(Skip to the end to see the list of 248 colleges that take a 3.0 GPA or less.) You can go to a four-year college with less than a 3.0 GPA. There are a number of colleges that are open admissions meaning that they will admit anyone who meets their minimum standards. This can mean just having passed specific classes in high school or meet minimum scores on selected placement tests. There are also colleges that admit students with less than a 3.0 GPA as part of their regular admissions process.
General
FAQ: What is a Liberal Arts College (LAC)?
If you look at the US News College Rankings you’ll see that there are two major rankings, National Universities and National Liberal Arts Colleges. In general, people have heard of National Universities but few are familiar with the Liberal Arts Colleges or why they are a separate group. So what exactly is a Liberal Arts College?
FAQ: What is a likely letter?
A “likely letter” is a letter from the college admissions office stating that you are likely to be admitted as long as nothing changes before the official admissions deadline. They are not formal offers of admissions–just notices that students are very “likely” to be admitted. Students receive likely letters a month or two before the regular admissions decision deadline.
Likely letters are common for athletic recruits to the Ivy League. Since Ivy League schools don’t award athletic scholarships, they use likely letters as a means to indicate to the athlete that they will be accepted at the school. The Ivy Manual allows Likely Letters to be sent out after October 1st and they must come from the admissions office (pg 146).
FAQ: What are Public Ivies?
The term “Public Ivy” was coined by Richard Moll in Public Ivies: A Guide to America’s Best Public Undergraduate Colleges and Universities which was published in 1985. Moll identified eight public institutions with Ivy League characteristics. He argued that these characteristics, which included both academic and non-academic elements, provided an Ivy League experience at a public-school price. Since then, others have added to the list or often just use the term to describe a public institution with high academic standards.
FAQ: What are flagship universities?
There is no official definition of what is a flagship university. In general, when people talk about flagship universities, they are referring to the most prominent public university of their state. It is usually the first public university that was established in the state and receives the most state support. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the “best” public university in the state although many assume so.
Download Flagship Universities by State Listing
Flagship University Definition
This is the most common list of flagship universities.
FAQ: What is a Tier 1 University
(Common list of Tier 1 Universities for 2022 is at the end of the post.) What is a tier 1 university turns out to be a very interesting question. I never really looked into it and just assumed that Tier 1 was a school ranked in the top 50 of US News College Rankings for National Universities. Tiers 2, 3, and 4 were the next group of 50 institutions. Everything not ranked in the top 200 were considered unranked schools. I do remember at one point something about US News deciding not to do Tier 2, that those schools would be part of a larger Tier 1, or something like that.
FAQ: What are research universities and why should students care?
Defining a Research University
Research Universities are Large
Research Universities are Focused on Faculty Research
Best Research Opportunities
List of Research Universities in the United States
Defining a Research University
A research university is simply a type of university that conducts more research relative to other colleges and universities. American universities are defined as research universities by the Carnegie Classification of Doctoral Universities. A university is considered a Doctoral University if it
- awards at least 20 research/scholarship doctoral degrees
- or awards at least 30 professional practice doctoral degrees in at least two programs.
To meet the “High research activity” or “Very high research activity,” the Doctoral University must:
- award at least 20 research/scholarship doctoral degrees and
- had at least $5 million in total research expenditures.
If you define research universities as only those with “Very high research activity,” there are only 130 in the United States. These are pretty much the most recognizable names in higher education including private institutions such as:
What is an academic resume for college admissions?
An academic resume is simply a summary of your high school “career.” It will include the same information that will be requested on most college applications-GPA, test scores, activities, awards, etc. In that respect, an academic resume isn’t necessary since the admissions office will be getting the information from the college application.
FAQ: What is the Common Data Set
Whenever you search for colleges using the College Board, College Data, or US News & World Report, you are using data based on the common data set (CDS). This survey captures some information that isn’t available through the government’s Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data Set (IPEDS) used for the College Navigator search website and others.