Chance Regular Decision?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Boston College
1

<p>I decided to apply regular decision because I just wasn’t sure I wanted the whole binding early action. But here’s everything: </p>

<p>UW GPA: 3.76
W GPA: 4.30 (extremely competitive high school, 180 students, we don’t rank)
Approximate class rank: top ~20% probably)
ACT: 31 superscored <a href=“34%20English,%2031%20Reading,%2029%20Math,%2029%20Science”>Yes, BC superscores BOTH SAT and ACT</a>. I know these scores fall within Tufts’ 30-33 ACT range, but it’s just above the 25th percentile. I don’t know if this will hurt or whatever with the average being a 32)
Ethnicity: White
Religion: JEWISH male (don’t know if this will hurt)
Potential Hook: I’m a pretty good musician, as you’ll see in my resume. </p>

<p>Full Resume: </p>

<p>Research Assistant, Cleveland Clinic Main Campus, Cleveland Clinic Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering, Grade 12, 6 Hours/Week</p>

<p>High School Jazz Band Grades 9,10,11,12
Lead Trumpet</p>

<p>Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony, Grade 12 (This is one of the most elite youth ensembles in the world. It’s such an honor that I’m a part of this). </p>

<p>National Honor Society, Grades 10,11,12</p>

<p>Middle Eastern Political Awareness and Culture Club, Grades 9,10,11,124
Vice President</p>

<p>High School Marching Band, Grades 9,10,11,1210
Principle trumpet, section leader</p>

<p>School Newspaper, Grades 9,10,11,124
Editor</p>

<p>MUSIC ACHIEVEMENT: </p>

<p>High School Marching Band, Grades 9,10,11,12
Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony Grade 12
Northeast Ohio Honors Band Grades 10,11,12
High School Jazz Band Grades 9,10,11, Lead trumpet
High School Concert BandGrades 9,10,11,12, Lead trumpet</p>

<p>I also play baseball, for whatever it’s worth. </p>

<p>My essays were interesting. I worked extremely hard on them and I think they all give great insight into my personality and life situation. </p>

<p>Thanks to all who answer, and Happy Thanksgiving!</p>

2

<p>EDIT: It should say BC, NOT TUFTS. I copied from an old thread.</p>

3

<p>Please? Anyone?</p>

4

<p>Your scores pretty much place you in the mid 50% range. Your GPA and class rank are good, but could probably be a bit higher (mostly class rank) to maximize your chances. If your essays and recs are real good, I think theres a good possibility you get in EA. It really depends on this years EA applicant pool. In your case, hope and pray it is weaker with less applicants ;)</p>

<p>Anyhow, you have put yourself in a pretty good situation…Good luck</p>

5

<p>small nit, but early action is not binding.</p>

<p>Class rank is a negative, since ~90% of BC (and Tufts) frosh were in the top decile of their HS.</p>

<p>And being Jewish will not hurt. BC has quite a few students and faculty members who are Jewish.</p>

<p>fwiw: if you don’t get into Tufts ED, I would strongly counsel against applying to any top eng program with that math score. (An adcom would be afraid that your math skills would not be strong enough for their eng program.)</p>

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<p>^ Because of “wasting” the application fee?</p>

7

<p>Okay. If I applied to Arts and Sciences undecided (for either place), is my chance of getting in better?</p>

8

<p>well yes, absolutely, particularly given your Calc AB grade so far (low B). In the first place, Engineering students at Tufts did extremely well in AP Calc. And in the second place, they tended to do well in Calc BC. (AB is only 2/3rds of the BC curriculum.)</p>

<p>But realistically, unless you are full pay for Tufts, your chances at both schools are low (if that class rank is correct).</p>

9

<p>Technically my school doesn’t rank (guidance counselor will let the college know if one is valedictorian, salutatorian, etc). What do you mean when you say “full pay for Tufts?” I didn’t request financial aid, if that’s what you mean.</p>

10

<p>yes, not applying for finaid tells Tufts that your family will pay the full cost of attendance. That is a plus factor for Tufts, at least for kids on the bubble.</p>

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</p>

<p>Astute adcoms can figure it out based on your high school’s “Profile”. Ask your GC for a copy of what s/he send to colleges, or look to see it is online. (Our high schools don’t rank either, but the Profile does have a description of the gpa’s of recent grad classes, as well as mean test scores, including AP.</p>

11

<p>The average weighted GPA (out of 5 at my school) for the grade is a 3.45, and the average ACT composite is around a 25 (according to my guidance counselor). Does this work in my favor with my GPA and ACT score?</p>

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<p>theNDhopeful44:
If you posted your profile a year ago, you would get input for how to improve your chances. At this point, there is little you can change. Please don’t let anyone dissuade you from applying. While it’s true that your ACT scores are a bit on the low side, your GPA isn’t something that will hurt you. </p>

<p>I, nor anyone here, can comment if the rest of your application (EC details, essay, recommendations, etc), will be enough for the adcoms to give you a thumbs-up. </p>

<p>Be realistic and understand that parts of your application may be in the “reach” category, but so are thousands of others, and many of those do get accepted. Good luck.</p>

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<p>Dear theNDhopeful44 : There is this myth that is propagated by High Schools looking to “depressure” the college application process - “We don’t rank”. I strongly urge you to ask your guidance counselor to allow you to see EXACTLY what is sent to the universities along with your recommendation letters from faculty. Most High Schools will send a graduate class profile - this will include the grade levels (either based on 100 or using GPA scales) for each decile of the graduating class. Hence, while YOU might not be ranked, your average will be placed within a decile. Remember, 85% of the accepted class comes from the Top 10% of their High School class. (Further, 96% comes from the top quartile for an extended metric.)</p>

<p>So, your ACT scores in Math/Science are in fact marginal. These 29 scores will play much worse at Tufts than Boston College - remember that the BC core will underscore your English skills, so your ACT scoring there might be an advantage.</p>

<p>Your musical talents are intriguing. If you are serious and would like to continue your music tradition, you might want to highlight this to the BC Band/UWE/Bop teams - I will let you do the research on who to contact. These groups could (repeat could) be an important pull for you (based on internal insight that I have at this time).</p>

<p>Hopefully, you have been able to highlight how your Editor position has impacted your High School community. </p>

<p>At this point, you profile feels like about a 70/30 in favor of acceptance - do not underestimate the import of your essay in answer why Boston College should add you to the Class of 2016.</p>

14

<p>Hey @scottj i applied RD, I was just wondering what my chances are because you seem like you know BC’s admission stats pretty well. I have a 4.1 weighted GPA (around 7%), 2120 SAT 670 CR 800 math 650 writing (at least my lowest is in writing) 32 ACT 34 math 32 reading 32 English 30 science…My ec’s are shadowing/intern at local pediatric office…volunteer for around 250 hours in hospital…captain of spring soccer team – won various tournaments…captain of JV soccer team one year/ one year on varsity (coach was not too fond of me)…single-handedly raised $500 for FreeWheelChair mission…key club and FBLA 4 years…NHS and spanish NHS…I may be leaving out things but this is the bulk of it…my recommendations are good…good upwards trend…course load challenging, not most rigorous though…And another related question – how many students will BC take from my high school? would it be willing to take multiple students? I go to a public school…Thanks</p>