<p>Currently I'm a high school junior. As of right now my grades are improving exponentially, however from previous poor grades in the last two years, I have roughly a 2.6 GPA(weighted) and 2.7 unweighted. However i do have some great EC's. Recently I've founded a club at my school educating my peers about the stock market and other finance related topics. In this club we also practice investing, have guest speakers, and learn investment strategies. In addition to this I am also on the Fed Challenge team. This is a club that learns about the economy and competes at a state level in a competition hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. I am also in the Italian club. Outside of School I try to get in community service when I have time, as well as being a member of my local church's catholic youth group.(will soon have a leadership position) This group does many things mostly related to helping our local communities. In addition to this, I also worked a little bit in marketing for a friends private tutoring company. Also I'm not sure how much this matters but I also was able to get a School board policy revoked at my school, the policy being that every student who does not pay an activity fee must pay $60 to join. This policy discouraged many people from participating in activities outside of school. As for my SAT scores I plan to take them soon. I'm expecting to get something near an 1800-2000, as I receive lessons weekly. Also I know I can get great letters of recommendations as well as show strong interest in the school. Please let me know what you think my chances are.</p>
<p>You need to get your grades up. Your ECs and hopefully your SATs will pass but without stronger grades, it will be a tough road. Anything is possible, esp when an applicant is passionate about their endeavors and the school to which they are applying but to respond honestly to do you have a chance, you are probably looking at a good reach with your current grades.</p>
<p>Considering the school, prayer can’t hurt. GL.</p>
<p>^Good One Sosmenza!
YOU MUST Get YOUR GRADES UP!!!</p>
<p>Those just aren’t competitive grades.</p>
<p>How is your weighted grade lower than your unweighted grade?</p>
<p>I’m not really sure. And for anyone else replying, I appreciate your input but I’m asking what my odds are of getting into Fordham. Not your opinion of my past grades.</p>
<p>Well, your past grades are what are affecting your odds of getting into Fordham right now. The grades are more important than the ECs and recs when they are below the 3.0 level. If they are in difficult courses and are unweighted, it could be in your favor. Also if the trend is one of improvement, it can make a difference. If you have a very poor freshman year , bringing those grades down, it could be a big point in your favor. My son had grades like that his freshman year, got a 3.2 unweighted his sophomore year and went on up gradually to a 4.0 senior year. If you show a improvement consistently, that can help a lot. We sent transcripts by the quarter since his improvements actually could be graphed as an upward trend that way. If you are all over the map, that is not going to help you. </p>
<p>If you bring up your grades so that your junior grades are what Fordham;s average is, and get test scores in the upper quarter of Fordham’s stats, you would be good material for acceptance.</p>
<p>Your ECs are not anything that puts you into any special category. They’ll do. That’s about it. Great recs are teachers and counselors saying you are one of the best students they have seen,and I doubt they will be able to write that with your grades. What courses are you taking and are slated to take? The difficulty of curriculum is an important issue with the grades, and the test scores. The rest is a bit of gravy, that’s all.</p>
<p>Alright well honestly, saying my teachers will write me poor recs due to past performance is in now way true. The teachers who I’ve chosen know me on an academic and personal level. Granted my past performance wasn’t the best, but the teachers I picked have seen me transition from a slacker into an ambitious, persistent student who puts all of his effort into the things he does. Next time, get the whole story before making such an arrogant statement.</p>
<p>What courses are you taking? What have been your quarter grades and mid year exam grades? Right now you have a big fat zero in test scores, and 2. something gpa is what you are telling us. What the heck do you want to hear? We have no idea what kind of courses you are taking. Teachers usually rate kids on a 1-5 basis or are supposed to cover that in their narratives and where do you stand in each class on those quesitons? You can look at them on the common app. Can someone honestly give you 5s in those areas. I didn’t say you are going ot get poor recs, just that I doubt you will get the top ones that are generally for the top students. IF a lot of kid are applying to Fordham from your school, there has to be some breakdown on who are the best in the refs. Teachers and counselors do have be honest. That you have made this transition is great. Now you have to keep it up. If it is true that there is ambition and persistance in this effort, a breakdown of the grades by quarter will show this. Right now you just have two quarters and a midterm that shows what is hopefully a trend as opposed to 8 quarters fo grades and 4 midterm exams that average out to a 2.6 or 2.7. You in the right direction, but you gotta keep it up. You asked a question, I’m answering it. Right now with the info you have given, it doesn’t look good. But, yes, it is possible for you to pull things up to where you are a contender. Test scores,good grades with difficult course loads is what you need to do that</p>
<p>Well, in all fairness for someone to say I’m a poor student based on GPA(like you implied), is a decision made without all the information. Such decisions should not be made. As GPA is only an indicator of PAST grades, not current. As for my trends I used to get all C’s with a few B’s. Now I’m mostly A’s and a few B’s. my rigor of classes is not great I have no AP’s or Honor’s. But I always take as many academic electives as I can such as business law, Accounting, intro to business and management, etc. Also in the summer I plan to take a class it two at local colleges about business.</p>
<p>Fordham: Reach</p>
<p>May as well go to a CC for a year or two, put your act together there and then attempt to transfer into Fordham.</p>
<p>You seem to be getting very offended by the fact that people are telling you that your grades are far below par for Fordham, but they are only telling you the truth.</p>
<p>I am extremely close with someone who works on Fordham admissions and let me tell you, Fordham for you is definitely going to be a tough reach from what I see from your grades. It’s great that you’re having an upward trend and are setting good goals for yourself, but I would strongly recommend you go to community college for two years and then transfer. It will save you a lot of money as well.</p>
<p>Your ECs are nice, but nothing that will really make up for your grades or make you an exceptional candidate for the Gabelli School of Business. I would say try and get in the 700s for SAT math and 600+ for reading and writing. Getting into Fordham for you is definitely going to be a really long shot.</p>
<p>You asked. Read your heading. You are a poor student right now with the info given in your first post. No one can say otherwise truthfully, especially in terms of consideration for admissions to Fordham. So yes, you are a poor student with the info and PAST grades are always used to assess a student with current and future grades usually added to the application later in the process. </p>
<p>Business Law and Accounting are not courses a school like Fordham are going to want to see. They want to see tough composition and English courses, the holy trinity in science and some advanced math. Forget the business courses and focus on the liberal arts as even the Gabelli School, really especially the schools of business want to see that students can handle the distribution requirements that require good solid, even excellent reading and writing skills. Look at the courses that are required and recommended. Not business. And this is the case with most selective colleges. You want to be academically well prepared and no one will care if you have had accounting already. You need a firm grounding in the liberal arts. Do set up an appointment with your counselor and talk to the admissions office at Fordham. I am telling you how it is. Better yet, visit, go to the info session and tour and ask questions. A good grade in an honors English course, and taking rigours classes at your school will count far more than taking cc courses in other areas. If you really want to get into a school like Fordham, read up on what optimizes your chances. Your plans have you going down the wrong path,</p>
<p>I don’t want to discourage you–my son started out in high school with less than a 3.0 with a D in the mix. He slowly worked his way up and was accepted to Fordham and like school by the time he was a senior and his test scores were not that great–on the cusp of the 25% point, lower 25%, that is. But by the time he was a senior his course were honors and even an AP and he got a 4.0 first quarter senior year and continued that the whole year. He took all three sciences, calculus was on his schedule senior year, and 4 years of a language. We had his transcripts broken into quarters so that his upward trend was even clearer, but he was still a reach for Fordham. Any time you are looking at a school that rejects more kids than they accept, it’s a rough go when all of your stats are not over the mid point, and his were not.</p>
<p>So, yes, keep on working, it can pay off. I’ve seen it happen with my son as well as others. A lot of very good students start schloffing off junior year and the senioritus hits hard thereafter, and those kids will get dinged for it. My son’s cousin and childhood friends both were WLed at Fordham and like schools with better overall GPAs and test scores, but with downward trends. So you are going the right way. But do check out what you can do to enhance your chances. I can assure you that taking business courses at a CC is NOT the way to go. Take a literature course, an ancient Greek course, a Chinese course. Some science study. Not accounting. Do check out what I am saying–this is an internet message board and you should not take anything here as the gospel, But I think you’ll find that I am not joshing you.</p>
<p>Well I’m honestly just trying to defend myself here. And thank you cpt, I will definitely look for some other course options then.</p>
<p>We understand, MMicele. Being told that the school you want to attend is a far reach isn’t easy to hear. If it makes you feel any better, I can relate. I had some troubles in high school and I knew I wouldn’t stand much of a chance for my first choice (UNC-Chapel Hill). That’s why I’m attending another university and will look to transfer to UNC next year. </p>
<p>You’re capable too. I’m not sure that Fordham is feasible for you right out of high school, but I’m confident in your ability to do well at another institution so as to then transfer. Don’t worry, you might not make it in this year; but if you work hard, Fordham could be in your future.</p>
<p>Why would you want to defend yourself? You are just getting a frank answer to your question. You are doing very well now, and congratulations on the turn around. But it’s only been 2 grading terms out of 10 so far, so the trend is not yet well defined. But, yes, you are getting there, and I’ve seen kids, (my own) do it. Good luck, you are on a great trend.</p>
<p>I had responded to your previous thread, but…
Like others have said it is a high reach. Your GPA is an issue and it becomes a bigger issue when you have never taken an honors or AP class. If you have truly developed a new and great work ethic then go to CC for two years and transfer to a more competitive school. But for now you are somebody who has a GPA in the 2s, low rigor, not great ECs and no test scores.</p>
<p>Honestly I don’t know what else I could do to improve my EC’s. I thought they were pretty good.
They show leadership, initiative, and actual employment in marketing. As well as having community service.</p>