Chance me at Fordham-RH?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Fordham University
1

<p>Hi,
So I go to an IB Diploma program school, meaning almost all of my classes are IB. That explains my unweighted GPA, which is 3.2 (I know, its low). According to my school's weighting (+1 to IB classes), its a 4.1, due to the very few electives we could take. </p>

<p>Another problem is that my school has a ton of brilliant kids, and my low GPA puts me at 110 out of 135 in IB, or out of 400ish in the entire senior class. To make things even worse, I really only have non-outstanding EC's (club memberships, not much leadership). No sports, no jobs.</p>

<p>All this being said, I have a 33 ACT (34E, 33R, 33M, 30S). My essay is on how my mom is very sick, and how that has impacted me. That point brings in the reason for my low grades in 9th grade, and how I have family obligations that take the place of a lot of EC's.</p>

<p>In summary, </p>

<p>GPA: 3.2 / 4.1 - All IB, clear upward trend to a 3.6 in junior year
ACT: 33
Essay: I think it's superb
Rank: Bad.
EC's: A few (clubs, I run the lights for my church, IB's CAS system, helping my mom)
Volunteering: 75 hours at a hospital, volunteering at church
State: Florida</p>

<p>If it changes anything, I am applying to the Gabelli School of Business, and for a Tuition Exchange scholarship.</p>

<p>So, I know I must sound like a terrible student, but is there a chance I could get in?
Is there anything I can still do to help my application?</p>

<p>THANK YOU for any help you can give me,
jkm130</p>

<p>And, if you have time, I'm also applying to Boston U, Northeastern, Syracuse, and American (even though Fordham's my #1). Are my chances better/worse at those?</p>

2

<p>Sure, I think you have a shot. Your ACT score is great and your GPA is not horrible. If there is anyway you can raise it by mid year and apply regular decision that might help a lot. </p>

<p>I think your chances at the other schools are approximately the same, Northeastern maybe the hardest of them all. As long as your essay is great you should get into a couple of these schools I would think.</p>

3

<p>Thank you for your response!</p>

<p>Hmm… do you really think I would have a better chance at regular? I thought with the smaller application pool at EA, my chances would be better.</p>

<p>Either way, it presents a problem, as I have already submitted my supplement to FU, which indicates I want to apply EA. I could call and try to change it, but I’m not sure if they can. </p>

<p>Anyway, my first six weeks GPA is a 3.6, so, assuming I can get it even higher, it would help. </p>

<p>Thanks, jkm130</p>

<p>Edit: Forgot to mention, my school is very strange in terms of timing: my first official semester report is actually generated in late January. Does this affect which decision plan I should take?</p>

4

<p>ACT score is good and you’re from Florida, which helps, since Fordham wants a diverse pool of students. GPA and class rank are pretty low, but you did go to a tough school. Essay topic, in my opinion, is a little cliched, as a lot of students write essays on parent’s sickness. It may have been better if you explained your extenuating circumstances in a different section and your essay topic was a little bit more different/interesting. Just my opinion. Nevertheless, if your grades continue to increase, you may have a good chance of getting in. Right now, I’d say it is 50/50, depending on how Fordham decides to view your GPA/class rank. While Fordham will recognize that you went to a tough school, they still need to maintain a certain average, in order to sustain their rankings.</p>

<p>You have a solid chance at Syracuse…the other schools probably the same shot as Fordham.</p>

5

<p>It is a smaller applicant pool when you do EA, but if you wait it gives you the chance to raise your GPA. But if they see you have an upward trend they may defer you and wait to see what happens to your grades. So I guess either way is ok. And I agree with starbury about the essay, make it more about you, not about your mother.</p>

6

<p>Thank you both for your responses. At this point, I think I will apply EA, as my school’s timing might just disallow the possibility for senior grades to be submitted at any normal time. That is, unless anyone has any other suggestions there?</p>

<p>As for the essay, only the first 125ish words are about her specifically. It really is focused on my resulting maturity and responsibility, and it even notes an explanation of my low 9th grade grades. If this really is a problem, I suppose I could try to write something new, but I feel I need something that explains the following: </p>

<p>Something unique about me (yes, I know you guys can’t help with that)
My maturity and responsibility
My low GPA
My lack of EC’s
What I can bring to the school</p>

<p>My mom’s story fits, and I really can’t think of anything else to write about.</p>

7

<p>If you feel comfortable with your essay and are dead set on it, then you should go with it. The point that I was trying to make is that essays on the topic of parent’s sickness and the resulting maturity is very cliched and overplayed. I am saying this because I had written a similar essay and my college counselor suggested that I should try writing about something else, due to same reason I explained above. You can always explain your extenuating circumstances in a separate section, which Fordham and other colleges allow. In any event, if it is a well-written essay and you strongly believe in it, you should be fine. Once again, your ACT scores are good, you’re an out-of-state-student, and you attended a competitive IB program, so you should get some benefit of the doubt as is. Good luck!</p>