“Higher” SAT, “Lower” GPA

[Anonymous]

My kid’s SAT is in the upper 1300s, but their GPA is 3.9 unweighted, due to health issues that made them miss school for some time during soph year. They attend a FCPS, bottom tier HS. Also has three 5s on APs and one 4. Will take AP calc AB senior year, and three other APs At least one AP in the five main subject areas.

They have decent extracurriculars: summer jobs, two varsity sports, long term club sport, volunteer coach.

They are applying to large state, top 75 type schools (VT, JMU, UGA, Penn St) to non-impacted majors, think history, communications, sociology.

They will explain the health issue in the common app.

Usually admissions see kids with GPAs that are inflated compared to SAT scores. My kid is the opposite.

Will my kid have a good shot, being that now more schools are going test required? The schools they are applying to are still TO though?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid’s SAT is in the upper 1300s, but their GPA is 3.9 unweighted, due to health issues that made them miss school for some time during soph year. They attend a FCPS, bottom tier HS. Also has three 5s on APs and one 4. Will take AP calc AB senior year, and three other APs At least one AP in the five main subject areas.

They have decent extracurriculars: summer jobs, two varsity sports, long term club sport, volunteer coach.

They are applying to large state, top 75 type schools (VT, JMU, UGA, Penn St) to non-impacted majors, think history, communications, sociology.

They will explain the health issue in the common app.

Usually admissions see kids with GPAs that are inflated compared to SAT scores. My kid is the opposite.

Will my kid have a good shot, being that now more schools are going test required? The schools they are applying to are still TO though?

Frankly, OP, I think you have it backwards. 'Round these parts, your kid has a lower SAT and a higher GPA.

[Anonymous]

You sure that's the unweighted GPA? That's high? SAT score is low unless a star athelete

[Anonymous]

Just apply test optional where you can. Private schools and SLACs okay with this profile!

[Anonymous]

Agree you have it backwards

[Anonymous]

3.9 unweighted is great!

Did you mistype?

[Anonymous]

If 50% of kids in your high school have 4.0 gpa, then the 3.9 gpa is low. If only 5 people have higher than 3.9, then your gpa is high. It’s all relative. It has to be evaluated in the context of your school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If 50% of kids in your high school have 4.0 gpa, then the 3.9 gpa is low. If only 5 people have higher than 3.9, then your gpa is high. It’s all relative. It has to be evaluated in the context of your school.

Yes.

[Anonymous]

Study your high schools placements. Is there a document that shows where kids have been admitted the last two cycles? If so, you can feed your kids profile into paid generative AI and ask it to do analysis of where to apply.

It’s only helpful if you have a good list of where kids get into from your school. Our school publishes a PDF with schools were kids have been admitted. AI can take a look at your high school profile and figure out how your child might be viewed in terms of quartiles.

It also is helpful to upload your kids transcript and have them do that analysis. I suspect they will give you a lot of suggestions on schools that are test optional.

Those majors are generally good. Make sure your extracurriculars align with the major And you have a really tight story. Focus on essays. They are especially important for test optional candidates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid’s SAT is in the upper 1300s, but their GPA is 3.9 unweighted, due to health issues that made them miss school for some time during soph year. They attend a FCPS, bottom tier HS. Also has three 5s on APs and one 4. Will take AP calc AB senior year, and three other APs At least one AP in the five main subject areas.

They have decent extracurriculars: summer jobs, two varsity sports, long term club sport, volunteer coach.

They are applying to large state, top 75 type schools (VT, JMU, UGA, Penn St) to non-impacted majors, think history, communications, sociology.

They will explain the health issue in the common app.

Usually admissions see kids with GPAs that are inflated compared to SAT scores. My kid is the opposite.

Will my kid have a good shot, being that now more schools are going test required? The schools they are applying to are still TO though?

OP, take a look at this: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1281386.page

[Anonymous]

I am not OP, but my kid is in that position - 1560 SAT but GPA 3.6UW - his school does not weigh GPAs but the vast majority of those classes are honors. Is there a way to determine which colleges are more receptive to that? His Bs were mostly freshman year.

[Anonymous]

OP here. My bad. I meant WEIGHTED GPA of 3.9.

[Anonymous]

This is exactly what holistic admission is a good thing. You and the counselor can talk about the health issue (there's a question about education disruption) so they understand that the GPA isn't reflecting the student's ability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not OP, but my kid is in that position - 1560 SAT but GPA 3.6UW - his school does not weigh GPAs but the vast majority of those classes are honors. Is there a way to determine which colleges are more receptive to that? His Bs were mostly freshman year.

Take a look at this for reference: https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/801813.page

[Anonymous]

Jesus Christ. Is grade inflation so rampant now that a 3.9 UNWEIGHTED is considered a "low" GPA?