Chance me for Next Year

Colleges and Universities A-Z Boston College
1

<p>I need to know if Boston College seems to be a realistic goal of mine. </p>

<p>White/Male
Middle Class
Catholic School/DC area
Top 15-20% of class (my school technically doesn’t rank; I don’t think they even put it on college forms)
Top Half of Class is Pretty Competitive</p>

<p>Freshmen Year - 4.15 GPA
Honors English - A
CP Spanish I - A
Honors World History - A
Honors Integrated Science - B+ (although it would be an A- now; my school switched its grade scale during my sophomore year)
Religion (not that it really matters) - A
Honors Introduction to Programming - A
Honors Algebra II/Trigonometry - B+
PE/Health - A</p>

<p>Sophomore Year (oops) - 4.02 GPA (i think)
AP Computer Science A - B+
AP European History/English - B+ (a combined two period class that involved both subjects, although we only took the Euro AP test)
Honors Geometry - A-
Spanish II - B+
Religion - A
HN Biology - B+
PE/Driver’s Ed - A</p>

<p>Junior Year (projected grades) - hoping for a 4.2-4.3 GPA
Religion - A
HN Pre-Cal - A-
HN Chemistry - A- or B+
AP US History - A-
AP English Language and Comp - A-
AP Human Geography - A (by far the easiest and most enjoyable AP)
HN Introduction to Philosophy - A
CP Spanish III - A-</p>

<p>Senior Year Load
AP Statistics
AP Calculus AB
AP English Literature and Composition
AP US Government
HN Physics (I’m not a huge fan of science; more of the social sciences if anything)
HN Spanish IV
Religion
I also plan to teach myself AP Microeconomics over the summer</p>

<p>AP Scores:
Computer Science - 1 (Horrible teacher, and I had no idea what to expect from the exam)
European History - 3 (5 different teachers during the year; a hell of a year)
I don’t plan to send in these scores, as they are extremely low. I’m almost positive that I will get a few fours and maybe a five this year and next.</p>

<p>SAT Score:
1860
620 Reading
620 Math
620 Writing
I didn’t do anything to prepare. Basically took the test on the whim without knowing what was going to be on the test. Plan to study over the summer though and hopefully get 2000+.</p>

<p>Extra Curricular Activities and Awards: (the years are what I should have next year)
-Boy Scouts - I’m an Eagle Scout and I was designated as helping the new Scouts transition from Cub Scouts; (all 4 years);
-For my Eagle Project, I made 450 rosaries for a Catholic School in Haiti (I finished planning my project a week before the earthquake hit)
-JV and Varsity Cross Country (4 years)
-JV Baseball (1 year)
-Varsity Track & Field (3 years)
-Winter Track Club (3 years)
-Economics Club (3 years)
-Mathletes (1 year)
-Participant in Virginia Stock Market Game (4 years)
-Model UN (1 year; not my thing)
-BETA club member
-National Honor Society Member
-Represented school at Virginia HOBY leadership seminar
-Selected and Attended a high school economics workshop at Chapman University
-I’m applying for an internship for 6 weeks over the summer there to be part of a research team; Someone told me from within the organization that I have a good chance of getting in. </p>

<p>I’m also kind of worried that I won’t get enough aid if, I do get in, from BC. My income is alright, but my brother goes to Duke (boo) which costs a ton.</p>

2

<p>Get the SAT over 2000, perform well next year, and get some 4/5s on your AP exams and you should be fine.</p>

3

<p>Dear mdrimincvaor : Let’s start your review on the numbers - 620/620/620 across the board shows consistency and shows you are at the bottom quartile mark of applications into Boston College. Next, 85% of enrolled students are from the Top 10% of their High School class with 96% of enrolled students in their High School’s top quartile. The upper echelons of any High School will typically be very competitive. Despite your thought that the school does not rank, your transcript will include deciles of the grading range so that Boston College will be able to approximate your class rank overall.</p>

<p>As for your senior year courses, you are showing English AP and Calculus AP which is a positive. Further you have taken AP US History without taking an AP exam? Your AP exams to date show marginal success in European History, but little else to recommend. Unfortunately, this does cast some doubt over the quality of the curriculum (or your absorption) that you are seeing.</p>

<p>Your extra curriculars are bountiful; hopefully you can point to some scholastic leadership positions outside of the Boy Scouts to bolster that are on your profile.</p>

<p>In closing, right now, you are in a very tough position for Boston College. You need to make a significant move on the standardized tests while also pressing the rigor in your High School course work - you will need to remain highly dedicated and focused in your senior year to execute across both. Yours will not be a profile that can suffer from a single moment of senioritis if you want to make the grade at some Top 40 universities. Good luck and maintain your passion!</p>

4

<p>@scottj
Once I think about it, I’m probably around the top 15-10% mark for class rank. My grade has a few less than 200 students, and I’m somewhere between 20-30th. The majority of the top 50 students go to William & Mary, UVA, or VA Tech. We do send a handful to Ivies, but the majority stay in state (which is too bad).</p>

<p>I’m currently in my junior year, so I haven’t taken any of the AP exams for my junior class schedule (including APUSH). I’m also in the process of creating a student court system at my school, but I don’t know if they would view this as leadership. </p>

<p>As for leadership, I’ll be the captain for track & field and cross-country for next season. Juniors are usually not allowed to be captains. </p>

<p>My garbage worthy AP scores have a reason behind them. In AP Euro, we had 5 different teachers, which resulted in going over material already covered (almost 2 months spent on French Revolution, and only 1 question in the test about it) which resulted in me cramming material that I had not been taught a week before the exam.
As for the AP Computer Science exam, my teacher didn’t teach. This year should be much better as I have had steady teachers in all of my AP classes, and they are quite exceptional teachers. </p>

<p>I was pretty upset with my SAT score, but I know I’ll do better once I study. I should be able to get close to a perfect score on math. I just need to brush up on some areas that I haven’t studied in a while.</p>

5

<p>mdrimincvaor:</p>

<p>Almost everything looks pretty good. Your GPA is fine (getting it up a bit wouldn’t hurt but it isn’t absolutely imperative). </p>

<p>Your SAT score (as you know) needs to get up. I don’t know if you’re applying to CSOM or A&S, but if you interest lies in math/economics/business, getting your math above 700 will help a lot. Don’t stress about AP scores. You haven’t seen the commonapp yet, but AP scores aren’t necessary to show - they’re just nice to flaunt if you have 4s or 5s. get your CR and writing scores to above 650 and get the writing score to above 700 and you should be FINE. There are many resources available on college confidential that detail how to do well on the SAT. Also, if the SAT doesn’t go so well, consider taking the ACT. Taking both never hurts.</p>

6

<p>Dear mdrimincvaor : Normally, I do not come back into a chance-me thread for a second discussion, but I am very impressed with your response, your fortitude, and your can-do approach. Given those three elements, let’s take your review to the next level.</p>

<p>Forget about the excuses about five teachers for European and a lousy Computer Science teacher for your AP course. The key question that a Boston College recruiter will say is “Fine, what happened from here?” No more excuses, no more reasons mdrimincvaor : this is your future, you can make a difference at Boston College - strive to show the passion in your academics.</p>

<p>Your leadership position with Track and Field is excellent : now, convince me that it makes a difference. How has that raised your game? How has it helped the team? How has it impacted the community and beyond? </p>

<p>Perhaps I am reading into your text, but you have the spark - you have the fire. We need to help you get to the next level - it starts with your SAT scores and moves into your AP programs. Your next year will be a defining moment - can you keep your eyes on the prize? Convince us - and in so doing, you will convince yourself.</p>