Anonymous
Post 12/17/2025 20:26     Subject: Low-ish GPA/High-ish SAT success stories for male in RD?
Anonymous wrote:Hi all,

Trying to gather some anecdata. Has anyone's DC had good or surprisingly good results in RD for a male student with a low-ish GPA and a high-ish SAT and solid ECs? We're trying to figure out what's possible.

Tiny private school so scoir data feels unhelpful.
GPA: uw 3.7-ish, weighted 4.1-ish, good rigor. no grades ever below B+.
SAT: 1510
ECs: 3-season varsity athlete (not a captain), senior leader on newspaper, some other school leadership, community service
Major: Poli sci or History
Interested in mid-sized campuses, urban or suburban (not rural).
Male
Good references from math/humanities teachers.
Interested primarily in East Coast or West Coast because of family.
Good writer so essays will be strong.


Our midwest private sees these kids get into Cornell Brooks.
Anonymous
Post 12/17/2025 19:50     Subject: Low-ish GPA/High-ish SAT success stories for male in RD?
Anonymous wrote:Depends on the "tiny private"

If it is religious based less options.



Why?
Anonymous
Post 12/17/2025 19:44     Subject: Low-ish GPA/High-ish SAT success stories for male in RD?
Depends on the "tiny private"

If it is religious based less options.

Anonymous
Post 12/17/2025 19:42     Subject: Low-ish GPA/High-ish SAT success stories for male in RD?
Above poster- GWU. He may also want to consider William and Mary and Wake Forest
Anonymous
Post 12/17/2025 19:42     Subject: Low-ish GPA/High-ish SAT success stories for male in RD?
My kid (male) had a very similar profile. At a T20-T30. Waitlisted at Georgetown RD after being deferred EA so it’s possible for your kid! Merit at American and GEU.
Anonymous
Post 12/17/2025 19:37     Subject: Low-ish GPA/High-ish SAT success stories for male in RD?
Well, a “tiny” private school typically has strong college counseling sending kids to various top colleges, the results are usually better than a typical private school. Easier to advocate for 60 kids versus 160 kids. Your school counselor should be able to advise you on the right colleges in NY, MA, etc. Also, a 3.7 at a tiny school is different from a 3.7 from your local public school.
Anonymous
Post 12/17/2025 19:28     Subject: Low-ish GPA/High-ish SAT success stories for male in RD?
Anonymous wrote:UW-3.7 is not a low-ish GPA. This is why I hate DCUMs sometimes. And 1510 is a solidly high SAT.

No, he likely won't make Harvard or maybe T25, but otherwise, he can go anywhere else in the country.


For a public school - UW 3.7 is low compared to a 1500+ SAT. I know because I was told look for schools where DS's GPA and SAT are above 50%. And a bunch of the schools - his SAT was like at 75% but his GPA was below 25%...
Anonymous
Post 12/17/2025 19:19     Subject: Low-ish GPA/High-ish SAT success stories for male in RD?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Try LACs -- maybe Haverford? Great school, good location, they have a heavy thumb on the scale for boys.

+1, we’ve had a 3.6/1530 get in to Williams and Middlebury from DS’s hs


I think most would recognize, based on the school's cds stats, that this is unusual.
Anonymous
Post 12/17/2025 19:18     Subject: Low-ish GPA/High-ish SAT success stories for male in RD?
He would really benefit from applying ED1 and ED2 to schools that have relatively high acceptance rate in ED-- Tufts, Emory, Tulane, Miami, Wake, Wash U.
Anonymous
Post 12/17/2025 19:15     Subject: Low-ish GPA/High-ish SAT success stories for male in RD?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What does mid size mean?
What would your top choices be for a reach, target, and safety?


Midsize would be something like Boston College or Tufts.


Either Tufts or BC would be a good choice, but for both, you'd need to apply ED.


ED1 deadline passed. ED2 boost is not that much.
Anonymous
Post 12/17/2025 19:06     Subject: Low-ish GPA/High-ish SAT success stories for male in RD?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:You're private, so I'm assuming you'd prefer private


Not necessarily. We're open to all strong programs where he has a shot of getting in! He does prefer mid-size (like 10K or below) so that would generally mean private, but he expects to apply to our state uni as well.


Why can't you say what state you're from?

Threads like these are so damned useless. Nobody has any idea if your "tiny" private school is any good, whether it has a good track record with getting students into good colleges, or where your kid's "lowish" GPA places him in his own class. We have practically zero context and nothing to go on other than the SAT and don't even know what area of the friggin' country you're from.

Is it really and truly useful for posters to just throw out random college suggestions from all over the country? And doesn't your school have a guidance department?



Sorry. We are in Seattle. We will apply to our public state school (UW Seattle) but I wanted some smaller suggestions too. We have family in CA, MA and NYC so Northeast and Westcoast would be preferences.
Anonymous
Post 12/17/2025 19:03     Subject: Low-ish GPA/High-ish SAT success stories for male in RD?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What does mid size mean?
What would your top choices be for a reach, target, and safety?


Midsize would be something like Boston College or Tufts.


Either Tufts or BC would be a good choice, but for both, you'd need to apply ED.
Anonymous
Post 12/17/2025 18:58     Subject: Low-ish GPA/High-ish SAT success stories for male in RD?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:You're private, so I'm assuming you'd prefer private


Not necessarily. We're open to all strong programs where he has a shot of getting in! He does prefer mid-size (like 10K or below) so that would generally mean private, but he expects to apply to our state uni as well.


Why can't you say what state you're from?

Threads like these are so damned useless. Nobody has any idea if your "tiny" private school is any good, whether it has a good track record with getting students into good colleges, or where your kid's "lowish" GPA places him in his own class. We have practically zero context and nothing to go on other than the SAT and don't even know what area of the friggin' country you're from.

Is it really and truly useful for posters to just throw out random college suggestions from all over the country? And doesn't your school have a guidance department?

Anonymous
Post 12/17/2025 18:56     Subject: Low-ish GPA/High-ish SAT success stories for male in RD?
Anonymous wrote:Try LACs -- maybe Haverford? Great school, good location, they have a heavy thumb on the scale for boys.

+1, we’ve had a 3.6/1530 get in to Williams and Middlebury from DS’s hs
Anonymous
Post 12/17/2025 18:55     Subject: Low-ish GPA/High-ish SAT success stories for male in RD?
Anonymous wrote:UW-3.7 is not a low-ish GPA. This is why I hate DCUMs sometimes. And 1510 is a solidly high SAT.

No, he likely won't make Harvard or maybe T25, but otherwise, he can go anywhere else in the country.


This. I hope OP is a troll. That’s a great GPA.