Anonymous
01/20/2026 14:30
Subject: Low gpa strong SAT with strong math focus
OP, what are her goals? Graduate school, the job market? What is the financial situation?
Anonymous
01/20/2026 14:29
Subject: Low gpa strong SAT with strong math focus
Anonymous wrote:OP, please consider Oxford and Cambridge. These schools will not care about your GPA. They will look at your AP scores.
St. Andrews and Warwick and Imperial as well. Warwick in particular is considered the third best UK school for maths alongside Imperial after Oxbridge.
Anonymous
01/20/2026 14:27
Subject: Low gpa strong SAT with strong math focus
I have no idea where you daughter will get in but I just want to say that I think it is crazy that she is not a candidate for the very top stem schools in the nation. She is clearly extremely strong in math- the fact that she struggled in foreign language seems completely irrelevant to her ability to be a valuable member of any college community or a success in later life.
Does she know other, older kids from her math competitions with similar backgrounds to hers? Maybe try to find some kids like that and see how they did in the college rat race.
Does she know other, older kids from her math competitions with similar backgrounds to hers? Maybe try to find some kids like that and see how they did in the college rat race.
Anonymous
01/20/2026 14:25
Subject: Low gpa strong SAT with strong math focus
Anonymous wrote:What kind of colleges should a student who has a gpa of 3.4 from a private school with 1550 SAT but strong math EC (multiple prestigious math camps and published research paper) and advanced math classes have a good shot at. She does not want to apply to LAC.
Ohio university HTC, OSU, UWisconsin, UMich (reach), Rice (reach), UGA, URochester, UCSB CCS all have good math programs.
WPI has no enforced prerequisites so the world is her oyster, though the program is more applied.
Anonymous
01/20/2026 14:18
Subject: Low gpa strong SAT with strong math focus
Start on the other side of things. Look up schools that don’t have foreign language requirements for graduation. Apply there. If there is a way to express excitement about the opportunity to study more deeply or double major in the area of interest because there are fewer gen ed requirements, do so.
Look at Rice? Georgia Texh? It will depend on the degree.
Look at Rice? Georgia Texh? It will depend on the degree.
Anonymous
01/20/2026 14:09
Subject: Re:Low gpa strong SAT with strong math focus
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:3.4? Did she get a “B” on her research paper? Makes it look “bought” if you ask me.
Those camps require raw talent to get in, and stay through. I wouldn't dismiss this case so causally.
It's probably a language learning issue. My Cornell kid (posted earlier) had it. Thriving there.
Languages aren't everyone's jam.
If As in everything else at a STRONG private, a good CCO and IEC can figure out a story.
How can the low grades be in FL alone (2 end of year ones so far thru 10th, I assume) and kid is bottom half of grade’s GPA?
While she has Cs in FL, she also has some Bs in english and history. But just the Cs bring down the gpa quite a bit.
Anonymous
01/20/2026 14:07
Subject: Low gpa strong SAT with strong math focus
Unfortunately private schools don't hand out As like candy. OP probably took a lot of advanced stem classes. The uw 3.4 does not reflect what is in the transcript. This gpa is easily equivalent or surpass a 4.0 at a local public school.
Anonymous
01/20/2026 14:05
Subject: Low gpa strong SAT with strong math focus
3.4 is bottom half if not bottom quintile in every private school in our area of VA.
The OP, even with three year long Cs and the rest As would have a 3.55-3.7 unweighted depending on # of courses.
There must be other Bs or a lot of A-. In any version, the 3.4 is too low to get in anywhere besides Alabama or Auburn (engineering, stem) and similar schools which allow for lower GPA. If she is that smart in math she will be a top student these places. UTK could also work.
The OP, even with three year long Cs and the rest As would have a 3.55-3.7 unweighted depending on # of courses.
There must be other Bs or a lot of A-. In any version, the 3.4 is too low to get in anywhere besides Alabama or Auburn (engineering, stem) and similar schools which allow for lower GPA. If she is that smart in math she will be a top student these places. UTK could also work.
Anonymous
01/20/2026 13:58
Subject: Re:Low gpa strong SAT with strong math focus
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:3.4? Did she get a “B” on her research paper? Makes it look “bought” if you ask me.
Those camps require raw talent to get in, and stay through. I wouldn't dismiss this case so causally.
It's probably a language learning issue. My Cornell kid (posted earlier) had it. Thriving there.
Languages aren't everyone's jam.
If As in everything else at a STRONG private, a good CCO and IEC can figure out a story.
How can the low grades be in FL alone (2 end of year ones so far thru 10th, I assume) and kid is bottom half of grade’s GPA?
How is this hard to understand? Top privates (Sidwell, etc) have an average class GPA of about 3.5. A 3.4 is bottom half. A couple of 2.0 C's would easily put you there.
Anonymous
01/20/2026 13:57
Subject: Re:Low gpa strong SAT with strong math focus
Anonymous wrote:This candidate is a bit of a puzzle: strong school, weak GPA, very strong in math. The only thing that seems certain is that even with the best advice there will be a lot of uncertainty and stress.
I’d like to suggest a safety: apply early in the fall to the University of Minnesota. Minnesota has rolling admissions and a 75% acceptance rate. The Niche scatterplot, for what it’s worth, shows high SAT-low GPA kids getting in. This year the supplement was 200 words on why this major, which sounds like it would be easy for this kid to knock out. The math department is well regarded (tied, in this year’s USNWR reputation score, with CMU and JHU), and it offers a BS degree that does not require foreign language. It’s also a big school (which she wants) in a fun city. And you will save so much in tuition that the new boots and jacket will be trivial expenditures.
Assuming she gets in, that will put a floor under her possible outcomes, relieving a lot of stress and letting her focus on her most preferred schools. If by chance she does not get in, then you will all have early notice to panic. Which sounds bad, but is actually much better than panicking after ED results come out in December, because it will give you time to get more applications in to EA schools before the November 1 deadline.
Everyone should be applying to a rolling safety unless even with aid it is unaffordable. This suggestion is not only for certain kinds of kids.
-NP
Anonymous
01/20/2026 13:56
Subject: Re:Low gpa strong SAT with strong math focus
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:3.4? Did she get a “B” on her research paper? Makes it look “bought” if you ask me.
Those camps require raw talent to get in, and stay through. I wouldn't dismiss this case so causally.
It's probably a language learning issue. My Cornell kid (posted earlier) had it. Thriving there.
Languages aren't everyone's jam.
If As in everything else at a STRONG private, a good CCO and IEC can figure out a story.
How can the low grades be in FL alone (2 end of year ones so far thru 10th, I assume) and kid is bottom half of grade’s GPA?
Anonymous
01/20/2026 13:52
Subject: Re:Low gpa strong SAT with strong math focus
Anonymous wrote:This candidate is a bit of a puzzle: strong school, weak GPA, very strong in math. The only thing that seems certain is that even with the best advice there will be a lot of uncertainty and stress.
I’d like to suggest a safety: apply early in the fall to the University of Minnesota. Minnesota has rolling admissions and a 75% acceptance rate. The Niche scatterplot, for what it’s worth, shows high SAT-low GPA kids getting in. This year the supplement was 200 words on why this major, which sounds like it would be easy for this kid to knock out. The math department is well regarded (tied, in this year’s USNWR reputation score, with CMU and JHU), and it offers a BS degree that does not require foreign language. It’s also a big school (which she wants) in a fun city. And you will save so much in tuition that the new boots and jacket will be trivial expenditures.
Assuming she gets in, that will put a floor under her possible outcomes, relieving a lot of stress and letting her focus on her most preferred schools. If by chance she does not get in, then you will all have early notice to panic. Which sounds bad, but is actually much better than panicking after ED results come out in December, because it will give you time to get more applications in to EA schools before the November 1 deadline.
Thank you for such detailes advice. Very helpful.
- Op
Anonymous
01/20/2026 13:50
Subject: Re:Low gpa strong SAT with strong math focus
Anonymous wrote:3.4? Did she get a “B” on her research paper? Makes it look “bought” if you ask me.
Op here, the research paper is very good and she presented at a conference. It was outside school so there was no grade.
Anonymous
01/20/2026 13:41
Subject: Low gpa strong SAT with strong math focus
Anonymous wrote:colleges need to move to gpa optional, the test is the most important thing it cuts out all the noise and fake school gpas
Not gonna happen. A few AOs have told us that GPA and transcript is a better reflection of the student throughout the 4 years versus an SAT/ACT score which is a reflection of one day.
Anonymous
01/20/2026 12:58
Subject: Low gpa strong SAT with strong math focus
colleges need to move to gpa optional, the test is the most important thing it cuts out all the noise and fake school gpas