# Off-Topic Discussion > The Lounge > Ask/Tell Me About >  >  Is a 3.8 GPA good enough to get into a pretty good college?

## Eric

Because I have no idea what the expectation from good colleges are. I'm not talking about an insanely hard college like MIT or Cornell, but maybe Geneseo or Wells.

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## GestaltAlteration

That and some extra curricular stuff should put you in really good shape.

I only got a 3.0.  ::?:

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## Eric

phew. what college did you go to?

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## Xox

A 3.8 GPA is pretty good, but there are many more factors. A very important one being your SAt score/s.
This is what I do:
http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/index.jsp

Search for the colleges/universities you want to go to. Check out "Admission" in the profile. It should be under "Admission Policies and Factors." Check out what that uni finds to be very important, important, considered etc. It should give you a good idea.

Collegeboard is an excellent source for info.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.  :smiley:

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## GestaltAlteration

Right now Jefferson Community College, reasoning being it's cheaper and all classes will transfer after I obtain my associate's degree.

Then it's most likely the University of Louisville for me.

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## Eric

Oh yeah the SATs. My brother always had REALLY good grades and he took the sat and really screwed up the new writing section. He got about what would be a 94 if it was out of 100 on every part, but on the writing he got about a 40... he still got into a really good college though.

I'm in less honor courses than him, (only 1) but I think that my grades in everything are better than his.

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## John11

I'm sure that you will be able to get in to some decent (with financial support in some places) with a 3.8.  How does that compare to the rest of your class?  Did you do extracurricular activities and or community service?  From what I've seen, colleges look at your activities and application essay(s) more than your GPA.

In my case however, my college didn't require an application essay though (good thing since I suck at writing IMO.  I ended up going to Rose-Hulman.  A top ranking undergraduate engineering university).

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## Eric

i have enough community service and i do some clubs. The school I go to is kinda infamous for being really tough, so I think that I'll be ok. The teachers at my school say that college will actually be easier than or high school for at least the first year.

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## panta-rei

sadly, colleges put more weight on standardized testing then knowledge or ability... If its the ACTs, anything above 27 should make it easy to get in. Im not sure what the SAT equivilent is.

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## DuB

Assuming your ACT/SAT scores are decent (i.e., 75th percentile or above), a 3.8 GPA should get you accepted into all but the best of the best schools. Getting accepted really isn't hard, it's the scholarships you ought to be worried about. Any university is pricey, but the high-profile, private schools can get ridiculous fast.

If you haven't taken the ACT/SAT yet, then my advice is that you study for them before you take them. Buy a few prep books off Amazon and study a little bit every night for around a month leading up to the exam. If you can pull in an impressive score to go with your impressive GPA, then you will be very competitive at nearly any school, and will more than likely receive a good amount of tuition remission.

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## lagunagirl

yeah, 3.8 is plenty to get you into a good college. My brother barely passed with strait D's and still made it into a decent college. You just have to take other things into consideration, like test scores (SAT or ACT), extracurriculars, after school jobs, anything that lets colleges know that you're well rounded and still smart/hardworking enough to pass your college courses.

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