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@rsri
7 answers, 20 votes
 • 2 years ago •
Admissions Advice

What can I improve in my application to have better chances of being accepted into my top school?
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I'm currently a junior in high school with a 3.7 GPA, it may be relatively low, but out of 32 total classes I will be taking 16 AP classes along with 6 honors classes throughout all of high school. I am an A-B student, so average with grades regardless of course difficulty. I am in multiple extracurricular activities such as captain of the varsity swim team, and member of: the future problem-solving club, debate club, international culture club, a couple of honors societies, and more. I have an engineering internship this summer, and have taken a majority of stem classes; I specifically successfully took every math course my school had to offer. My SAT score is currently 1270 after I took it for the first time in May. As per Collegevine, I have low chances of entering my top schools (university of michigan- ann arbor, Binghamton, University of Pittsburgh), and I want to know what I need to do to improve my chances of making it in. I want to be an engineer, I'm considering industrial, but until I can get a full confirmation that I want to commit to that, I guess I'm stuck between disciplines.

If anyone can offer any sort of advice and inform me on what I should do to enhance my chances it would be greatly appreciated!

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Accepted Answer
@CameronBameron
2,281 answers, 8,539 votes
 • 2 years ago[edited]

No one needs 16 APs to get into a good school. Even if you had 8, you'd be perfectly fine for all the schools you are interested in, maybe still on the heavy side.

Your main problem is your low GPA and low SAT score.

So my recommendation is you cut back on your APs like in 1/2 next term and get your grades up. And secondly grind this summer on SAT prep and aim for a 1450+ score. If you can figure out how to sit for 16 AP classes and still get a 3.7, then it should be no problem to focus 1/2 your energy on prepping for the SAT and getting that up by 200 points. Again, whoever told you that having 16 APs is a key to college admissions is not helping you out enough because your GPA is drowning in course rigor. It would have looked better to have 8 APs and a 3.9 GPA.

Your ECs are perfectly fine for these schools so I would leave them alone. Work on your Common App essay is the 3rd recommendation.

Good luck.

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[🎤 AUTHOR]@rsri2 years ago

that makes sense thank you for the advice. I can definitely say that although I did take the AP classes for my transcript, I also took them because I prefer them to standard classes. I just enjoy the fast-paced learning environment. Unfortunately, some of those classes are like you said, tanking my GPA. 1 question though, if my GPA goes to around a 3.7-3.8, but my SAT score increases to around 1400+, and my college essay is okay, would that be good enough to get into my goal schools?

[🎤 AUTHOR]@rsri2 years ago

I recently submitted my first college essay draft to Collegevine for a review of it to see how it sounds from someone else's pov. I'm not sure if you can view it but it's more or less the chronological story of how I developed a passion for math through many struggles and self-doubt. Could this be a good potential idea to write about as someone who wants to go into engineering?

@CameronBameron2 years ago

I think you need to step back and try to see things from the perspective of an admissions officers lens of priorities. First, they are only going to advocate for you if they believe you are good fit for their school. Secondly, they are looking at your whole application holistically but trying to pick apart things that look inconsistent with a high achiever. So if you have lots of APs but low GPA and low SAT, that just means that you are over-challenging yourself an not getting the results.

@CameronBameron2 years ago

That is why I stress you cut back on the APs, get your GPA up, and grind on the SAT. Your essay or optional information section paragraph may not have enough weight (gravitas) to explain the discrepancy in my opinion. Why? There are just too many applicants with high GPAs and higher test scores these days.

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Unweighted GPA: 3.7
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SAT: 720 math
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