Can I test high enough to get into a good college with a 3.0 GPA?Answered
I am a high school junior who has just started looking into colleges. I took the PSAT this year and scored a 1330, and I plan to take the SAT in May. I test well, but I often don't have the time to finish homework on top of my job and participating in my school's theater program. If I'm not able to get my grades up enough to look good to colleges on their own, will I be able to score high enough on the SAT to make up for it?
Earn karma by helping others:
3 answers
Hi there @spencellio,
This depends on if you clear the Academic Index for the school, a threshold that can be hard to guess especially at the more competitive schools.
That being said, GPA is typically weighed the highest in admissions, slightly higher than SAT/ACT scores because it represents your academic prowess over years rather than demonstrated in one sitting.
You can also regularly check our chancing engine against your grades to see your chances at each of your prospective schools.
Hope this helps and best of luck!
This really really really depends on what you define as a "good college" and what extracurriculars you do/have. A 3.0 is not bad for many colleges, but unless you're a national winner or are super super amazing on a state level in whatever your extracurriculars are, or maybe you founded 4 clubs, then you won't get into any ivy colleges. But there are 6000 colleges, and just because the top may be out of reach, you still have like 5900 colleges. I would try to get those grades higher and work on your ECs, but you'll be just fine for most colleges with a 3.0 GPA. SAT won't make much of a difference as it's becoming less and less important, but it wouldn't hurt to have, especially if it's really high.
Good luck!
Some colleges really don't care much about your high school grades but it really just depends. Find a school you want to go to and look up their requirements and how other students got in.
Your chance of acceptance
Your chancing factors
Community Guidelines
To keep this community safe and supportive:
- Be kind and respectful!
- Keep posts relevant to college admissions and high school.
- Don’t ask “chance-me” questions. Use CollegeVine’s chancing instead!