applying regular decision for the class of 2020; i know my gpa started off at a rough start, but i’m hoping the positive trajectory will be enough.
transcript:
only rigorous class listed; all gpas are weighted
3.2 -freshman year
honors geometry
3.4 -sophomore year
honors french II
3.9 -junior year
honors french III
honors british literature
honors us history
4.3 -senior year (1st quarter)
ap english literature
ap french
ap psychology
ap statistics
honors calculus
test score: 27 ACT (retaking on saturday)
extracurriculars at school:
model united nations -founder of club and president
diversity club -founder of club and president
varsity golf -captain
french club -president
peer connection (selected membership) -founder of committee that focuses on students with racial/religious issues
freshman seminar mentor
tells jokes every week to entire school -selected from 120 students
outside of school:
arabic classes for high school students once a week (2 hours) at yale university
volunteers at orphanage in morocco (30 hours per summer since freshman year)
member of international relations club at yale for high school students
awards/academic recognition:
national french exam placed in the top 10 nationally and instate both sophomore year + junior year
national french honor society
additional information:
first person in family to go to college in america
child of immigrants
trilingual (english, arabic, french)
muslim/arab
question: does BC need people like me to fill a quota?
thank you !!
Deat ctgirl1001 : Before addressing a question of quota, let’s look at your profile’s data points.
With an ACT composite score of 27, you are three points below the 25th-percentile at Boston College which places you at or below the 0th-percentile which is typically where specific recruited skills (like athletes) might reside. If one momentarily ignores grade point average over your four year scholastic career, your profile is missing mention of any sciences including potential AP work; given that science is one of the core five areas sought by Boston College, this might/will pose a problem. The hard-core AP courses that you show in your profile (English, French) are hard to evaluate after just one quarter of work, particularly when compared against other students with six, eight, or more AP exams. The other, so-called soft AP courses, will be viewed in a lesser light than AP Sciences, Calculus, History, and similar.
Turning to your GPA, my guess is that your weighted GPA sits outside the Top 10% of your graduating class and might well be outside the Top 25%. Remember that Boston College takes 85% of their freshmen from their High School Top 10% and a full 96% come from the Top 25%. In other words, your relative rank within your High School will statistically matter.
From a school spirit perspective, your profile is devoid of music (chorus, band, orchestra) activities, but does include golf which is typically a one-season sport in most locations. What occupies your time in the other two seasons of the school year?
Volunteerism might be an interesting topic for your essays provided that you can well define the community impact of your actions and how those would extend to and improve the overall Boston College community.
Your candidacy would have to be considered a long shot for Boston College or any top 30 university nationally. Coming back to your original question, quotas have certainly not been discussed at any parent or orientation session that I have attended at Boston College. While diversity could be used as a tilt factor when comparing two candidates with similar profiles, my sense is that you are too far from the acceptance point to expect diversity to play a major factor. None the less, I wish you the very best of luck in your pursuit of Boston College and your other chosen institutions.
normally, I don’t disagree with my cyber-friend scott, but I am a little more optimistic about your candidacy ctgirl.
As someone who was first gen, I get how difficult Frosh year of HS can be. And I’d bet many adcoms were in the same situation.
All colleges want more diversity, so that is never a bad thing.
Hopefully, you will be successful raising your ACT score. Admissions to a top school is always competitive, but BC will give you a thorough evaluation.
Good luck.
btw: scott, in SoCal, golf is a year-round sport. (but then we have no frozen rivers on which to play hockey!)
Dear ctgirl1001 : Best of luck and I certainly wish you well. Despite not being a top choice, you will not be disappointed should you become an Eagle.
Dear bluebayou : Disagreement? Blasphemy! (Well, maybe not.) I hope that everything has been well with you and that your BC’13 is doing well. With New York temps in the 65+ degree range today, I do not think that you SoCal lovers have much over us today! Happy Holidays to your entire family!
