Last Updated on May 16, 2022 by
If you’re a senior and if you have a 3.5 GPA, or close to it, this blog post is for you. It’s time to get serious about transferring. This blog post will give you a sense of what colleges expect from applicants who have a 3.5 GPA and what types of colleges will accept applicants with a 3.5 GPA.
Is a3.5 GPAgood in high school? A3.5 GPAis equal to a 90% average. Many employers and graduate programs use a3.5 GPAas the benchmark. However, outside of the top 10 graduate schools, the averageGPAfor law, medical, and business graduate school are as much as 0.74 below3.5.
Are you interested in knowing how to get a 3.5 GPA in college, what is a 3.5 GPA in Canada, what is a 3.5 GPA in percentage? Collegelearners affords you all the information you need to know about GPA requirements for colleges. Be sure to go through our catalogue for pertinent information on similar topics.
Note: This blog post applies only to applicants who are applying to colleges in the United States.
If you’re thinking about transferring to [college name], you might be wondering: what’s a good GPA for transferring?
If you’re like most students, your first year of college wasn’t exactly stellar. You probably felt overwhelmed by all the new things and struggled to keep up with your classes. It’s OK! There is no shame in that. Luckily, if you got a 3.5 or above on your first semester (assuming an A-F grading scale), then you have nothing to worry about when it comes to transferring.
It’s important to note that this is only true for schools that use an A-F grading scale. Different colleges may use different scales, so double check with the admissions department at your school before applying!
If you’d like more information about how our admissions process works and how we can help you achieve your goals, please contact us today!
Harder to get into schools
These schools are hard for you to get into now, because their average GPA is higher than a 3.5. But if you improve your SAT or ACT score, you’ll have a much better shot.
| School Name | Location | SAT | ACT | GPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York University | New York, NY | 1440 | 32 | 3.69 |
| Boston University | Boston, MA | 1420 | 32 | 3.71 |
| Binghamton University | Vestal, NY | 1375 | 30 | 3.7 |
| University of Miami | Coral Gables, FL | 1355 | 31 | 3.6 |
| University of Connecticut | Storrs, CT | 1315 | 29 | 3.76 |
| Rochester Institute of Technology | Rochester, NY | 1300 | 30 | 3.7 |
| American University | Washington, DC | 1300 | 29 | 3.65 |
| Drexel University | Philadelphia, PA | 1290 | 28 | 3.73 |
| University of California, Santa Cruz | Santa Cruz, CA | 1285 | 28 | 3.55 |
| Syracuse University | Syracuse, NY | 1275 | 28 | 3.67 |
| Penn State University Park | University Park, PA | 1265 | 28 | 3.58 |
Is A 3.5 GPA Good Enough To Transfer
Now the real work begins. You have to make sure that you can actually afford it. That’s where we come in. We’re here to help you find scholarships and grants—for both your current school and for any colleges or universities you’re interested in transferring to after graduating from high school.
But should you transfer? Is it worth transferring? Well, let’s look at some data:
According to [source], 75% of students who transfer from community college graduate within six years—while only 50% of students who start at four-year universities do. So if you’re thinking about transferring, there’s good news: it’s probably a good idea! And since [source] says that “transfer students are twice as likely to finish their degree,” there’s even more reason for optimism!
So what does this mean for YOU? Well, if you think that maybe you want to be a part of this trend—you’ll probably want to work on improving your grades in high school so that they meet the minimum GPA requirement of most schools (typically 2.5). But don’t stress out if your GPA isn’t quite up there yet—it
Safer Schools
With a GPA of 3.5, you’re already strongly competitive for these schools. You’re very likely to get admitted if you apply. If you improve your SAT or ACT score, your Safety Schools will get better and better.
| School Name | Location | SAT | ACT | GPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of North Texas | Denton, TX | 1160 | 23 | 3.47 |
| University of Texas at Arlington | Arlington, TX | 1160 | 23 | 3.47 |
| Texas Tech University | Lubbock, TX | 1155 | 25 | 3.57 |
| San Jose State University | San Jose, CA | 1145 | 23 | 3.52 |
| California State University Long Beach | Long Beach, CA | 1145 | 23 | 3.56 |
| California State Polytechnic University, Pomona | Pomona, CA | 1140 | 23 | 3.51 |
| Pace University | New York, NY | 1140 | 25 | 3.4 |
| University of Texas at San Antonio | San Antonio, TX | 1125 | 22 | 3.4 |
| Washington State University | Pullman, WA | 1125 | 23 | 3.46 |
| Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University | Tallahassee, FL | 1105 | 21 | 3.4 |
| Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis | Indianapolis, IN | 1100 | 22 | 3.47 |
3.5 GPA Colleges
Graduating with a high school GPA of 3.5 places you in the middle of the academic range at these popular colleges. CollegeSimply has analyzed the incoming freshman grade point averages for a large portion of U.S. schools and selected 909 target colleges where students have a competitive chance of getting in with a 3.5. Here are ten popular colleges which have historically accepted students in the 3.5 range. Scroll down further to explore, search and filter the full list of colleges.
| College | Average GPA |
|---|---|
| The University of Texas at Austin | 3.8 |
| Arizona State University | 3.42 |
| Penn State Main Campus | 3.59 |
| New York University | 3.6 |
| Michigan State University | 3.62 |
| The University of Alabama | 3.6 |
| San Diego State University | 3.6 |
| Boston University | 3.59 |
| Auburn University | 3.74 |
| Ohio State University | 3.76 |
Medium difficulty schools
These schools have average GPAs that are close to 3.5. If you apply to these schools, you’ll have a decent chance of admission. If you improve your SAT or ACT scores, you’ll significantly improve your chances .
| School Name | Location | SAT | ACT | GPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Cincinnati | Cincinnati, OH | 1265 | 27 | 3.7 |
| Hofstra University | Hempstead, NY | 1250 | 28 | 3.67 |
| Temple University | Philadelphia, PA | 1238 | 27 | 3.54 |
| University of Arizona | Tucson, AZ | 1235 | 25 | 3.39 |
| Seton Hall University | South Orange, NJ | 1231 | 26 | 3.58 |
| Howard University | Washington, DC | 1213 | 25 | 3.55 |
| University of Oregon | Eugene, OR | 1185 | 25 | 3.59 |
| University of Alabama | Tuscaloosa, AL | 1184 | 27 | 3.71 |
| Louisiana State University | Baton Rouge, LA | 1180 | 26 | 3.43 |
| Quinnipiac University | Hamden, CT | 1175 | 26 | 3.47 |
| Ohio University | Athens, OH | 1170 | 24 | 3.54 |
what GPA is good for transfer
Some schools explicitly lay out their GPA requirements. Purdue University lists minimum GPA requirements for transfer applicants according to field of study. For example, you should have at least a 2.5 GPA if you’re going to apply to transfer into the Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology program.
Other schools similarly outline the grades you need to be considered for transfer admission. Check if the school you’re interested in does this. Note that meeting the minimum GPA requirement does NOT guarantee transfer admission.
Is a3.5 GPA good? A3.5unweightedGPAmeans that you’ve earned an A- average across all of your classes. You’rewellabove the national average forGPAand should have a solid chance of acceptance at a wide variety of colleges. 76.33% of schools have an averageGPAbelow a3.5.
Achieving good grades is hard. For most classes, if your GPA hovers around the B-/C+ range, you can expect to fall just short of getting into your transfer school of choice. Transferring to a four-year college or university is among the most difficult academic feats; not only is there immense pressure to succeed in your classes (and sustain solid grades throughout), but also an equal amount of pressure to prepare yourself for standardized tests like the ACT and SAT. Therefore, it stands to reason that achieving a 3.5 GPA is no easy feat; this degree of academic success has most likely taken years
GPA Requirements under Transfer Agreements
Transfer agreements between two institutions tell you exactly what you need to do to get from School X to School Y. Foothill College put together an extremely clear explanation of how their transfer agreements with other schools work.
This page lets students know the exact minimum GPA they need in order to transfer to a particular school (or to be considered for transfer admission) that has teamed up with Foothill College. If a Foothill College student wants to transfer to UC San Diego, for example, she should have at least a 3.0 GPA. If your current school has transfer agreements with other institutions, they’ll probably work in a similar way. You can ask an academic counselor (if possible, a transfer counselor), about transfer agreements.
It’seasier to getadmittedtoa college as atransfer studentthan it is as a freshman. Colleges losestudentsevery year so they needtofill those spots or they are losing expenses that are budgeted for.
I bet you’ve heard this before: “If I get a B in one more class,then I’ll be able to transfer.” Well, the funny thing is 99% of the time, that last class doesn’t matter. A few extra letters on your transcript likely won’t be looked at by that transfer school. At best, they’ll notice that you finished with a 3.5 GPA. That’s an average higher than most students across the nation. And it’s going to be difficult to convince them to take a student with a B grade point average.
So, we’ve come to the end of this post, and you know what? We’re so glad you came along for the ride!
Now that you’ve read this far, we’re sure that you know more about transferring than most people do. And that’s a good thing—because knowing what you need to do can help you succeed as a student.
And now that we’ve talked about all the things that go into transferring schools and getting into grad school, we want to leave you with one last thought: If all of your dreams were easy to accomplish, everyone would have them. You’ll never be able to achieve your goals without hard work—and sometimes even if you do work hard, it still won’t happen. But if your goal is important enough to you and worth the effort, then don’t stop trying! Keep working until your dreams come true.