Chances at LACs for Average Student

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I go to a top 100 school (according to Newsweek, anyway) in North Texas. Here are my stats:</p>

<p>Weighted GPA: 4.11/6.0
Class rank: 202/480
--I could pin the low GPA on 'personal/family tragedy', but I hesitate to make excuses.</p>

<p>Sophomore year core classes:
AP World History: B
Pre-AP English II: B
Chemistry: B
1st semester Pre-AP Algebra II: F
2nd semester Algebra II: A</p>

<p>Junior year core classes:
AP U.S. History: B
AP English Language: B
1st semester Pre-AP Physics: C
2nd semester Pre-AP Physics: F
--The reason I stayed was because I thought being in 'challenging' classes would make me look better, but I forgot to succeed in them too.
Pre-Calculus: B
1st semester Pre-AP Algebra II: A</p>

<p>Senior year core classes:
AP Government/AP Economics
AP English Literature
2nd semester Physics
--I'm not taking math or science classes, but I'm taking 4 additional AP classes: AP Art History, AP European History, AP Human Geography, and AP Psychology.</p>

<p>AP Test Scores:
AP World History: 5
AP U.S. History: 5
AP English Language: 5</p>

<p>ACT Scores:
Composite: 28
Writing Score: 12</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Debate (4 yrs, reasonable success in competitions; was Captain of the Debate team in 11th grade. This has taken tons and tons of time and energy)
Interact (4 yrs, volunteer organization)
Amnesty International (2 yrs, Founder and President)
Young Democrats (Co-President all 4 yrs)
100+ hours of community service</p>

<p>--I would like to know whether anyone with similar stats, i.e. below average GPA who worked hard in senior year to redeem him/herself, was accepted into liberal arts colleges such as these:</p>

<p>Scripps College (I plan to apply Early Decision.)
Austin College (Early Action)
Cornell College (Early Action)
Reed College</p>

<p>Thanks for any advice.</p>

2

<p>bump......</p>

3

<p>CMV - Your ACT score of 28 is definitely in the ballpark for Austin College and Cornell College (in Iowa). Regarding your GPA, any college always likes to see a rising trend (including your first semester of your senior year) so you are "thumbs up" as well. As for explaining your low class rank, here is where excellent and specific teacher recommendations on the quality of your academic work could be an important factor in your admissions case. Also, as you said - without sounding like you are whining - perhaps a written explanation from you regarding your family/personal circumstances that were a major cause of your lower grades would be useful. Finally, show demonstrated interest in your favorite LAC's by visiting the campuses (perhaps more than once) and - as needed - asking meaningful admissions questions by e-mail of a particular Admissions Counselor (which are often assigned by the College/University on a regional basis) and always acknowledging their help to you by a brief thank-you note. </p>

<p>Other excellent LACs that consider the "whole person" in the admissions process and that are not too far from North Texas include Hendrix College in Arkansas (30 miles or so north of Little Rock); Centennary College of Louisiana in Shreveport (large endowment for a college its size); Southwestern University in Georgetown; and University of Dallas (Catholic) in Irving. Southwestern has an excellent table showing persons admitted last year with different SAT/ACT and grade point combinations. Finally, consider University of Tulsa, a medium sized university (2700 undergraduates and 1400 grad/law students, with an excellent and growing reputation as a fine academic institution and a huge endowment as well Your ACT of 28 is already two points above there average. My points about getting to know your regional Admissions representative would be especially meaningful here (since the University of Tulsa strongly recommends an interview as well.)</p>

<p>Overall if you have an excellent first semester in your senior year, this will go a considerable way to show you are a solid admissions bet since your ACT is "already there" for these schools. If you have a mediocre first semester, then much of the rest of my suggestions will be discounted since your actual performance is what is most important and your upward trend will have stopped.</p>

4

<p>lonestardad, thank you very much! I feel a little more confident in applying to Austin College and Cornell College. I haven't considered most of the colleges you've mentioned save for University of Dallas and Southwestern, but I'll definitely look into them, especially Hendrix College. Also, thank you for your admissions process advice.</p>

<p>If anyone has input about the other colleges I mentioned, Scripps and Reed, I'd /really/ appreciate it. Scripps is my first choice.</p>

5

<p>top 100 in north texas? do you go to grapevine or HP?</p>

6

<p>One thing to keep in mind about applying ED to Scripps: it is one school where applying early decision actually decreases your chances of admissions a bit, instead of increasing them. The acceptance rate for ED is 40%, for RD is 49%. Scripps seems a little more picky about any weaknesses in the application (like lower test scores or some weak spots in the transcript) in the ED round. </p>

<p>That's not to say you shouldn't apply ED to Scripps - you seem like the type of candiate they would like - but do so knowing the possible consequences. As lonestardad suggests, an excellent first semester senior year (and perhaps another shot at retaking the ACT with some prep) might solidify your case, but, of course, you will not be able to offer that if you apply ED. </p>

<p>If you are open to an all female school, you might check out Mills College near San Francisco as a possible safety.</p>

7

<p>Reed's admissions can be a bit different, just as the college is a bit different. They highly value the essay, so I would put Reed as a possible reach.</p>

8

<p>alin88, I go to Grapevine...</p>

<p>Thank you for all of your replies!</p>

9

<p>First of all: cornell is early decision, so you can only apply to that college if you apply early decision. </p>

<p>Scripps College (I plan to apply Early Decision.)-waitlisted
Austin College (Early Action)- i dont know this college
Cornell College (Early Action)-rejected
Reed College- waitlisted</p>

<p>Second, your GPA is very low...your C's and F's hurt you a lot. </p>

<p>I would NOT apply to Cornell...try other colleges. Maybe Reed early decision would help your chances.</p>

10

<p>Sorry, but you're confusing Cornell College with Cornell University. I have enough sense to not bother applying to the latter. Thanks anyway, though.</p>

11

<p>Oh my bad, sorry about that mix up</p>

12

<p>Sorry, but I thought it would be better if I just bumped my own thread.</p>

<p>I feel like I'm having delusions of grandeur. After visiting, I definitely do not want to spend any time at Austin College. Cornell College is out due to the lack of diversity. There goes my safeties... I've been considering schools (daydreaming, really) like New York University, Brown University (please don't laugh), UT Austin... Well, I'll get to the point. Here are my updated stats:</p>

<p>GPA: 4.18/5.0 weighted 3.1/4.0 unweighted
Class rank: 213/501 Top 42%
ACT: 30
Straight A's in all classes for 1st & 2nd grading periods (and they're all AP classes.)</p>

<p>Colleges I'm looking at (and will probably apply to): Occidental College, NYU, UT Austin, Pitzer College</p>

<ol>
<li>Should I bother applying to schools like these?</li>
<li>For anyone familiar with Oxy, what exactly is the admissions committee looking for in an applicant?</li>
</ol>

<p>Thanks...</p>

13

<p>Keep Reed for sure! Don't worry about your GPA and ranking. There is nothing you can do about it now. Just make sure you stand out from the crowd in your essay and ECs when applying to Reed. You have a great EC record, btw.</p>