Chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Boston College
1

<p>Hello BC is a recent addition to my list</p>

<p>Male
Not reporting race
Catholic High School</p>

<p>GPA: UW around a 3.8, probably a low 3.8ish. W 4.17ish
Grade Trend: Might hurt me a little bit. Frosh yr was pretty good, soph year was pretty good/really good, I showed an upward trend for the most part. 1st semester Jr year was pretty good too, but 2nd semester I kind of burned out and ended up with 3 Bs. I have a total of 5 Bs on my transcript (not horrible I know), and 4/5 were in math or sci classes, which is definitely not my forte. Not freaking out about Bs, I was pretty chill when I got my report card, but it kinda sucks to end Jr. yr on kind of a crappy note, with half my classes getting Bs in them.
Anyways.
Class Rank: My school is kind unclear they say they don’t rank, but they tell in a counselor rec the approximate rank. I should be in at least the top 5-10% so I’m guessing they’ll put down something like that. Or they might not put anything in the letter. I’m not sure.</p>

<p>SAT: 700 M 690 CR 720 W — 2110 total (single sitting, not superscore)
ACT: 29 ( Don’t plan on sending)
5/6* APs by graduation. *School is unclear, we might be credit for taking my physics class last year because right now it is an AP class…and its basically the same thing, but I doubt the college board will let them do that. Will haven taken 7-8 test though by graduation, however only 2 were Junior year.
SAT IIs: Should be decent (have not taken yet), expecting 700+ in Math 1/2(not sure which on to take), anything less than 750 on USH will be a huge disappointment for me. For the third one, I’ll probably pick some English one or self study World History</p>

<p>Teacher and Counselor Recs: Teacher one should be pretty good, my grade in the teacher’s class that I’m asking to write me a rec rarely dipped below a 97% (AP class) and I think he liked me as a person/student. Not sure about counselor one, we get to write a “brag” sheet, so it should be at least ok.</p>

<p>Essays: Looks like MDA Camp for the main one and my EC essay is going to be wacky (haven’t written it yet) </p>

<p>ECs: Pretty solid, though nothing spectacular like some people on CC.</p>

<p>-Eagle Scout, plus one year of being Senior Patrol Leader
-Student Govt Representative (lowest position in student govt, lol)
-Work Experience: 1 secretary job at my Church, another is a yard work type job. I may quit the handyman job/yard work job soon though, but I’ve had that job since summer before freshman year, so it should still look pretty good.
-Student Ambassador and Freshman Mentor (more intensive than you think haha)
-NHS
-Minor role in school paper
-Mock Trial
-Model UN
-Catholic Schools for Peace and Justice
-AP US History Co-Student of the Year
-Investment Club</p>

<p>probably leaving a couple minor things out</p>

<p>Service:
-Have not tallied up my hours, but it should be about 300+ service hours when I apply (tutor at school and local library, soup kitchens, various things, etc…)
-Eucharistic Minister at my church, at my school and I go to the nursing home and distribute Communion.
-MDA Camp Counselor. This is where a bulk of my service hours came from. Very demanding, but very rewarding and I plan on doing it again next year. I also participate in a program that helps disabled kids play sports during the summer and school year. Might write an essay about this. Something to the gist of the first day and a half or so of camp, I absolutely hated it, but it kind of grew on me and I really want to go back.</p>

<p>Think this is about it, sorry it was kind of long and there might be a few typos, do you need any more info?</p>

<p>Oh and should I apply EA or RD? I’m leaning toward RD because it sounds like BC’s EA is restrictive, what does that mean?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

2

<p>The stats you have to date certainly put you in the competitive applicant pool, but I would recommend that you apply RD rather than EA, simply because of those B’s last semester. Your transcript will be more impressive if you have a great first semester grades this year.</p>

<p>If you apply EA to BC, you cannot apply ED to another school; that’s all the “restriction” means. You can apply to as many other EA, RD, and rolling admission schools as you want.</p>

3

<p>Tough call, particularly if both subject tests are 700+. If you can crank out excellent essays, and your recs are strong, I might go EA. Do a Day Visit if you are close enough…</p>

4

<p>I think you have a good shot, your service hours will help you alot.</p>

5

<p>Ok, thanks guys. Still not sure if I should apply EA or RD, though I guess I’m leaning towards RD since I think another semester of grades will help me and my subject test scores should help me a little to. But it would be nice to apply EA and find out by Christmas. grrrrrrr…</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

6

<p>RD agreed bro</p>

7

<p>Hahaha…now my GC told me and I’m leaning towards applying early. </p>

<p>They wouldn’t flat out reject me, would they? Deferral at the worst…at least in my Gc’s eyes. Would also be nice to have an acceptance to a “top” school around Christmas time. </p>

<p>Say I did get accepted EA, when whould I find out about FA? Not until like March/April still, right?</p>

<p>Ok, thanks guys, still not positive which way I’ll go, I still have about a week or so to decide.</p>

8

<p>Bump. Here’s an update. </p>

<p>I applied RD to Carroll. My SAT II scores are a 790 in USH and 600 in Lit. Retaking lit tomorrow along with Math 2, but I heard BC does not look at Jan SAT so oh well. </p>

<p>I have also started to do some grant research/writing for a local non-profit. </p>

<p>Now what to you think about my chances? I know the 790 USH scores looks pretty good, but the 600 is pretty meh, so my SAT 2 scores may come out as a wash. </p>

<p>Would you classify BC as a low reach or high match at this point? I’d like to call it a high match but I am worried about getting rejected. </p>

<p>Thanks</p>

9

<p>Oh forgot to mention 1st semester grades, they should be solid (final grades have not come out yet). </p>

<p>Only one B, a B+ in my weakest subject, physics E&M, so I’m not really ashamed of that.
A- in AB Calc. Math is not my strong suit, so I was happy with that.
Might end up with an A- in English which I am a little ticked off about since it is one of my better subjects, but oh well. </p>

<p>Rest of report card will be As and A+s, and my weighted GPA should be about 4.5+, so I’m happy with it.</p>

10

<p>At any reach school you have to prepare for the ultimate nasty surprise of being rejected. A reach is a reach for everyone. Even if you have an exemplary profile, someone else may be a better match in some way for that reach school. So have a full list of at least 3 reaches, 3 possibles and 3 probables, that you would not mind attending.</p>

<p>Visit all the schools on your list if you can. It may surprise you what you feel about each one after you do. Don’t go by opinions of others, experience it yourself. </p>

<p>You could post numbers of 800 in each SAT subset, 800 in each subject test, and still get rejected with a 4.0 GPA. That’s because your application is your grades plus test scores plus what you’ve done with your life these past 18 years, especially the last 4. Plus what your teachers think about you. Reach schools have more applicants generally, and more students who want to go there, so even the essay has to be stellar. Grades and test scores are not enough. If you are delusional enough to think they are, you might be in for that nasty surprise.</p>

<p>Don’t feel depressed or negative or overly anxious if you can, try to be realistic. A reach is a reach for everyone. Sometimes it doesn’t seem fair. Welcome to the world of college admissions. Prepare a list that you feel comfortable with, so if the world comes crashing down and the reach schools don’t come through, you will still have possibles and probables you want to attend. And if the reach does come through, it will have all been worth it.</p>

<p>And I would agree with your guidance counselor, applying Early Action is always better. Boston College right now has REA, restricted early action, which means that you cannot apply ED to another school, but you can apply EA to other schools. That’s how you show that BC is a top school you would consider attending. So it will be in your favor to apply REA, the applications are reviewed first, and given possibly more consideration. And yes, you have to be prepared to be either rejected outright, deferred or accepted early. A reach is a reach for everyone.</p>

11

<p>Thanks for the response.</p>

<p>Sorry, I should have been more clear, I am currently a senior in HS and was deciding whether or not to apply EA or RD back in September. </p>

<p>Decided to go RD since I wouldn’t have 2 SAT 2s by 11/1 and wanted more time to work on the common app. </p>

<p>Thanks again.</p>