Do you have a 1.5 GPA? Are you wondering whether a 1.5 is good, and what colleges you can get into with a 1.5?
We've written the most detailed guide to your GPA here:
- Find out which colleges you can get into with a 1.5 GPA.
- Learn how you can raise your GPA.
- Learn what you should be doing to maximize your chances of getting into the best colleges.
Quick disclaimer: unlike standardized test scores like SAT/ACT, GPA policies vary from high school to high school and from college to college. Some use weighted GPAs and others use unweighted GPAs. In this guide, we’ll generally talk about unweighted GPAs and compare you on a national and college level.
As we'll explain below, the actual GPA number is just one dimension of your coursework. The difficulty of your courseload is important - the more difficult your classes, the more colleges are willing to excuse a dip in GPA.
Finally, even though this guide focuses on a 1.5 GPA, our advice is the same for close GPAs, like 1.52 and 1.48 GPAs. You can use this guide for all GPAs between 1.45 and 1.54.
Is a 1.5 GPA good?
A 1.5 GPA means that you've gotten C-s and D+s in your high school classes so far. Since this GPA is significantly below a 2.0, it will make things very difficult for you in the college application process.
We've analyzed the student profiles at 1500+ colleges across the United States and the average GPA of its incoming students. Here's how a 1.5 GPA compares to the nation:
-
Competitive For:
0 Schools
You can apply to colleges and have a good shot at getting admitted.
-
Missing Out On:
1569 Schools
You have a low chance of getting into with a 1.5 GPA.
To elaborate, the national average for GPA is around a 3.0, so a 1.5 puts you below average nationally. Keep in mind the 3.0 national average represents all students, not just students applying to college, so the average GPA of students admitted to colleges is higher than the national average.
Here's more custom advice for you if you have a 1.5 GPA. Click your grade level to see our evaluation.
A 1.5 GPA spells trouble, and you might be discouraged about your chances of getting into college. But as a freshman, you're still early in your high school career. You have a lot of classes and grades ahead of you, which means you have a big chance to raise your GPA. But you'll need to work hard and fix your mistakes. Because you've been struggling in classes, take a serious amount of time to figure out where you're falling short and how you're going to get better grades now. If you continue with a 1.5 GPA, you will likely find it hard to get into a good set of schools, unfortunately. But if you make progress, you'll show colleges that you have academic potential to do well. Use our tools below to figure out your chances of getting into schools with a 1.5 GPA and to see how much you can improve your GPA from here on.
You're in your second year of high school, so you're more than halfway to college applications, but you still have a chance to raise your GPA. Since a 1.5 is far below average, it will make it difficult to get into college. If you work very hard for the rest of this year and next year, you have a good shot of getting your GPA above a 2.0 and into a range that makes you a more attractive applicant for a small group of schools. You'll need to really understand and address your problems in your classes, but there's still a chance for you to fix them. If you have any schools in mind currently, you can look them up with our search tool in the next section. You can also use the tool in the following section to calculate how much you might be able to improve your GPA before senior year.
Since it's already your junior year, it's going to be tough to change your GPA much before you apply to college. Unfortunately, this means you may be in for some trouble next fall. A 1.5 GPA means that there aren't really any colleges that you can call safety schools, so you'll be taking a risk no matter where you apply. If you're still in the first semester of junior year, you might still be able to raise your GPA a little bit and give yourself a better chance. You can search for any schools that interest you in the next section to see what your odds of acceptance are.
It's down to the final stretch of high school, and unfortunately you won't be able to raise your GPA before you apply to college. You may have already started the application process or at least made a list of where you plan on applying. If that's the case, you should be aware that all colleges will end up being reaches for you based on your GPA. You may get in, but there aren't going to be any sure bets. If you want to see what your chances of acceptance are at schools that interest you, go ahead and search for the colleges where you plan on applying in the next section.
Your Chances With a 1.5 GPA
This is probably the biggest question on your mind. What colleges can you get into with a 1.5? What are your chances of admission at your top choice schools?
We've built a custom admissions calculator that calculates your chances based on the 3 most important factors to determining your chance of admissions:
- The school's admission rate
- Your GPA
- Your SAT/ACT score
Here's how to use this calculator:
- Choose the SAT or the ACT, depending on which you're taking
- Choose your current SAT/ACT score
- Enter the name of each college you're interested in
- Change your SAT/ACT score to see how your chances change
How would your chances improve with a better score?
Try to take your current SAT score and add 160 points (or take your ACT score and add 4 points) to the calculator above. See how much your chances improve?
This is important when you're considering your GPA. You probably know how hard it is to pull up your grades and GPA. If you improve your SAT/ACT score, you'll be able to show colleges that you're academically prepared for college.
At PrepScholar, we've created the leading online SAT/ACT prep program. We guarantee an improvement of 160 SAT points or 4 ACT points on your score, or your money back.
Here's a summary of why we're so much more effective than other prep programs:
- PrepScholar customizes your prep to your strengths and weaknesses. You don't waste time working on areas you already know, so you get more results in less time.
- We guide you through your program step-by-step so that you're never confused about what you should be studying. Focus all your time learning, not worrying about what to learn.
- Our team is made of national SAT/ACT experts. PrepScholar's founders are Harvard graduates and SAT perfect scorers. You'll be studying using the strategies that actually worked for them.
- We've gotten tremendous results with thousands of students across the country. Read about our score results and reviews from our happy customers.
There's a lot more to PrepScholar that makes it the best SAT/ACT prep program. Click to learn more about our program, or sign up for our 5-day free trial to check out PrepScholar for yourself:
Can You Improve Your GPA?
We’re not going to sugarcoat it: GPAs aren’t easy to improve. The later you are in high school, the less your GPA will change before you apply to college.
For example, if you're currently a junior in high school, your grades in freshman and sophomore year will anchor your GPA so that your junior grades won't be able to change your total GPA much.
Here's a calculator for you to see how much your GPA can improve in different cases. Choose your current grade level, and then choose your future grades up until college applications. We'll show you how high or low your GPA can be, depending on your grades from now forward.
| Your Grade Level | Current GPA | Semesters Remaining | Future Grades | GPA for Applications |
1.5 |
0 | 1.5 |
Warning: Because you have no semesters left, your GPA won't change by the time college applications are due. You'll need to apply with a 1.5 GPA. As we explain next, your best chance at improving your chances of getting in may be to improve your SAT/ACT score.
Final Verdict and Advice
Based on the rest of this article, you may be feeling nervous about your chances of getting into college. The key to improvement will be to prevent yourself from getting into a defeatist mindset. Plan on starting fresh next year or next semester - there is no reason to let your struggles freshman year define the rest of your time in high school.
You should start getting extra help as soon as you can! Ask your teachers to review concepts you don't understand or find a peer tutor who may be able to explain things in a different way. At this point, you can still potentially raise your GPA to a level that puts you in competition for admission at a variety of less selective schools before senior year. The sooner you start turning over a new leaf, the more you'll end up thanking yourself later.
After reading all the information here, it may be difficult for you to stay positive. While it's true that you have a low GPA right now, you can still make some changes that will increase your chances of getting into college. Remember that there's still at least a whole year left between now and application time, and your GPA can change if you put in the effort. Start asking for help as soon as possible, and try and combat any negative study patters that you've fallen into. It's not going to be easy to change these things after two years of high school, but it's certainly possible.
You should also be thinking about the SAT and/or ACT and planning out some study time. Even if your GPA doesn't change dramatically, high test scores could have a strong positive effect on your admissions chances. Don't let yourself lose hope!
It may be easy to feel down about your GPA this late in the game, and the truth is that it's going to be pretty tough for you to get into a four year college. However, there are still steps you can take that will give you a better shot next year.
This year you should be focusing on standardized tests as a means of improving your chances at college. If you study hard and end up with decent scores, it could go a long way towards raising your odds of acceptance. Stay focused on improving your grades in whatever time you have left no matter how tempted you are to slip into bad habits. If you're really set on going to college, you'll need to make a strong effort to change things before you send out applications.
There's no question that your GPA puts you in a rough situation for college applications. If you're already in the process of applying, make sure that you fully explain to colleges any personal circumstances that may have led to low grades in your classes. Beyond that, you aren't going to be able to make changes in your GPA.
You may still be able to improve your standardized test scores, so you should take the SAT or ACT again your senior fall or winter if you feel that you can do better. Even with a very low GPA, decent test scores may give you a better chance at getting into some schools. The application process is going to be risky for you, but if you apply to the least selective colleges and do well on standardized tests there's still a chance that you will be accepted.
Download our free guide on the top 5 strategies you must be using to improve your score. This guide was written by Harvard graduates and SAT perfect scorers. If you apply the strategies in this guide, you'll study smarter and make huge score improvements.
Download our free guide on the top 5 strategies you must be using to improve your score. This guide was written by Harvard graduates and ACT perfect scorers. If you apply the strategies in this guide, you'll study smarter and make huge score improvements.
Colleges that Accept a 1.5 GPA
We've picked out a set of schools that are within range. Click on each school to learn more about it.
Change My GPA
Curious about what your profile is with a different GPA? Choose any GPA to see what you'd be able to do!
Analyze Your SAT/ACT Score
Wondering about how competitive your current SAT or ACT score is? We've created strategy guides for each SAT and ACT score so you can see what your chances are at schools, and what will happen if you improve your score.
Data on this page is sourced from Peterson's Databases © 2023 (Peterson's LLC. All rights reserved.) as well as additional publicly available sources.
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