Hello.
I have gotten accepted into some less competitive colleges, but applied regular decision to U Michigan, BC, William & Mary, and Villanova.
My schedule for fresh and soph year consisted of all honors courses, and for my junior and senior year consist of four honors and two AP classes.
My resume is a lot stronger than my GPA and SAT scores. For my SAT I have a 1900, and a 690 on the Literature subject test. My GPA weighted is about a 96, and unweighted is about an 88.
I have been on student council all 4 years, and last year i was president. (This year I am VP). I am captain on my state-champion mock trial team and my varsity swimming team, and I have volunteer and work experience as a lifeguard. I am part of the National Honors Society, and I believe that I have very strong essays and teacher recommendations.
HOWEVER, this year I received a 79 in math for the semester. (Unfortunately, it was not from a lack of drive, I simply struggled with the material despite a very hard effort.)
I know that one will never be able to predict for sure, but do you believe that my chances of acceptance into these more competitive schools are completely blown from this C?
Thank You.
I do not know about William & Mary, but I do know about Villanova and Michigan.
Michigan and Nova (moreso Michigan) look heavily at test scores, GPA, and for the most rigorous classes possible. That being said, in all honesty, I would say they are both a mid-reach. The competition at Michigan is crazy this year, with an average EA ACT score of 33 and SAT at 2200+. Don’t get yourself down and blame it all on that one grade! Because, in most cases, one letter doesn’t make or break an application. Best of luck!
Are you instate for William and Mary? The school looks at primarily CR+M scores, so just because you got an 1900 does not mean that you are out of the running, especially if those two subsections are high. It seems like your strength lies in your extracurricular. William and Mary is holistic, which means it will consider multiple factors in its decision, but hopefully in your essays and recommendations give them a compelling reason for an admit. I am from out of state, and I was accepted with two and a half C’s on my transcript (all in mathematics), however I had strong standardized test scores, passionate essays, and was very involved in my extracurriculars, which I think all played a role in their decision making. Writing the optional essay and having people that know you well write recommendations likely also helped. My point is, you never know with these schools and if you can give them a compelling reason to admit you, they might just do it.
Thank you very much. I appreciate your logical but also encouraging response.
update… accepted to U Mich! Let’s hope I have similar success with BC, Nova, and William & Mary.
Congratulations @khendrix !