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<p>What do you want them to measure? The ability to sit down and take a test?</p>
<p>@ Mary -D applied to American 3 years ago (at GWU now) and if your son had a 3.8 uw gpa, it should have been a âlikelyâ. Not sure many of this level school are considered a safety anymore. American is known for their IR program and Iâm sure other majors. They most definitely can be selective. We also know a student who was rejected from his safety this year but was accepted to a number of very highly ranked LACâs. It now becomes important to for students to project WHO they are in their applications. I have noticed how much more holistic this season has gotten (current S is a senior). Sorry -No knowledge of Bard or UMass.</p>
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<p>The best predictor of future behavior is relative past behavior. </p>
<p>When it comes to undergrad admissions, high test scores cannot make up for a low gpa (as I stated in my previous post, the GPA demonstrates what your child does in school day in day out). </p>
<p>As others have mentioned the high test scores demonstrated that he has the ability to do better than what his gpa indicated that he did not (it shows that he is lazy/unmotivated/bored, etc.)</p>
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<p>UCs have stated minimum eligibility requirements, but no guarantees for admission like Texas public universities have for specific stat levels. And there are plenty of 4.0 GPA applicants, so what do you expect them to do if more 4.0 GPA applicants apply than there exist spaces in the freshman class?</p>
<p>Did he apply to any schools during his senior year?
Both of my kids took a gap year for reasons other than what you mentioned but both their high schools demanded that they apply to colleges while they were still students.</p>
<p>if these students want sciencesâŠstill accepting applications
uab is very strong for science and research, home of a top med schoolâŠTier one research university, urban campus, 11k undergrads, total oos cost is 20-25K (tuition, dorm and food) as of last week still had merit scholarships available for oos students⊠blazer elite is 15K for 3.0 and 28 act. too late for honors colleges now though</p>
<p>[UAB</a> - The University of Alabama at Birmingham](<a href=âhttp://www.uab.edu%5DUABâ>http://www.uab.edu)</p>
<p>last fall, i had discover cc and got plenty of parents here mentioning the importance of safety school with good financial aid. i took the advice and make sure my dd applied to at least one state flagship(just in case) one private(merit aid) few reaches/matchâŠ</p>
<p>Where did he apply to? Did he get waitlisted from, letâs say, Harvard, or Oberlin? (Both are good, but oneâs clearly more selective than the other) </p>
<p>Maybe he had a bad application or something. I think if he did so poorly, itâs his fault.</p>
<p>Quote:
GPA determine everything?
The best predictor of future behavior is relative past behavior.</p>
<p>When it comes to undergrad admissions, high test scores cannot make up for a low gpa (as I stated in my previous post, the GPA demonstrates what your child does in school day in day out).</p>
<p>"As others have mentioned the high test scores demonstrated that he has the ability to do better than what his gpa indicated that he did not (it shows that he is lazy/unmotivated/bored, etc.) "</p>
<p>Lazy, no. unmotivated/bored, maybe. He did a lot outside of classroom/school. In one of his campus visits, he even sat in one of the top LACs classroom in his possible major subject, answered questions no one in the classroom knew the answer, and he thought was very easy.</p>
<p>âGPA determines everything?
In my humble opinion, GPA is not as objective as test scores. If the test scores can not measure, then design better test system.â</p>
<p>Iâm not going to defend any of this - hey, I homeschooled my kids, and my younger (who is graduating from graduate school this May) had an ACT only a fraction of your sonâs. But one needs to understand what happened. His GPA (coupled perhaps with class rank) is quite low for Conn, St. Olafâs, and Gettysburg, and the perfect ACT may have hurt rather than helping him, again because it screams that he wasnât applying himself fully. They may have waitlisted him on the strength of the guidance counselorâs recommendations. At best, these schools would be a match, and that would be stretching.</p>
<p>"@ Mary -D applied to American 3 years ago (at GWU now) and if your son had a 3.8 uw gpa, it should have been a âlikelyâ. Not sure many of this level school are considered a safety anymore."</p>
<p>A student with a 3.8 GPA and 2020 SATs would be lucky to be waitlisted at American these days, unless s/he made it very, very clear s/he would attend. An explicit part of AUâs strategy these days is that they want students who really want to be there, and have a specific reason to be there, and not elsewhere. Only about 1/3 of AU students are in the liberal arts, and the other programs are very specific: international service, public affairs, communications, business. Itâs really quite specialized, and if you donât recognize that, you could easily be fooled by the numbers. (My d. had much lower test stats, but she was able to demonstrate - in at least five different and very specific ways - that AU was where she needed to be, and it was - and they bought it.)</p>
<p>The problem is that no one knows how smart a kid is unless he shows them. Kids need to learn to work through boredom and jump through hoops. Thatâs part of life. There are many, many kids who have high test scores and excellent grades and interesting, unique ECs. It is crazy competitive now. Any weakness on any front will cause a problem. </p>
<p>Fortunately, the US higher education scene is extraordinarily broad and deep. There is literally a place for everybody. I wish people would not get so hung up on rankings and credentialism.</p>
<p>My D also applied to St. Olaf, was accepted, but probably wonât attend. That makes me a little sad, because it is truly a wonderful, wonderful school. Again, rankings arenât everything.</p>
<p>To both parents on this thread: Here is a plain example to illustrate why GPA matters relative to standardized test scores.</p>
<p>Suppose you want to decide if Iâm an attractive, well-groomed person. You can look at how well I did on the day my S got married. I prepared, planned, chose a great dress, went to the tailor, got my hair done, spent time with make-up. I LOOKED FABULOUS. It was as beautiful as I know how to be. </p>
<p>Thatâs like the standardized test. It measures me at my best.</p>
<p>But suppose, over the course of a year, if you knew me, you also know that I went out with baggy sweat pants into the neighborhood, didnât always keep my glasses adjusted, and it was hit-or-miss whether I looked okay on some days? </p>
<p>Thatâs like the grade point average from high school. It measures how I perform, on average, over many regular days when the pressure is on and off. </p>
<p>Nobody should be looked at by only one measure. The combination of measurements says something important. </p>
<p>Another person might never be able to reach the great heights I achieved of wedding day beauty, but always has well-tailored clothes that fit and are in style, working hard at it every day to keep to a standard. That also should count and not be sniffed at as boring, low-level stuff.</p>
<p>You mention in another thread mental gardener that your son lacks for motivation & has a poor work ethic.</p>
<p>Take two students, one who is brilliant but doesnât follow through & one who is persistent & hard working and who looks like they will have a higher rate of success?</p>
<p>Colleges these days, especially colleges mentioned on CC go by more information than only GPA & test scores.
Otherwise my oldest wouldnât have attended Reed!;)</p>
<p>OP has all of 10 posts.
mental, not to be cruel, but the system you envisioned is not the system in place.
Sorry you did not avail yourself of College Confidential sooner, as you were putting together a list, and possibly as the applications themselves were being put together.
How to define a REALISTIC SAFETY he loved and the importance of doing that would have been clearer to you. Also this is a bit of lottery for even the most attractive or likely applicants to a given college- there are never enough spaces for the kids they love.</p>
<p>This is a HOLISTIC process where the candidates have to meet the academic qualifications AND demonstrate maturity and character through soulful essays which reveal some degree of self -examination, and both confidence and humility, and also demonstrate knowledgable interest in the college. The Letters of Recommendations from the teachers and GC for these schools need to be blemish-free in what they reflect about the studentâs attitude and desire to learn and how he overcomes difficulty. The extra -curriculars should reveal some passion(s), commitment, and possibly some achievement or leadership. Being unique in some way certainly helps.</p>
<p>I am bothering to explain this because what you send in to the favorite schools where he is on the W/L should also be along these lines. Any new achievements plus anything which might fill in any holes in the original apps would be best. Please see if the GC will call the Admissions Offices for any feedback. It may not happen, but then go over the apps with GC with a fine-toothed comb to ID possible weak spots for improvement. </p>
<p>Taking a Gap Year is not the end of the world at ALL- if he does something interesting which allows for growth and self-awareness and knowledge of the world.</p>
<p>I am not an expert on rolling admissions schools or schools that admit at this late date, but there is much about these here on CC.</p>
<p>Keep an open mind- there is much to learn here on CC. Good luck putting all this together.</p>
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<p>there are at least 100 other threads with parents whoâs kids have lower (not low, but lower) test scores than this that state âTest scores determine everything? Why doesnât the fact that my kid worked his behind off the past 4 years and got straight Aâs (even in the boring classes) count for more? How can one test determine his abilityâ?</p>
<p>And there are plenty of kids with 4.0 unweighted, with ACT of 36 or SAT of 2400 (or VERY close to those numbers) that colleges do not HAVE to take a chance on a student that does not make those grades/scores. </p>
<p>No one said it is completely fair, but I find a little solice in thinking that it is almost equally unfair. Not quite, but almost!</p>
<p>Here are some schools to consider that are still accepting applications:</p>
<p>Eckerd College [Eckerd</a> College | Welcome to Eckerd College](<a href=âhttp://www.eckerd.edu%5DEckerdâ>http://www.eckerd.edu)</p>
<p>Regis College [Regis</a> College, Massachusetts | Graduate and Undergraduate Degree Programs | Bring Your Purpose. Find Your Path](<a href=âhttp://www.regiscollege.edu%5DRegisâ>http://www.regiscollege.edu)</p>
<p>Regis is a local school in my backyard â however, I know of two students who transferred out of there after freshman year to well-respected schools (Boston College and UT-Austin).</p>
<p>Also - <a href=âhttp://www.simons-rock.edu%5B/url%5Dâ>www.simons-rock.edu</a></p>
<p>Mary and mentalgardener,</p>
<p>I have been through this process with several of my kids and have been very disappointed and very excited, depending on the kid. My kids are URMs and all had/have very impressive (and different) extracurriculars; some had scores higher than gpa would reveal. All that is gravy. No matter what anyone tells you, a safety/match is a school that will accept your child at the level of his LOWEST stat, whether that is gpa or test scores. As a matter of fact, I highly suggest applying to more than one school at that level because those are likely to be the only admissions your child will have. </p>
<p>In your case, your childâs lowest stat was gpa so your child should have had several schools that accept kids with 3.0 gpa. A list like that would have likely yielded merit $ for the high test scores.</p>
<p>imo, in the case of mentalgardenerâs son, having a 3.1 GPA does show extreme laziness. I am not really the epitome of conscientiousness myself, but I myself did not get a GPA anywhere that low, and I managed to get into some top 10 LACs. (Well, two) If someone is not willing to do the basic work required by the school, I donât think they deserve a spot in a top college at all. </p>
<p>Actually, you donât really need a perfect application to make it into a top college. I wasnât elected President of anything and, like I said, I didnât have a perfect GPA, yet I managed to get into some good schools.</p>
<p>It seems like American would have been a safety, but since heâs interested in science and math, I suspect that admissions could sense a lack of interest. He should definitely contact the four schools that he was waitlisted at, and show genuine interest.</p>
<p>mary and metalgardener - I have no advice, but only want to wish your kids the best. This is everyoneâs nightmare, I know I lost sleep worrying about my son not getting in anywhere.</p>
<p>If you read through this thread there are a lot of links on where to apply now, and I know people have specific strategies on how to get off waitlists.</p>
<p>Good luck with everything. I will be sure the next time around that I really find a few great safeties for my next child.</p>