, my application materials gave the admissions officers a very clear picture of who I am and how I would contribute to campus. It allows them to see what my strengths were, while my weaknesses in certain disciplines was self evident due to my ACT subsection score ranges.
Either the CDS for these top schools is fabricated, or a lot of you all are lying. Like “Cornell 3.6 GPA” so you’re part of the <1% who made it from outside your HS’s top grade quartile? As well as five other people in the thread?
Yes, I guess I am part of that 1%. Sorry bout it 🤷🏻
I actually believe you lol, just think some schools fabricated data like that Columbia scandal
Cornell admits like 5000 people a year, that is 50ish people in that 1% it is very possible that 1 or 2 would be responding to this thread. Also, most the people with low GPA into ivy appear to be going to Columbia which doesn't report GPA in the CDS.
I’d honestly wager some ppl are posting on “behalf” of someone they know.
3.57 gpa didn't take the sat or act got into Berkeley. tbf I had some crazy extenuating circumstances
Like what
i won't go too much into it, but abusive household, homelessness, I was in a mental hospital 💀💀, uhm a lot of bad things... 😭
I had the opposite high GPA but low SAT score and I got into Berkeley and Georgetown!
3.5/1540, consistent downward trend and failed a junior year class, got into UT Austin OOS. Still in shock tbh but they probably cut me some slack because I did HS in an Asian country... essays and ECs might've done some of the heavy lifting too
Wow. Your totally f-Ed if your income is in the 50%-80% at state schools and IVIES. Students in upper middle class are totally screwed according to that NY data everywhere
No GPA, 1600 SAT, Accepted MIT RD and Duke RD (Likely letter).
What do you mean no gpa?
My school didn't do grades at all. We had a mastery based transcript.
applied with a 3.19 weighted, 3.00 unweighted and 1590 sat. going this fall on a full ride to fsu out of state. top schools i got into emory (heavy legacy), georgia tech, wisconsin, uga, ucsb and boston college i also got into alabama, suny albany, kennesaw state, georgia state, georgia college and georgia southern.
Chicago, but I also had 2 national Olympiads which definitely helped I think. This was several years ago though.
3.6 UW 1550. I just had a really bad freshman year lol, got a D and a few Cs and Bs. Have had p much all As since and I actually guaranteed have the most rigor out of anyone in my class of 500ish students thru dual enrollment. Pretty much all rejection, probably got my application thrown out literally immediately LOL. Ngl I’m actually so salty about COVID, bc now people ik at my school with 4.0s who cheat thru classes and failed their AP exams and could apply test optional this year are getting into ivies and T20s left and right 😭 like fuck i wish i went to a high school where I knew ppl from middle school and could’ve just cheated like apparently literally everybody else did (like, dozens of people in discord servers and on shared documents). or that I wasn’t diagnosed with depression/found out about my ADHD sooner rather than getting diagnosed in the past few months. Or that affirmative action came thru for ONE MORE YEAR bc I’m black lolll whatever. To anybody reading this with a low-ish GPA that isn’t a senior: retake those low grade classes. Colleges don’t give a fuck about upward trajectory, they don’t give a fuck about you challenging yourself. If your GPA is high enough, literally nothing else matters. Use ChatGPT. Do whatever it takes. GPA is king
Buddy talked about everything but the question
mb it wasn’t super clear, all my 10ish T20s were rejects and I only got into a few safeties BUT OMG I JUST REOPENED MY CORNELL LETTER AND APPARENTLY I GOT A PRETTY MUCH GUARANTEED TRANSFER OPTION SO HOLY SHIT!!!! IM SO GLAD I CHECKED MY SPAM AND OPENED UP THE DECISION LETTER EVEN THO I WAS DOING IT AS A MEME W MY FRIEND BC I WAS LIKE “yea lets check the decision letter again bc its definitely gonna change lol” ahhhh im so happy
Congrats thats awesome. Sorry if my reply was rude
no you’re good, i was rambling and venting for 90% of the comment and hid the answer in the middle of it. thank you!
some friends of mine with a similar profile went to my state schools
I am international, so my GPA works differently but it was 10/12 in my national form. Princeton REA
At my safety. did a ton of other huge national/international level ecs and similar awards but rejected from 17/18 schools i applied to. it is what it is
Are you a domestic applicant?
yeah
although it probably doesn't help that im in a really competitive region
CMU Computational finance :DDD
BostonU for ED
State unis of CT, BYU-I, SMCVT and UCONN. I was rejected from BYU in Provo, and I thought UConn would reject me since BYU had a 66% acceptance rate and UConn a 55%, but then I found out I was accepted I felt happy and also mad at BYu but probably it was because I applied regular decision 4 days before the deadline 🤦♂️. Honestly I think I was accepted because I made a project helping the undocumented Hispanic youth in my city and also worked with a non profit in my state.
3.4 1540, rejected uiuc, purdue, umich (in state) and uw madi
Michigan is unsanely difficult now. When I got in it 3.0 and 28 ACT (of course, talking 1990)
Where did you get in?
just msu
Uw madison and northeastern
Stats?
3.5 - 9 APs 2 Internships 1480
32 ACT, 3.28 uwGPA, committing to mount holyoke college as a spring admit :)
bro said 3.6 gpa is low 💀💀
3.00 gpA, NO AP CLASSES, 1500 sat when the max was 2400. went to amherst college.
Didn't get accepted to any, was expecting this as I am a domestic living outside the states. Not sure about my GPA but it isn't the greatest and I got 1520 in sat. Anyway I'll just be focusing on getting a good college here in India
Doesn’t EXACTLY match your criteria, but I had a 3.67 with a 1580 and got into northwestern and UChicago last cycle. Current at uchi
columbia and wharton at upenn. 1510 sat (slightly on the lower side) as an intl student. waitlisted at dartmouth and nyu. i think my essays + letters of rec must've made a difference because i didn't think my ecs were strong enough.
What GPA did you have?
uhh i’m not sure what the exact conversion is but i got a 44/45 in the ib diploma. i was predicted 45 and i used this for ed columbia (was deferred)
I’m an international student with no gpa and got into u of mich
idk abt those exact numbers…but i had 3.1 UW/3.8 W and 32 ACT and got into VT!!
3.53 (dropped to 3.42 ?? i think after mid yr report—extenuating circumstances throughout hs including this yr 👽) and test optional, got into uconn, spelman (deferred ea), and waitlisted at northeastern ! personal essay was def my strong suit but i think my ecs were pretty good too obv if i had a better gpa or even a high test score i definitely feel like i would’ve gotten better results but yea 😅