Applying to college?

Question

I have a 3.71 GPA. I got almost all of my Bs during sophomore year, which pulled my gpa down. However, I did really well during junior year, and I'm planning on getting all As for the first semester during senior year. My question is, if I apply early decision to any schools, would they be able to see my first semester of senior year's grades? Do they wait and make their decision until after they see those grades?

In my situation, would it be more advantageous to apply early decision or regular?

Answer 1

In most cases, a 3.71 GPA should get you into most good state schools if your SAT or ACT scores are half decent. A 3.1 GPA and 1370 SAT (without the writing portion) was enough to get me Texas Tech University (a good school by most standards).

Answer 2

It's not about GPA, it's about rank. You mention Duke and Chicago. Those schools will consider you as long as you're in the top 10% of your class and strongly consider you if you're in the top 5%. It will also depend on the SAT scores. With a 2300 plus, top 10% will sound better than with a 2150. It's the full picture that matters and also the strength of your course load.

If your GPA and rank are not as good as they will be later in the year, don't apply ED. You only get one chance to make a good first impression! ED/EA is not a huge boost at those schools. It looks as though it is because that's when they accept all of the connected kids--the athletes, legacies and children of politicians and the very wealthy. The average applicant has no advantage in that round. In fact, Chicago was just a bloodbath EA this past year.