As we all know, colleges base acceptance to their college by what your GPA and SAT scores are. Many colleges require a 3.0 or higher, but we feel that a GPA can’t really reflect what our education level is. Most people have chosen a dream college they want to go to, but because they didn’t do well during one of their years of high school, they can’t go to the college they want to. Most colleges also charge up to $50-$150 just to apply, after which they can deny you from their school!

Senior, Judibeth Medina, was asked if she planned on going to college and she stated, “Yes I do. My two top colleges are Elms and UMass. My plan is to study nursing, but my backup plan is social work which are most likely study at Western New England University where I got accepted.” Throughout Medina’s high school years, her GPA has improved. We asked if she knew what the lowest GPA colleges will accept is, and she said, “It all depends on the major. Most colleges accept students with a GPA of 2.8 or higher, but some majors and some colleges require GPAs like 3.2 or higher.” Most importantly, we asked her opinion on if colleges should really base acceptance on GPAs and this was what she had to say: “I think it should only matter for specific majors, for the simple fact that you must prove to the college that you’re capable of doing the work.”

English and Journalism teacher, Ms. Martins, was asked what kind of college she went to and what she majored in. Ms. Martins said,“I went to a four-year college after high school. I majored in literature and education.” Martins also stated that she had a 3.0 GPA in high school. When she was asked if she knew what’s the lowest GPA colleges would accept, she joked, “It depends on the college, but you probably shouldn’t have a 1.0.” The final question we asked was if she thought GPA should be base acceptance and this was what she stated: “No, I don’t think GPA should always matter for acceptance. GPA should be used if it’s your strength, but for some students, their strengths are not reflected in their GPAs.”

Many students throughout their high school years don’t really know the costs of what having a bad GPA can do, but it varies depending on what type of student you are. What do you think? Do you think colleges should base acceptance on high school GPAs?