<p>My son's main criteria in selecting a college is a school with small classes of informed students engaged in critical, analytical, intellectual discussion. He applied and was admitted to Bard College at Simon's Rock two years ago. Unfortunately for him his gpa is low. He attends an exam school and feels--rightly or wrongly--that his grades would have been much better if he had attended a non-exam school, and thus would have a better chance to get into more competitive colleges.
Here are his stats:
gpa=3.15 (improving each year and 3.8 this year so far)
SAT=1970
2 APs last year--5 in each
3 APs this year</p>
<p>EC
4 years debate team, now as captain
3 years newspaper, now as asst. editor
Intern with speaker of the house (state)
Boys State
Racial Healing (6hrs/wk job)</p>
<p>Does anyone familiar with Grinnell admissions have a guess about his chances?
Thanks.
Rob</p>
<p>Take a look at the Common Data Set for Grinnell (google it) and look at Section C where the stats for admitted students are. <a href=“http://www.grinnell.edu/files/gc_cds_1112.pdf[/url]”>http://www.grinnell.edu/files/gc_cds_1112.pdf</a> You didn’t provide his class rank (just the GPA) but that will help you figure out his chances. He has two additional things in his favor: There are more female than male applicants to most LACs for a variety of reasons - so its a little less competitive for guys to get in since the schools want to keep the gender ratio close to 50/50. And a rising GPA is a plus - it takes some kids, especially guys, a bit longer to mature and adcoms know this. His ECs look good. </p>
<p>Grinnellians are a highly self-selected lot so if he really wants to attend, he should try to interview and make it clear in his essays that Grinnell is his first choice or at least one of his top choices.</p>
<p>His gpa is below the average but he might be able to make up for it in terms of all the rest. He should interview to try and explain this. Can anyone say for me?</p>
<p>GPA: 3.89 UW 4.09 W
(I also took math and spanish at my high school in 8th grade that are included on my transcript)
Rank: Top 5% Weighted. Around 15% unweighted I think?? My school is a large fairly competitive public school.
ACT: 29 on two separate occasions. Super scored a 31. Waiting for results back from october one but doubtful they will be better. Counselor is addressing this as I have ADHD.</p>
<p>Slightly alternative senior year: I am taking a class at Reed College that takes up a lot of my time. The program is very hard to get into as a high schooler. I am taking a college class, with the same rigor everyone expects of Reed. Besides that I have AP English, Ap Stat, Ap art, symphonic band, and elementary helper (working with first graders at nearby school).
I am afraid colleges will look at this as a weak schedule even though it is way more rigorous than taking all APs would be in my opinion. When I did my interview, the admissions officer was impressed and said it wouldn’t hurt me. Hopefully others in admissions will believe this also.</p>
<p>ECs: 2 sport varsity athlete: lacrosse and soccer. I was a captain for soccer this year and I have league recognition. I was an all american for lacrosse last year. I have had my photographs displayed at many local galleries. I lead drum line and started a percussion ensemble. My main service one is working for an organization to teach ecology and environmental science to 6th graders. I also volunteer at an arts kids camp. I was an exchange student for a month this summer and got a 4 on the AP exam sophomore year.</p>
<p>Letters of rec: Most likely great from my chem and art teacher.</p>
<p>Financial aid: Going to need quite a bit. Last year our EFC was 16k or so when my sister first entered college. Probably even going down for this year and also two kids in school.</p>
<p>Essay: On getting diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. hopefully unique although I am struggling with the ending</p>
<p>Extra info: White, female, obviously from Portland. I interviewed but won’t be able to visit until admission results are out.</p>
<p>Third Planet - You might reach out to the soccer coach if you’re interested in playing. If they want you they can put a mark on your application. No guarantees, but once my D declared her interest in a sport the coach took it from there. </p>
<p>One other thing to consider is the location of Grinnell and medical needs. At the athletic orientation we found out that there weren’t significant medical facilities in Grinnell in case of certain injuries and would need to get ourselves (at our expense) to Iowa City or Des Moines for rehab if it was needed (at least this is how I interpreted the info).</p>