@marvin100 That is quite true, but Williams (and pretty much all other LACs) talk about ranking and how GPA is only useful when it is relative to other students and the high school in general. I would just like to inquire what the process would be if the school doesn’t rank. How does Williams (and all the other LACs) figure out how to set a student relative to other kids in his/her high school if the school doesn’t rank?
Well, it’s pretty easy when multiple students from a high school apply; in those cases, the college can compare them head to head. Other than that, they probably peruse the SSR & recs very carefully, but if there’s literally no clues, I have to assume they jettison the metric.
But many (most?) of those schools also send a scatter plot to guestimate how the students compare to their peers.
Could you PM me your essay/stats as well?
Sorry. Williams is my dream school but I’m afraid that I’ve started doing well in high school far too late… I’ve gotten A’s and B’s and maybe a C every semester of high school (I’m currently a senior) but last year, I hit rock bottom first semester. I got 3 C’s and 2 of them were in regular classes. But, I was able to pick myself up and become more motivated than ever and I got 5 A’s and 1 C (couldn’t raise one of my C’s from first semester). If I get straight A’s first semester this year, do you think I have a shot at Williams? Could I PM you my stats?
Sorry for the inconvenience once again… I’m just stressing out because I really want to go to Williams and I want to know if this is something I can hope for.
^Unless you have a serious hook, and probably even then, you have no shot. Sorry.
My D is in love with Williams. She plays varsity sports and will be a good D3 player. She was in contact with the coach who did show interest. My D recently spoke to the coach who will not be able to support her application since she has only 2 spots. The coach said that the admissions pre read people said my D had good scores but not a high enough GPA. Her second choice school has restrictive EA. She is completely torn. She understands that her best chance with Williams is with ED. But if she does not get in, she has missed out on a decent shot at her second choice school. She is very well rounded and took rigorous courses in HS. Her GPA is 3.5 and her SAT is 2280. Any thoughts people?
I’d say apply – if she is good enough to play for Williams (one of the best D3 teams in the country), loads of schools will love to have her, especially with those test scores. Focus on getting GPA up a bit in first semester which might help out RD if ED doesn’t work out. Coach may be able to go to bat for her a bit more in RD round as well depending on how the class shapes up (while the coach only gets two slotted recruits, that doesn’t mean she can’t help nudge the application of other players she likes). The bigger point is that if Williams is truly far and away her dream school, she will always wonder “what if” if she didn’t apply … and there is a very good chance that EA vs. RD won’t be determinative either way in all events for her second choice school. And if she doesn’t get in ED to Williams, she has a second shot in the RD round (and again, perhaps she can nudge her GPA up a bit between now and then) and will likely have plenty of great options at very similar schools, in all events, RD.