<p>Background: White male from rural upstate NY.</p>
<p>GPA: 3.74
Rank: 25/138
SAT: 800CR/760M/710W
SAT IIs: Math I and Lit both 770
APs: Physics and possibly Bio (my school offers very few)
ECs: Football (4 years), Swimming (4 years), Track (3 years), NHS, charity work 50-100 hours, some school academic awards, summer maintenance job (2 years), summer music camp (4 years).... Those are the important ones. I also was in the Rochester Scholars U of R summer program one year.</p>
<p>How in the world do you have a 3.74 & you are only 25th of 138? Doesn’t your school weigh AP & honors classes? Doesn’t really matter though…you’ll get admitted with litttle difficulty. Your 1560 SAT score should get you some merit aid.</p>
<p>"Not necessarily true. You have good chances but nothing is certain or “with little difficulty”. </p>
<p>…nothing is ever a definite but…we’ve had many students admitted to the U of R with far lesser stats than this student. Unless he messes up the application process or is a jackass in an alumni interview, or hasn’t taken the most difficult classes offerred at his school, with a 3.74 (their median score is a 3.8) & SAT scores 150 pts above the average, he’s in. U of R is a good school but it’s not like applying at an Ivy.</p>
<p>I agree with Redsoxfan4 that no college acceptance is certain and disagree with csdad as to “its not like applying at an ivy”. Saludatorian at D’s high school was rejected at UR and accepted at Brown. One year Brown also accepted valedictorian who took no AP math or science classes and another student who was ranked in the 20’s and rejected 4 others in top ten who had taken hardest of courses and had high SAT scores. I learned after this application process was over that getting an acceptance is not always just based on grades and test scores. The ivies factor in community service, international accomplishments, and your fit into their college. If UR is your top choice and its an affordable option for your family, I suggest to apply early decision.</p>
<p>Two years ago we had our valdectorian rejected at SUNY Geneseo but accepted at U of R.</p>
<p>" The ivies factor in community service, international accomplishments, and your fit into their college."</p>
<p>…exactly my point. They do this to a much larger degree than schools like the U of R. That is why acceptances here are much easier to forcast than at Ivies. This is why I said that if this applicant doesn’t: 1) somehow mess up his application(this includes very poor essay) 2) come off poorly in an alumni interview or 3) he hasn’t shown “rigor” in HS…he is a VERY GOOD bet to get in.</p>
<p>Display interest in the school through visiting, interviewing, etc. and you should be in a strong position. Also, if there are specific programs f interest (such as REMS, REBS, etc.) look into and apply there as well</p>
<p>I’d like to add my two cents… The admissions process is comprehensive and complex. Students are admitted or denied for a variety of reasons, the most important being the quality of the ‘fit’, which we assess using a wide range of criteria. As I have posted on college confidential previously, we are looking for students who are going to thrive in a unique curriculum/research environment like Rochester’s, which is not always the perfect4.0 GPA, 2400 SAT student. A mistake that students often make is to assume that their admission is probable or that Rochester is a safety school b/c he/she falls at or above our published averages. In 2010, we recieved almost 13000 applications and admitted less than 40% to enroll a freshman class of 1100 or so. Many very qualified students were denied for reasons other than GPA and SAT.</p>