Any chance?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Boston College
1

<p>Profile:
State: Florida</p>

<p>Ethnicity/Gender: African American Female</p>

<p>Intended Major: Film Studies (possible Minor)</p>

<p>GPA: 2.9-3.0 :frowning: I know, Hopefully by application time w/ Mid Year Report I can raise it but I’m not sure admissions would see my improvement by then (Really worried about GPA because I had a really bad Junior Year (depression, family issues, etc)</p>

<p>SAT: Took first in June (1950). PSAT Score-189. Taking the October SAT soon</p>

<p>AP Courses: (Frosh-Junior): AP Chemistry, AP World History, AP French Language, AP Human Geography, AP Physics, AP US History, AP English Language and Composition, AP Statistics)–Plenty of Honors Classes through the years as well</p>

<p>Senior Year Courseload:
AP US Government/AP Macroeconomics
Nutrition and Wellness I
Anatomy and Physiology Honors
AP English Literature and Composition
Newspaper Staff (Honors)
AP Psychology
AP Drawing Portfolio</p>

<p>Extracurricular Activities (most notable):
French Club Member (3 years), French Honor Society Officer (1 year), French Club Officer (1 year), Crew (2 years), Beta Club (1 year), Link Crew Leader (1 year)</p>

<p>Extracurricular Activities (for Senior Year):
Varsity Crew, Newspaper Editor, Literary Magazine Editor, as well as other writing stuff</p>

<p>Awards:
None at the moment, but I do have some Crew Honors and I’m working on Writing Contests/Scholarships</p>

<p>Community Service:
Beta Club Hours, Volunteered at a nursing home. (200 + Hours), Volunteered at a Pediatrics Clinic</p>

<p>Work Experience:
Summer Job at Panera Bread</p>

<p>Reccomendations:
Probably from my AP French Teacher (Sophomore Year) who is also the sponser of the French Club and my current AP US Government Teacher.</p>

2

<p>You should be fine. You’re courseload shows that you are at least challenging yourself. However, it is hard to say anything without standardized test scores. The one thing holding you back is your GPA - which is one the most important things in the application process. Does your transcript show a generally improving trend? If so, then that is good news and will be looked upon favorably. Make sure your writing pieces are stellar!</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

3

<p>Dear AppleBeam : Your PSAT score (189) was a predictor of your SAT I score (1950). Taking the exam again expecting another 50-100 points will be quite the stretch without your having done some additional preparation. </p>

<p>To some extent, I am surprised that a Film Studies major would be thinking about Boston College particularly with New York University’s reputation in this area.</p>

<p>Let’s talk about your GPA. Based on your range, you are below a “B” which means you are a “B-/B” student. As you have read (hopefully), 80-85% of admitted students are in the Top 10% of their High School class; 96% of admitted students are in the Top 25% of their High School class. Now, a 2.9 GPA does not feel like a top quartile performance and statistically that would make you a 25-1 shot for admission - and that is where some recruited athletes would be sitting with exemptions. If you are successful in crew, this is an area occasionally recruited - have you contacted the crew program to express any interest in rowing for BC?</p>

<p>Your senior year courseload feels “soft” in terms of rigor aside from English AP. Perhaps you have exhausted your school’s AP Curriculum, but I do not see AP Biology or AP Calculus here. I would also be very interested in your AP course scores to either confirm or refute your 2.9 GPA.</p>

<p>So, where does this leave us? In short, I think this profile has multiple serious challenges for acceptance starting with your grades and going to your senior year rigor. Boston College will be a serious stretch school for your profile and we strongly advise you to consider what your “expected” and “safety” schools are offering. If I had to “call it” right now, Boston College is out of reach.</p>

4

<p>Dear forever1 : Chance-me threads welcome a diversity of intepretation. However, to offer the perspective that “You should be fine” followed by “The one thing holding you back is your GPA - which is one the most important things in the application process” just makes no sense. If the most important element is a problem, how can the applicant “be fine”?</p>

5

<p>@forever1 thanks, I just hope they can see past my low gpa</p>

<p>@scottj I’ve been studying the Official SAT guide religiously and so I’m hoping by December I can break the 2000 barrier. I did consider NYUs Film program tremendously but unfortunately I don’t think I would be able to pay 50000 dollars annually fo college and I’m also aware they aren’t generous with aid. Your right, my gpa is around a B average which falls short of BCs standards but I don’t believe it reflects my capabilities well. I have pretty much taken most Aps offered and I took AP Bio my freshman year. I am still taking Ap Stat senior year online, Calc would not fit in my schedule. I’ve passed 3 of my AP exams as well. Any more feedback?</p>

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<p>Dear AppleBeam : If you cannot afford to consider the $50,000 annual tab for NYU, exactly how are you going to crack that tab for Boston College? Meeting 100% demonstrated need means different things to different people; my first word of advice is to make a call to the financial aid department at Boston College (and NYU) sometime this week and ask for an early review of your financial data. The guideline that we have offered on multiple occasions is the rule of “three six-figure accounts” : if your family owns its own home (with mortgage) with six figures of equity, $150,000 annual family income, and $100,000 in family savings, you can expect no consideration for financial aid. Nothing is that simple, but think along those lines for Boston College.</p>

<p>Coming back to the things that are immediately in your control, let’s look at your average. You say that you have “passed” three AP exams - by “passed” we suppose that you mean that you scored “3” or more. That still means several AP exams were scored at 2 or below or that you skipped the exams. Remember that AP exams are used for placement at BC, not purely admissions criteria. However, in your case, the import might be more than you realize. If you are a “B” student and you claim that it is an inaccurate depiction of your abilities, you will need to show the proof. Three tests with “3” scores (from seven AP courses taken) do not support the idea that a “B” is not the real you. If you have some “5” scores in play, you can make that play in your application.</p>

<p>The more we exchange information, the more I get concerned so I want to change the discussion’s tone and ask you two questions for your personal reflection (no, you do not owe us a written answer; instead just think about how you would respond) : </p>

<p>[1] Reread this thread top to bottom. In your view, what evidence have you shown us thus far that should be convincing us that your “B” average does not reflect your capability? </p>

<p>[2] If you were accepted to Boston College tomorrow and you knew that you were going to be in the bottom quartile of entering freshmen academically, what would you do differently to both keep up and excel as a freshman?</p>

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<p>Hey ScottJ, I was wondering if I could ask a question about the financial aid information at BC since you appear to know your stuff. I was originally going to apply REA, but after hearing about the true meaning of the “R” I decided to apply ED elsewhere and turn down the offer if my hopeful amount of aid wasn’t met. Anyway, I was wondering when is the earliest I can receive my aid?
My father passed away three years ago, my brother is in college, we rent out house, and my mother makes <$45,000 (I don’t feel comfortable asking for exact digits just yet haha). I had some concerns with when I would actually be able to hear back with the amount of aid since I would hear back if I was accepted or not mid December if I did REA, part of the reason I am now applying RD. Aid is definitely going to play a factor in my school options, so I was wondering if you could concisely summarize the process for sending in information and the time elapsed before I would hear back. As far as I know, Jan. 1st is when I am able to begin working on the FAFSA?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>