Student Who Got Into Dream College With Low GPA And SAT Explains Why Universities Didn’t Care & Accepted Her Anyway
Sometimes colleges really do care about other attributes than just grades.
Dragon Images / Shutterstock.com Getting into college has never been more cutthroat, and nowadays, that means that even the highest-achieving students routinely are rebuffed by their dream schools — and often their safety ones, too.
But as one student recently discovered, sometimes grades aren't the make-or-break qualification we all might assume.
The student explained how she got into college with a low GPA and SAT scores far below her university's requirements.
College has been financially out of reach for most Americans for decades, but it's now becoming out of reach entirely for many students, even the most qualified ones.
As more and more students apply, space at universities becomes more and more at a premium, so the selection process becomes more and more stringent, and it's easy to feel like the whole thing is impossible.
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Which makes the experience of Jaelyn, a student and TikToker from Florida known as @nym4h on the app, all the more surprising. She was just accepted to her dream school, Florida State University, even though her stats were well below the school's typical standards.
The student had a 3.3 GPA and an 1150 SAT — much lower than the university's typical acceptance criteria.
"My scores… they low-key were not great," Jaelyn said candidly in her since-deleted post. Indeed, Florida State's own published statistics show that purely from a grades and test scores perspective, Jaelyn was not a strong candidate to become a Seminole.
The university's middle 50% of admitted students fell within the range of a 4.1-4.5 GPA and an SAT score between 1290 and 1410, meaning that 25% of admitted students bested even these very high stats.
Of course, that also means that another 25% of admitted students were below those standards, like Jaelyn.
But there is far more to a student than just their grades, of course, and far more to achievement than standardized test scores. Jaelyn is a perfect example.
The student explained that she got into college with a low GPA and SAT scores because her achievement in extracurriculars was off the charts.
When you're a student like Jaelyn, your grades and scores quickly become irrelevant — this is no slouch of a student by any stretch of the imagination.
"Colleges did not pay attention to my scores when they saw my essay and my extracurricular activities and everything else that I did," she said in her video.
In a follow-up video, which was also deleted, she detailed just how accomplished she is. "I have 800+ volunteer hours," she said, donating her time to everything from a Haitian community center to Everglades National Park.
She's also been in her school's honor society since freshman year. She has taken almost entirely honors and AP courses, making that 3.3 GPA mean a lot more than it would otherwise. Jaelyn's weighted GPA is a 3.9, much closer to FSU's middle 50% standards.
Jaelyn excelled in her hobbies, too. She shared that as an artist, she has won several awards, been featured in prominent galleries, and displayed at the Florida State Fair. Varsity cheerleading, coin collecting, sailing, and yoga round out the extensive list of her activities. And she did all of this while holding down a job.
The student also shared the deeply personal story of the struggles she survived as a teen, which makes her accomplishments even more impressive.
The myriad things at which she's excelled would be impressive enough on their own. But Jaelyn shared that in her essay, she explained the harrowing challenges she faced in high school alongside her accomplishments.
"I talked about the transitional period from me living at my mom's house in a very like, toxic, abusive environment, getting kicked out, moving with my grandmother, and basically just having to be independent from the moment I became a teenager."
And she was candid about how this both helped and hurt her. On one hand it made her a stronger person, but it also resulted in lots of missed school her freshman year, which impacted her GPA — and makes that 3.9 weighted GPA seem all the more impressive given the circumstances.
Often, when we face adversity, or even when we think we just don't measure up, we allow it to make us feel ashamed. We'll attempt to obscure or polish up the negative parts of our story instead of putting our whole selves out there. Jaelynn is a testament to the difference owning our stories can make sometimes. "My best advice," she said, "is to just be real."
Here's hoping more universities follow suit in taking experiences as seriously as grades and test scores. Anyone can get a 4.0 or a 1600 if they have the right resources. But it takes a special person to excel in the face of adversity, and they're just as, if not more, deserving of a chance to shine.
John Sundholm is a writer, editor, and video personality with 20 years of experience in media and entertainment. He covers culture, mental health, and human interest topics.