Increasing chances of acceptance with a GPA of 3.0 into a top college for physics undergrad as an immigrant Answered
I am an immigrant from India and came to Canada last year. I had average(60-70/80%) in 9th, 86% in 10th class, and completed my 11th grade in Canadian High school. I have an average of 70% and gpa of 2.56. I will be retaking two courses to increase my gpa upto 3.0.
I couldn't score well due to some family issues and my mental health, which impacted my attendance, performance in class, communication,etc. All this lowered my gpa, and am know going to take APs in 12th grade along with some online courses from MIT, edx, coursera, etc to make up for my gpa.
My extracurricular are as follows-
opened physics and astronomy club in school
part of rock band for 3 years in school as a guitarist
citizen scientist- all years of high school
tutor- occasionally helped my friends or family out with their studies, and I recently found out about online tutoring last month, so I will be starting that too eventually.
Instagram influencer- made my page some years ago and started posting content last year. I have 17 followers as of now and am expecting more.
Youtube Creator- Made around 12 videos in the lockdown, will post more slowly. Last video was in 2021 December. I have around 40 subs as of now.
I will be working for a non profit within this month which is related to my major.
Independent Research- I didn't publish it, but researched on photons and other science phenomena.
(There may be some additional activities which I might pursue after starting grade 12. )
Taking into consideration my activities and gpa, how much of a chance do I have in top colleges in the US like MIT, Stanford, Caltech, etc, for a physics undergrad?
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1 answer
You may have a hard time applying to top universities because of your gpa. The top universities expect perfection in every aspect on someone's application (which is VERY hard to do).
I really like your extracurriculars and seem like a well rounded person when it comes to stuff outside of school, which is great for your application. Your activities make you strong (in my opinion) when it comes to applying to top universities.
Keep working on your gpa and I think you have a good shot at getting into top universities! (or at least T30)
PS - Take into account your declared major when applying to top universities, if you apply for a popular degree it will be harder to get in
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I have an option of going back to my home country to redo 11th grade, hoping to get a higher gpa(although it is not guaranteed due to the difficulty level of since 11th grade there). The only activity I will miss out on is the club. Rest of the activities will be the same, along with some new ones which I might pursue there. What about taking this approach?