Chance My Son, Please

Colleges and Universities A-Z Bucknell University
1

<p>Son a junior in excellent public high school in MA. Has a 4.7 weighted GPA (out of 6.0) – have no idea how this translates on the 4.0 scale but he is a solid B student, having taken 3/4 of his classes at the Advanced level. Will take 3 APs next year (Bio, Stats, Latin); President of Latin Club; varsity golf and crew; few other clubs at school throughout high school and has done a bit of volunteering.</p>

<p>School doesn’t rank but he’s in top 30% (75/260).</p>

<p>SATs: 700M, 620CR, 520W – will take again in June.</p>

<p>Also, not applying for financial aid – does this even matter?</p>

<p>Anyone out there with honest opinion would be most appreciated! Thanks.</p>

2

<p>No on the FA. My own guess, and that's it, is that in the absence of someone pulling him in, BU could be quite a challenge for him, especially being on the demographic peak/bubble. There are tons of very impressive kids who fail to gain admission. Good luck; sounds like your son's a keeper.</p>

3

<p>I didn't get in with slightly better stats. However, maybe some of these schools will get burned on matriculation, with some kids applying to 15 schools.</p>

4

<p>I'd say he should get some more volunteer hours this summer, maybe a part time job. And try to raise the critical reading and writing parts of the SATs. They don't mean everything but if your son had similar ECs and gpa as another student, unless he had an awesome essay or something, the college would most likely take the student with the higher SATs. I would recommend taking the ACTs because some students test better on them and if you took them more than once, you can choose which test to send. Whereas on the SATs, when you send 1 test grade, you end up sending everything you've ever taken.</p>

<p>It would be good to start thinking about who will write his teacher recommendations as well; those are important in the college admission process. Good Luck!</p>

5

<p>The 30% ranking and GPA, in the absence of some other stellar, notable items will make it extremely difficult. Perhaps you may wish to look at total picture here and consider if BU would be the best fit.</p>

6

<p>I thought I had some awesome EC's like I own my own business, got a $40K entrepreneurial scholarship to use at any school and got third in state in swimming (TX a very competitive swim state). I just hope I don't get rejected from the rest of the schools where I am right in the middle of the pack for stats.</p>

7

<p>You obviously have some exceptional gifts and talents. Guess BU doesn't perceive/believe those trump top grades, scores, etc. Or it may be that they do not see you as academically succeeding among their populace without a lot of strain that may deter you from exhibiting those other assets you would bring. </p>

<p>Perhaps they may wonder why you'd see yourself as either needing, wanting a Bu/LAC degree?</p>

8

<p>whistle pig, i dont think theplaces rejection is due to any of those things. i also dont doubt that bucknell would be a good fit for the original posters son, though i would agree that his chances of admission may be somewhat low.</p>

<p>the issue, and this is true for admissions at all highly selective colleges and universities, is the angle. at some point on the selectivity spectrum it becomes easier for schools to operate under the paradigm of not creating a class by slowly rejecting the least fit candidates, but rather creating one by accepting those deemed most qualified. the key difference emerges when one considers the subjectivity of the process on the margin. simply, the people accepted to any highly selective school are those who are not only academically qualified, but 'jump out' to whatever individual or group is reading the application at that particular time. </p>

<p>in other words, its unlikely that 'theplace' was found in some way deficient or overly qualified. rather, he (or she) simply didnt jump out as an applicant to whomever was reading his application at that particular point in the process. it happens, at bucknell and harvard and everywhere in between, and its precisely why so many people are applying to 8, 10 or 12 schools these days.</p>

<hr>

<p>so tell your son to apply away, myoneandonly. his academic background suggests he is not unqualified as a student, and as such who knows if someone in admissions will decide hes a perfect fit.</p>

<p>and thetruth, as i said, it happens! good luck with the rest of your process!</p>

9

<p>nicely explainedand articulated, as usual. thanks!</p>

10

<p>i absolutely agree with the aformentioned comment by erikatbucknell. There are a plethora of ways to combat marginal grades and test scores. Having excellent (and standout) essays and recommendations can help a lot. I love whenever a question arises on why one student with a 1200 got into a select college over a classmate with a 1300. Test scores are meaningful, but defintely not the most determinary factors in the admissions process. Another great point was mentioned by having something in your application that "pops up." Honestly, by genuienly expressing interest and eagerness to go to Bucknell will do a lot more than many think. It is very easy for admissions counselors to seperate those who really want to go to Bucknell vs. those who just really dont care. My advice is finding an edge, something that exposes your uber-uniqueness vs. the other applicants. On the flip side, much of Bucknell's applicant base is held within the Pennsylvania, Virginia, and New York basis. So Coming from Massachusetts certainly won't hurt you. Good luck mate, cheers.</p>

11

<p>While the idea that there are many ways to skin a cat, or gain admission to BU when one's record fails to coincide with the class profile is intriguing and a nice thought,it is very challenging to accept under more careful review. </p>

<p>In a nutshell, the point that if one has some extraordinary, stellar, notable factor(s) that fall outside the traditional measures they can make a diff. What are those? Well, we've heard the story of the genius in the bayou who enrolled and graduated Princeton. In nearly every case though, the individuals have some specific talent or "need" a campus seeks. Diversity is the most popular. Athletics is high on the "exceptions" list. An extraordinary event, project, accomplishment can sometimes do it. </p>

<p>I recently read that love is helping people to hear, see, know that which they need vs. that which they'd like.</p>

<p>What's my point here?</p>

<p>That reality is not what is being suggested ... unless one is "diverse", athletic, developed a vaccine for AIDS, etc. Not trying to be cruel, unkind, or anything but encouraging.</p>

<p>But the facts we have remain:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Aside from the math score, which is about BU average, the others are well below.</p></li>
<li><p>The GPA is same. Well below average.</p></li>
<li><p>Class rank falls in the lowest 3-5%.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>4.ECs are ok with no particular matches for any known BU "needs."</p>

<ol>
<li>Being from Mass is better than being from PA and not at all unusual or "rare" in the BU student body.</li>
</ol>

<p>Lastly, this good mom asked for "honest answer." I believe honesty and truthfulness about this young man's potential for admission to BU, in light of all known information about him and the most recent of BU's admissions profile suggest that it would be extremely challenging. Suggesting otherwise, while there are abberations and rare exceptions, would seem to be delusional, imo. Again, let me say, this is not seeking to be unkind, nor are my remarks patronizing. Thus while his background may "suggest he is not unqualified" for admission, it would appear he is not close to being a "perfect fit" at BU.</p>

<p>Should he apply? That's up to him. Does he stand much chance of admission? The answer would seem very clear by looking at him and the BU profile.</p>

<p>That said, he's clearly an outstanding young man with a parent who cares deeply about his future. There are in fact many perfect fits for him.</p>

12

<p>Talk to an admissions officer or try getting in touch with a few Bucknell students though ericatbucknell's input might suffice. I think that is your best bet to finding out whether your son would do well in the admissions process. Or just apply. You risk $60-80 and maybe a couple of hours on the essays. Hopefully no sleep :)</p>

13

<p>sigh...</p>

<p>i forgot to mention this in my last post, but bucknell, like all but about 20 schools in the country, is not entirely need blind. (this allows the university to meet 100% of demonstrated need.) so that you are not applying for financial aid probably wont matter, but if your son is one of the final 50 in the pile and the schools finaid allotment is almost gone, it may. </p>

<hr>

<p>whistle, the original posters son is in the middle range of enrolled students in both sat critical reading and math. his overall score of 1320 is fine. further, the top x% class rank statistics are nearly irrelevant because they apply only to students with official class ranks. the student in question, like most bucknell applicants, attends a competitive high school that does not rank. as such, the many students who 'unofficially' arent in the top 10% of their classes because of their competitive high school environments arent included. that we dont know his actual unweighted gpa keeps me from commenting on that.</p>

<p>as i said before, i would not say that his admission to bucknell is likely. however, that does NOT mean that bucknell is not a good fit. nothing in his background suggests that he could not succeed academically and socially at the school, and isnt that what a school being a good fit is all about? what bucknell admissions ultimately decides is a different story, but it has no impact on fit from the applicants perspective.</p>

<p>as such, there is NO reason not to apply. his chances for admission are certainly better than mine (on paper) were for cornell. i mean, who was the last prospective math/econ major you saw admitted to an ivy league school with a 78 in podunk high school physics?</p>

14

<p>I think your notion of fit is nice but not reality. Fit is fit. Not can one succeed or otherwise. Were yours the definition used by admissions, there'd be no basis to reject a great many students. In fact, most are rejected though, even among those who you'd suggest "fit." </p>

<p>So there you have it. You would seemingly honestly see this young man as a near perfect fit for BU. I honestly don't. Not even really very close. And I'm not willing to patronize his mom. Guess that's why they have admissions committees.</p>

<p>Again, to the question of "chances?": Not strong at all, imho.</p>

15

<p>"i forgot to mention this in my last post, but bucknell, like all but about 20 schools in the country, is not entirely need blind. (this allows the university to meet 100% of demonstrated need.)"</p>

<p>this is just not true, at least not anymore. i applied for financial aid at bucknell and was hoping for at least the average need based grants and scholarship award from BU of $21,300 (as reported by collegeboard.com). when i received my package, i was disappointed to see that all i received was a $10k merit scholarship and stafford loans totaling in about $3,500. since i'd never seen the campus, i needed to visit BU anyways, but i also decided to make an appt with the financial aid office to figure out why my package was so inadequate and in hopes of getting some more money. during my meeting, chris richardson, one of the senior FA officers told me that they calculated my EFC to be around $12k (i was gapped about $35k).</p>

16

<p>It's called Bucknell math. "Welcome to our world, and be doggone lucky we agreed to talk to you."</p>

<p>Was there a long line at FA?</p>