<p>Hi I am currently a Junior and I'm wondering what are my chances of getting into University of Maryland college park...
I'll have a 3.7 weighted GPA by the end of the year
I scored low on the SAT with a 1670. I hope to bring that up to about a 1900, I'm taking it atleast once more and studying a lot.
I do a lot of extra curricular activities especially with choir and I am in TRI-M (music national honors society)
I'll have a lot of leadership positions my senior year.
I take all honors classes except math and spanish, and by the time I graduate I'll have taken 3 APs.</p>
<p>It is probably a reach school for you. UMCP is numbers driven, so you will want to increase your SAT.</p>
<p>Ok thanks. I also had mostly Bs freshman year, then As and Bs sophomore year, and now all As my junior year. Will this help?</p>
<p>Yes, that will help for sure.</p>
<p>I think avg. weighted GPA at MD is a 3.9. So, you’re a little below the curve. How much this going to matter will depend on the relative rigor of your HS. Is it known for being challenging compared to other schools in the state? Did you take a challenging course load there? </p>
<p>16-something is also below the curve. Improving your score to 1900 changes a lot…it becomes more of a low-reach in that case. Right now it’s a reach definitely.</p>
<p>Yes I know that my high school is ranked pretty high. Next year I am taking AP chem, AP gov, physics 40, pre calc 40, 2 english electives, and then chamber singers… so i would think that this is a challenging schedule. Do you know the average ACT scores? sorry for all the questions</p>
<p>I agree that SAT needs to get up, HOWEVER, your major is going to play a part in the decision. A music major is not expected to be on the same rigorous academic scale as the engineer. It is expected that you would have spent more attention to your music.</p>
<p>I say this a lot because people throw around that they come from a competitive hs as if it was indeed fact and not opinion. Is your school on USNWR, Time, Newsweek top 100 in the nation? Is it ranked top 10 in your state by the respected paper…i.e. WAPO for the MD/DC region, Star Ledger in NJ, or is it the small hometown paper for a couple of counties, Asbury Park Press in NJ. </p>
<p>We all want to believe that it is a top notch school, but colleges know the Blue Ribbon HS, and there is a difference of a Blue Ribbon compared to a School of Excellence for the state. Your transcript will also let UMD know where they rack and stack in the state academically. They will show what courses are available and what you took. For example, our DD’s hs is the only one in the county that offers AP, IB and ICSE diplomas. In her graduation class only 7% of the students will receive ICSE recognition. Her uw gpa was lower, however, she took the most rigorous course load in the school and that played into being accepted to every school she applied to this past yr. Her wgpa was 4.17, her uw was 3.67.</p>
<p>I don’t know physics and pre-calc 40, is that honors? Why didn’t you take AP Lit or AP Eng? English electives is not the same as AP.</p>
<p>I know that sounds harsh, but I believe it is important to address the areas that can hurt you from an admissions standpoint before you enter your sr yr. AP is always going to count more than just the avg or honors course. </p>
<p>The other question would be where are you from? For example your chances improve greatly if you are IS, OOS NJ and UMD becomes a high reach. Additionally, the school profile will be a part of your transcript. A low rank from a high performing school will hurt you more than a low SAT from a lower performing school. In the first you are not a top performer, in the latter you are a top performer.</p>
<p>Admissions is a whole package issue. Your state, college major, hs course rigor, gpa/rank, ecs will all be thrown into the mix. Look at your application as a job resume and figure out where you are weaker compared to the competition.</p>
<p>Well, I don’t think it’s important that your school be in the top 100 high schools on USNWR for it to be considered a “top” school. MD has ZERO schools in the top 100 yet there are certainly some high schools in the state that stand out more than others. You can ask your guidance counselor how your school fares in college admissions…for example, what type of schools did the Top 20 members of the class go to? The top X number? (Based on weighted GPA of course) You can then predict your chances from where you rank in the class.</p>
<p>Precalc senior year is not great (lack of AP math)…did you take any AP English classes?</p>
<p>Let me qualify my statement. I don’t think it is important either, reality is top 100 HS on USNWR are probably asking chances for Columbia, Cornell, William and Mary, etc. Anyone who attends the top 100 in the nation is applying to UMD as safety and expecting at least Honors with some form of scholarship.</p>
<p>My point was on your same page. You need to remove emotional standpoint regarding school standing and look at it objectively as from a state ranking. Your GC will let you know. Like I said just because your school has a Banner saying School of Excellence does not mean it is truly competitive. </p>
<p>I also agree pre-calc hurts, especially if it is not honors, but again are you trying to enter as a music major? If so that will not hurt as much as being a general admit. My children know they have to be above pre-calc. Our DD did not take Physics, but she wanted liberal arts (Psych major), so we made sure she loaded up on that side, i.e AP Eng, APLIT. APGOV. APUSH, French 5, while she also had Stats (class past pre-calc). We addressed her college major and adjusted her sr schedule to give her an edge.</p>
<p>Don’t know your major, but I think you need to re-address the English electives to be competitive courses. Take AP Eng or LIT and then take APUSH. (caveat, I think APUSH can not be taken simultaneously with GOV). You need to show that with your gpa and SAT your course rigor is hard and that you are trending up.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>One other thing for the lurkers. Your gpa matters, and it matters alot! HOWEVER, a B(i.e. 87) in AP will be seen more favorably than an A(95) in Honors. The reason why is that the school is going to see you PUSHED IT HARD. You never coasted. The reason they care about this is because they know kids get to college and for the 1st time in life they are on their own. The kid in honors with a 95 had an easier course, the AP kid had to test the AP exam, and had “the harder route”. They will be seen as the over achievers who fight for the grade, the honor student with a 95 took the “easy route”.</p>
<p>You need to acknowledge that sr yr is not the coasting yr, it is the final push in the marathon and you need to pull it all out! Admissions sees your hs career like grad will see your undergrad…the whole pic!</p>
<p>"reality is top 100 HS on USNWR are probably asking chances for Columbia, Cornell, William and Mary, etc. "</p>
<p>Haha and plenty of students from public schools in MD, too! MD public schools are ranked #9 by USNWR (confusing, right?).</p>
<p>You’re right though, we can’t really tell what type of schools her GPA can get her into because the rigor of her courseload relative to her peers is not clear, nor is it clear what kind of rep the school has. She does need an objective measure of this and the best way is to talk to the guidance counselor and see if he/she can give OP hard numbers on where students in previous classes ended up with her stats.</p>
<p>In a normal situation the package the OP presents makes MD a reach, but I know many B students from my public HS in MD would consider UMCP a safety (however they were in AP calc, AP english, WELL above 1900 on the SAT, etc.). I guess that just highlights the uselessness of these chance threads…a lot goes into the consideration of an applicant…but B students with SAT scores in the 1600 range generally end up going to other schools in MD, like Towson. I would say you are probably a match for some of the other state campuses.</p>
<p>ok thanks for all the advice. I will definitely look into taking the AP Lit, or atleast English 41. And I am not looking into majoring in music… I may minor in it but I am going in undecided and am interested in dentistry (surprisingly).</p>
<p>Also, I am out of state… so chances are looking pretty low… just thought I’d ask though!</p>
<p>I know I’m resurrecting an old thread but…
FALSE. There are at least two; Richard Montgomery (ridiculously high on the list) and Thomas Wootton (which was also a National Ribbon school some years ago.)</p>
<p>Just saying :)</p>
<p>Sopie…what state? If you are from NJ I would say that your chances are very slim…there are way too many people from NJ who have much higher GPA’s and SATs. Other states in the NE, if you can get your SAT scores above 1800, you have a chance. If you are from Wyoming or Montana, your chances look even better!</p>
<p>Astro, you might have missed it, but Sophie asked this back in April. The thread was dead, it came back to life because Euro responded to umcp11 regarding a peeing match over MD schools. </p>
<p>Euro umcp stated USNWR.
Here is the link [America’s</a> Best High Schools: State-by-State Statistics - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/high-schools/2009/12/09/americas-best-high-schools-state-by-state-statistics.html]America’s”>http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/high-schools/2009/12/09/americas-best-high-schools-state-by-state-statistics.html)
Please look at this link <a href=“http://www.usnews.com/listings/high-schools/maryland/thomas_s_wootton_high_school[/url]”>http://www.usnews.com/listings/high-schools/maryland/thomas_s_wootton_high_school</a>
Notice, according to USNWR, which umcp was quoting Wooton was not a medalist, in MD, but an honorable mention, same is true for Richard Montgomery. BIG BIG difference than being top 100 in the Nation by USNWR. Apples to apples. not oranges.</p>
<p>Notice…no Gold medals for any MD schools. The state ranks #9 in the nation according to them behind the biggest OOS draws, which are NJ.NY and CT for UMD. That is why everyone here who has gone through the admission process asks 1st what state?!?</p>
<p>Admittance into any college is not only about your gpa, but the school profile. You can get into a school with a lower gpa, based upon the fact that the course rigor at the hs is seen as very hard. TJJHS is one of those schools.</p>
<p>Just out of curiosity let me guess, you go to one of those 2 schools?</p>
<p>Oh, I guess I looked at an older USNWR. Nevertheless, I am proud of the fact that Maryland has excellent schools.</p>
<p>btw bulletandpima: maybe :P</p>
<p>I am pretty sure you meant to use the lower case p so it would look like this 
instead of … just trying to help. If you want :eek: you need to use the colon eek colon… big grin you need to use colon D :D</p>
<p>You should be proud of the school, however, when we do chance people, we re not trying to be nosy or slam other states, we are asking because UMDCP is a HUGE draw for NY, NJ and CT. Their schools are nationally ranked in the top 100, that means very competitive course rigor compared to other school systems. </p>
<p>The same is true for IS, because UMDCP initiated a program last yr regarding engineering, and if you come from certain counties you were given, for no less a better term, special consideration just because you reside in that school system. It had MD parents up in arms. I can’t remember the counties, but I believe Montgomery was one of them.</p>
<p>Cretinblaster on the max credit thread that was just revived. There is another poster that attended in 97 or 98 can’t recall, who is giving false information regarding dorms. Granted they attended for a semester or 2, but did not graduate from the school, and has had no connection to the school in the past 12+ yrs. Obviously, they are also not a parent going through the process either, since that would mean they had a child at 12 to be in this boat. </p>
<p>To me that is ■■■■■■■■…decade old info is not something anyone should post when this is a life changing decision for the student.</p>
<p>I.E. No cable in the dorms…UH NO, there is cable and unlike VATECH the dorms are WI-FI, thus no need for a router.</p>
<p>@bulletandpima
I myself prefer the good old fashioned look of to :p</p>
<p>And yes, there is definitely cable/wifi to those that are wondering.</p>
<p>Somehow my post 17 got here. Sometimes this happens on CC, to others this post was suppose to be on the don’t feed the ■■■■■■.</p>
<p>bulletandpima: USNWR changed their methodology last year. Wootton and a few other Montgomery County schools were Gold, but then they fell to honorable mention the next year. Really? Why a drop from Gold, past Silver and Bronze, all the way down to Honorable Mention? Wootton has not lost any ground, in fact they led the County and State in AP test taking, as well as the number of students who achieved 3 or higher on the AP exam.</p>
<p>Here are the MD results from 2009:</p>
<p>Gold (all from Montgomery County)
Walt Whitman, Thomas S. Wootton, Winston Churchill</p>
<p>Silver
Baltimore City College, Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, Centennial, Eastern Technical in Baltimore County, North Hagerstown, River Hill, Smithsburg Senior, Snow Hill</p>