Hi everyone, This is not really a chance me - more a request for advice. I am filling in my college apps right now and I am in the I guess quite common position that my grades are a little lower than where I would want to be. I have taken a bunch of AP courses - so far 5s in Eng Lang, US Hist, World Hist, doing another 4 this year, (plus maybe AP stat where I missed the exam due to having to attend an immigration interview). I sat the ACT in January of Junior year and got a 34 first sitting.
My problem is that I would really like to go to a top tier college, either Williams, Brown, UPenn, Chicago or Yale, majoring in classics. My scores and grades in humanities subjects have all been really high, but a poor freshman year (89 average) and so-so math and science classes (about 4 or 5 B+ grades) have left my GPA at a 93 average for my junior year (unweighted 3.8 in my school) or a 91 overall (including freshman year). As my courses have gotten harder my grades have risen, I took an undergraduate course in philosophy at the local university when I was 16 and got a good mark, I am among the top two or three English students in my year, I read a lot of classics, philosophy and history outside the curriculum…but when I look at my chances given the schools I am looking at , my GPA is really too low. Should I lower my sights or can strong essays and a genuine passion for my subject make up? What would you all do?
I would definitely apply, just make sure your list includes a few safeties that you like and can afford.
thanks! It’s very easy to look at the scattergrams and just give up…
It is a good idea to send in applications to reach schools that you would like to attend.
However, you definitely need to find at least one and preferably at least two safeties. These are schools that you know that you will get into, you know that you can afford, and you would be willing to attend. There are a lot of very good universities and LACs, and you definitely do not need to go to “Williams, Brown, UPenn, Chicago or Yale” in order to be very successful in life. Based on what you said, these do look like reaches to me.
Do you have specific safeties in mind? If not, then you can give us more information regarding what you are looking for and people here should be able to suggest some.
Also, have you thought about your budget? If you are going to major in classics, I would strongly advise that you avoid debt for undergrad if you possibly can.
What state are you from? Are you a US permanent resident or citizen?
It is always good to have a few reach schools. Apply to them and give it your all. But you absolutely need to also find a group of match and safety schools that appear affordable and that you would be excite to attend. I think too many people focus undue time and attention on reach schools and don’t pay enough attention to finding great match/safety schools (they are out there). Given the list of schools you have on your list I would add some that have higher acceptance rates – a couple of ideas offhand might be Skidmore and Dickinson and I’m sure there are many others.
When you have a very specialized interest such as classics, what you want is a top tier department, not a top tier college. There is of course a lot of overlap, but many renowned departments reside in colleges that are not too difficult to gain admittance to or are in state flagships. Also, with the well-known top tier schools, you will be “competing” against a different set of students that colleges want for their humanities quota. For the school I interview for (top 10), they told us specifically they are bending their standard for humanities students.
Hi - thanks. A bit more info which might give you a better picture of me. I am a permanent resident with a European passport - I lived in Europe half my life. I am from a v large well known public school in a big city. I have strong ECs in theatre , music (some operatic training) and journalism, so these would be very important to me on any campus. I don’t have hooks, apart from being LGBTQ male, which is not at all unusual. I am not obsessed by school status, (though it does look like it from my post!), but I would like a rigorous academic environment and a well-resourced department, particularly for involvement in archaeology and other ways of examining the classics beyond the literature. Any course that allows joint majors or an open curriculum is very appealing.
For the first two years of high school I was really unstrategic about grades, so I took far too many to get in extra arts courses that I enjoyed, my school is heavily stem oriented, and notorious for being one of the toughest schools in the country, so even though I am a B+ math student, I still got a decent ACT score (32 in math). I am heavily involved in theater and music - I have been in productions every semester of high school - which has a significant rehearsal schedule attached to it. It probably cost me a point or two on my GPA, but I wouldn’t trade.
For my safeties right now, I have McGill, Reed, Oberlin, maybe USC which I loved despite everyone telling me I would hate it (though that is more a match). I know, they are a bit all over the map both metaphorically and literally.
Match, or high match schools, I really like both UCLA and Tufts, and think I would be happy at either. But to be honest a lot of my list choices are because either I have friends at these schools who really like them, or because I liked the vibe on campus visits or enjoyed talking to their reps who I met at college fairs.
What European country is your passport from?
If it is France, then McGill would be a real bargain from a financial point of view. Their music program is exceptional. Montreal is also a very interesting city to live in for a few years.
It’s a British passport, but McGill is still cheap, and Montreal is great. The classics department is meant to be better at UofT but I like McGill better. My college counselor said that the way they administer admissions would make a me a strong candidate on the basis of my test scores / essay
While still a reach, Haverford might be worth considering because of the academic cooperation with Bryn Mawr which has strong classical archaeology and classics. Another option might be University of Cincinnati which has a top classical archaeology department, is known for strong performing arts and would be more of a safety. As a large public school, a student could find like-minded, serious academics among the large undergrad population at Cincinnati, so could side-step the concern about fit at a small LAC.
I think others have made some excellent suggestions beyond the initial schools on your list. However, I would not call Reed, McGill or USC safeties based on your stats but perhaps matches or even high matches. I think you still need to come up with other safeties.
"For my safeties right now, I have McGill, Reed, Oberlin, maybe USC "
ANY college or university with an admit rate less than 50% is NOT a safety.
USC AND UCLA are reaches for ANY student, simply because they reject over 80% of applicants. INCLUDING students with much higher stats than yours. And USC’s Classics program is not strong.
You need to find other colleges where your chances of admittance are MUCH higher.
what state are you living in?
What about Holy Cross?
What state are you a resident of? A true safety would be your flagship(s) and its honors college.
^ “A true safety would be your flagship(s) and its honors college.”
Not if the OP is from Calif.
What country is your secondary school in? If in the US then a 3.8 unweighted GPA for grades 10 and 11 and a 34 ACT would make McGill a safety for Arts.
There are enough UCs to find one, even if they don’t have an honors college, and it’s just one application. It’s harder in Virginia, North Carolina, and Michigan although these states do have two (hence the -s-).
UCSC honors could be a retry darn good safety.
I live in NY . McGill is more of a safety only because they disregard GPA, and their minimum requirement for an ACT is 28 in arts and sciences… I have 5s in all my APs (so far) and a 34 in the ACT plus v strong recs. I am not sure if they set any store by the essays but it is a fairly strong academic essay (I’m told). Among qualified candidates the accept rate is high (c 40 per cent) . It is a really excellent college, though. It is the case that Canada and UK entrance might suit me better where high marks in exams count and no-one cares about GPA, and being ‘lopsided’ towards humanities is a positive advantage
I am in the US, for 10 and 11 my unweighted is more like a 3.8 /4 …my counselor said given the strength of the totality of my application the would be ‘amazed’ if I didn’t get in, and she is very cautious, and our school always sends five or six kids to McGill and has quite a few more offers
McGill does not disregard GPA, they look at unweighted grades 10, 11 and 12 if necessary. you are above the minimum for Arts.
sorry yes - I forget disregard really means disregard, which they don’t