Major: Undecided
State: Maryland
GPA: 3.04 UW 3.7W
I took a total of 5 AP classes, and a handful of GT and honors classes (only took 3 regular classes during my whole high school career).
Rank: 177/283 Public school; highly competitive
I was just rejected from UMD College Park early action…
Deferred from UMBC
Accepted to Drexel University with a 20k scholarship for biological sciences
Essay: Good. Used 2 of the optional essay prompts.
Extra Curricular: I was in my high school orchestra for 4 years (The highest one)
I took art for 2 years
I am in women’s chorus this year.
I am in NHS, and my schools Music NHS
I was also a member of the 2012 Maryland all state orchestra
I have a good amount of community service (20-30 hours)
I think that is it…If you have any more questions, please tell me!
Thank you!
OOS
3.0 GPA; any upward or downward trend F -> S -> J?
no test scores listed.
bottom half of your class.
rejected from your own state flagship, and not even admitted to a regional satellite campus.
Offhand, I’d say you have a very low chance of being offered admission to VT.
I respectfully suggest you consider a public school in your state that is known for Biology: St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
@FCCDAD
My SAT is 1910 composite,
and my GPA has an upward trend.
My senior year, I am taking Calculus AB AP and Stats AP with a handful of honors classes.
I got All A’s and a C in Calc: 3.7 UW and 4.29 W
For what it’s worth, had a similar UW GPA, SATs, and class ranking, but more competitive courseload and extracurriculars (which don’t have a huge impact). I was rejected, and this was years ago. I was accepted a year later as a transfer student.
I still think an admission offer is unlikely. I think your raw GPA is low for VT OOS. I’m sorry.
I believe Drexel’s estimated cost of attendance for Fall/Winter/Spring quarters is on the order of $68k, not including books. $70k, all told, is not outside the realm of possibility. Even after a $20k scholarship, that’s still a very expensive $50k out of pocket (presuming the scholarship is renewed each year). That’s a lot of money for most families to come up with.
I really think you should explore more IS options. Maryland has a surprisingly extensive public university system for a state that size. UBaltimore, Frostburg, Bowie, Coppin, Salisbury, St. Mary’s… I suggest you look into them all.
I’m shocked you were deferred from UMBC. As FCCDAD noted Drexel is too expensive even with the $20,000 discount. I’d suggest one of the other Maryland public universities and then transferring into either UMD or UMBC. Or, if it’s a possibility in Maryland going to community college for a year or two and then transferring into the 4 year college. Good luck
My son is in a similar situation as you. We are from Maryland with his UW GPA at 3.1 but his Weighted at 3.8. He did get a 2290 Composite on SAT and a 32 on ACT and has 10 AP classes of the 6 already taken he has received 5’s. He was National Merit commended scholar but in MD you had to have a really high score to get to be a finalist. He hates UMD and did not apply but was accepted to UMBC although not for their honors program. I do not believe that he will get into VT even though he applied.
Would you consider Mount Saint Mary’s in Emmittsburg? It is a small Catholic college but very well know around the country. With your composite SAT score they give a guaranteed amount of money. You would probably be in the 19 to 21K range and the school is around 48K total with room and board. We feel that this is close to what UMD was going to cost anyways. Just a thought. If you google the school they list what they give for scholarship money based on your SAT and GPA combination. Its a beautiful college but its not for you if you are looking for that big campus feel of UMD or VT. Good luck. UMD is all over the map on who gets accepted there. I know someone who was accepted yesterday that has lower SAT score than you by 200 points and his GPA while higher, was because he only took 2 AP classes. SO go figure. At our high school it took until 145 out of 295 to get to under a 4.0. I find that ridiculous since kids like my son taking 10 AP classes along with Honor and GT classes is considered lower in class ranking than someone who took a full load of on grade level classes and got all A’s. Oh and did you apply to Towson? That is in the state school system as well.
@BB1945 Oh my goodness! A 145 out of 295 to get under a 4.0?! That is crazy…and yes, I feel the same.
I thought taking a bunch of challenging classes will boost everything, but even the people who took 1 AP class and the rest GT and honors ranked higher than I did…so I really do not like high school ranks. However, it is my fault that I took on classes that I was not capable of tackling. Anyways! No I did not…I really regret not doing so because my mother teachers there, so I would be able to attend there for free!
P.S Your son did amazing on the SATs and ACTs! Applause
@ksp0597 Wow. Your mom teaches as MSM?? Um Free? Is it that bad that you don’t want to do that? I can understand if you want a bigger school but the campus seems really nice. I like that my son will have more opportunity to stand out with smaller classes and his main reason for going to a smaller school is so he can interact with the professors more. He would wither and die if he had to be in a class of hundreds! He just competed for the Founders Scholars program for full tuition but we aren’t counting on that! Still the price is manageable compared to UMD anyways.
That said I understand that VT is VERY generous with their AP credits and that my son would most certainly start at VT with enough credit to be a sophomore already. This would actually put the OOS cost of VT over three years comparable to MSM at 4 years. We are not clear on how all his AP classes (and test scores) will roll over to MSM. They may just count towards them opting out of the 100 level classes. That is what UMBC does. Good luck on your decisions! Wow can’t believe your passing up free college!!
@BB1945 Oh no! My mom teaches at Towson University! My mom actually regrets that I did not apply to Towson because I passed up a free college education…My Asian dad, however, would murder me if I attended a Maryland school other than College Park or Johns Hopkins. Therefore, the colleges I applied to are well-known because my dad is afraid that when I apply for a job, and if the company doesn’t recognize the name of my college attended, I would not be hired. Plus, my dad is very close-minded and judgmental…So I had no choice but to apply to limited schools.
Oh I am so sorry that your father feels that way. UMD College Park is way overrated. You are paying for a name that doesn’t necessarily get you a job. I know lots of graduates that can’t find jobs after going to UMD. But I guess if your father is that committed to spending money on a Name of college that is what you must do. Good Luck. I hope you get into one of the colleges that will make both you and your dad happy! OH and While I do not know your father and should not make judgment, I will say that some of our reasoning as parents for where we want our children to go to school lands squarely on our pride as parents. I have to admit that I was frustrated that my son did not want to even apply to College Park because “I” wanted to be able to say he got in and chose not to go. I am however very grateful that my son is confident enough in himself to not want to follow the “crowd” here in Maryland. He knows himself and while we will most likely pay a higher price to go to a small private college I believe his options for jobs and internships will actually be much greater due to being able to stand out. Plus he is that kid that needs to engage with teachers one on one and debate and discuss learning. He would wither and die if he had to sit in all those 300 student classrooms at UMD. There is a good fit for everyone. I truly hope you find that fit for you!
@BB1945 Thank you so much for all your help! It really does make me feel better. Also, thank you for giving me some insight into how parents feel about their child and college. It makes me understand my dad a little bit more.
Thank you again!
Also, good luck to you and your son! May he find the right place too
My mom actually regrets that I did not apply to Towson because I passed up a free college education…My Asian dad, however, would murder me if I attended a Maryland school other than College Park or Johns Hopkins. Therefore, the colleges I applied to are well-known because my dad is afraid that when I apply for a job, and if the company doesn’t recognize the name of my college attended, I would not be hired. Plus, my dad is very close-minded and judgmental…So I had no choice but to apply to limited schools.