Villanova is my daughter’s reach school. I would classify her as “brilliant but lazy” in terms of schoolwork. She’s always taken difficult classes - AP Statistics, Calculus, Physics, Organic Chem, Spanish Honors etc but her unweighted GPA is barely a 3.2. I’m not trying to knock her but she could have gotten better grades if she put the effort in. Her SAT is currently a 2000 and she is going to take it again in October to see if she can raise it.
Her ED’s are excellent - Captain of the fencing team, varsity track (4 years), Midnight Run volunteer, 2 jobs - bakery plus a golf club internship, volunteer camp counselor, Spanish National Honor Society.
She’s also very well spoken and dynamic. I don’t think many schools give interviews anymore but I sure wish Villanova did because she can certainly ace an interview.
If she gets in, she would 100% go but if not, she will most likely go to a State school as I don’t want to spend 3x the price for a private education unless it’s a school like Villanova. She likes Univ of Delaware but I would rather she go to a SUNY where she can get a similar education for less money.
Does she have a shot or are we giving her false hope in encouraging her to apply?
mom2collegekids - Right now, she has a 680 in Math and 640 in Reading. She is taking the SAT’s again in Oct to raise the reading score.
I’m not sure what her weighted GPA is - I have an email into the guidance counselor to get that info as the online site only shows unweighted.
Other stats - she came in 3rd in the League for fencing (her team has been undefeated for a long time) and she is half Caucasian and half Asian (with a little bit of Hispanic).
I agree that if Villanova is 100% her top choice and if your family does not need to compare financial offers then applying ED might help. As you well know, the GPA makes Villanova (and likely Binghamton) a reach schools. Perhaps also consider Faifireld, Marist, SUNY New Paltz.
@jyyanks Since you named two other possibilities I will offer two more. Siena College and St. Michael’s in Burlington Vermont. Siena is outside Albany and the area is similar to the area around Villanova, which I live near. Very nice. Burlington is easily one of the best college towns in the US. They are both nationally ranked LACs.
Both are great, prosperous and very upbeat schools.
In both cases those SAT scores could result in merit aid.
I really think Nova is a bridge too far. Your D’s scores are almost at the 75%ile but her GPA is in the bottom 5%. That’s recruited athlete range. What does she want to major in? The SUNYs are a good option.
Thank you for the feedback and suggestions. I can look into the other schools mentioned above.
As far as majors, most likely business but she won’t get into the Villanova business program so most likely will need to go into Liberal Arts or Undecided.
At the end of the day, the good news is that I know she will do well after college. She’s got leadership and charisma but unfortunately her grades don’t reflect her potential. We just want to get her into a decent school knowing that once she’s out, she will be fine.
My kid had a slightly higher GPA and a slightly lower SAT CR/Math. She got accepted to all four schools to,which she applied realistically (SCU, USD, U of South Carolina, and Salve Regina). She was rejected at Davidson. This was in 2006.
You daughter should apply and then wait and see. There really isn’t anything else she can do if she wants to apply to Villanova.
If she applies ED, please be certain you can afford the cost for her to attend.
And have her also submit her regular decision applications at the same time.
Well, that’s why they call it a reach. Her GPA will hold her back. Does Villanova have ED? Or is it just EA? You may not want her to apply EA - the school seems to take the strongest candidates early.
My daughter had probably the same unweighted GPA (3.1-3.2) and around 3.7 weighted GPA (honors and AP) with 31 ACT (so slightly higher equivalent). She was accepted to all seven of her schools (New College of Florida, Eckerd, UNC Asheville, Hendrix, Willamette, U of Puget Sound, Cornell College) but she also applied realistically. I think one or two schools had acceptance rates below 50%; while the rest had acceptance rates ranging up to 80%.
Does she have an upward trend? That helped my daughter - her worse grades occurred her freshman year and you can see an improvement in grades and level of courses over the next two years. Also, look at her GPA in areas of interest - how does that look? If your daughter has taken AP classes, how are her AP scores? My daughter mainly received 4s on her AP exams so that helped offset the grades a little (not much). All these little things may add to her chances for Villanova.
Does your school have Naviance? That should really tell the story to some extent. But keep in mind that things have gotten even more competitive in the last few years at many schools, probably including Villanova. If she wants that type of school and you are willing to pay, there are other Catholic schools or other schools with great alumni connections. Hope she finds something she likes.
If you don’t mind spending the $75 (or whatever) and your D doesn’t mind taking the time to apply, then there’s no reason not to try! I think it could go in your D’s favor, looking at everything else she brings to the table. She has excellent ECs and a strong score. If you look at Villanova’s CDS, they do look at applicant’s interest. She should make them aware that Villanova is the top choice for her!
I remember a story an admissions officer from Notre Dame told, about a girl they admitted who was “light on the numbers”. That is an exact quote. She wrote this great essay, and he repeated the topic. They were very impressed by her essay, which was the reason she was admitted. I’ve never forgotten that. Your D should do what she can to make an impression.
@jyyanks I would try to convey to your D the importance of improving her work habits and earning the best possible grades in her college courses. Most of the big companies have GPA cutoffs when it comes to interviewing prospective new hires and all certainly grad schools consider GPA as part of their application. Putting in that effort to do well in her classes will pay off with a vastly increased number of opportunities upon graduation. All of your D’s personal attributes are very important and will serve her well, but it is also necessary to put oneself in a position to get opportunities to which will allow those traits shine.
Thank you again for the advice. Villanova doesn’t have ED but they have EA - would it be worth it to apply knowing she can potentially improve both her GPA and her SAT score? Also she will most likely move up in rank for fencing to #1 or #2 since the people who ranked above her graduated. If she got in, we would find a way to fund regardless of whether she got aid or not.
Great advice about the essay. Currently her essay is about her brother who got sick right before highschool and who (thankfully) is much better.
Right now, her only AP is Statistics. We are also in a very competitive district so not sure if that will factor in.
Totally agree with @happy1 regarding work habits. It’s something that has been a source of frustration for awhile and I think she is starting to realize the effects now. She is very stressed out about applying and I know it’s because she is worried about her GPA.
The other school that I forgot to mention is Lehigh. Any thoughts on Lehigh vs Villanova?
Have her apply EA if she wants to. But if there is a good chance that her first semester grades will be outstanding…she might want to wait and apply RD.
Does anyone know if Nova is “need aware” or if being “full pay” is a nudge? If so, would there be a way to communicate that to Nova in some “not rude” way?
@mom2coIIegekids - That’s a great thought. Not sure if it would make a difference but honestly we’ll try what we can if it means being able to get her in