I’m going into junior year and I have a very (unique?) situation
I am the captain of the debate team and have been ranked in the top 20 debaters (now top ten) in the state since freshman year.
I took my diagnostic act and got a 32, and a 1450 on the sat, which means my predicted scores will be 35/36 and 1550/1600
Here comes the catch
My gpa sucks
Freshman year I got c’s and b’s, and this year I only got one A
I started having seizures this year and was hospitalized for half of the year on academic leave. My low gpa can be attributed to this, but I’m worried when they see a gpa of 2.9 or a little better they will throw my application out before even considering.
What do you think I should do? Should I consider less selective colleges than Skidmore or Claremont McKenna or will smaller colleges look more at character?
You might also see if your school will replace grades if you retake a class. If you could re-take a couple of the C classes (maybe online so you can go at your own pace) for A’s that would make a huge difference in your GPA. My son was in a similar situation but luckily he managed to maintain a higher GPA (but still not anywhere near where he would be if he wasn’t sick). Another thing that helped was getting a 504 plan so he couldn’t be downgraded on late homework. Before that we were stuck in a never ending cycle of sick/miss school/good enough to go back to school but still struggling and then it requiring huge effort to get extensions on stuff and assignments in and he usually was sick again before he got back on track. All that to say, if you are still struggling, talk to your school counselor about across the board accomodations.
You really have wait to see how your Junior year grades actually are before you make any choices. Grades are the most important criteria. Until you demonstrate that you can get high grades, selective universities are not in your future. If you get high grades in your Junior year, you may want to consider a gap year so that you have your full year senior year.
I respectfully disagree with the post stating grades are most important. Colleges look at a combination: grades, courses, standardized tests, and personal essays. You will have the chance to explain your grades (sort of); on the other hand, your grades for junior year and first half of senior year are vital. Colleges like to see an upward trend. Do you think you’ll do well? If so, go forward with your application plans. There are so many factors at play - schools want a certain number of males vs. females, specific athletes, international students, legacies, sexual orientation, etc. So, yes, grades matter. But, don’t let that stop you from applying; you never know what they’re actually looking for. Good luck.
The last quarter of sophomore year when I came back I got all A’s, so I think there will definetly be an upward trend for junior year. Would a 36 on the act compensate for the low gpa on an application? I also got 5’s on my AP exams so I feel like my standardized test scores show my real potential. If I continue to trend upward in junior year do you think I should still take a gap year? My gpa right now is About a 3.2 but i think I can get it up. If my gpa doesn’t increase significantly should I even bother applying to Claremont McKenna? Because Claremont McKenna is my dream school, but I don’t want to waste my ed when it realistically would give me the best chance at skidmore which is probably my second choice. Do you think I should Ed to skidmore instead?
Just be aware that you are respectfully disagreeing with the folks who actually make the decisions.
The top admission decision factors for first-time freshmen have been consistent for decades. The No. 1 factor—rated as considerably important by 79 percent of colleges—was grades in college prep courses, followed by strength of curriculum and grades in all courses (each 60 percent),
My advice is don’t think about colleges now and worry about where to apply. Focus your energy on taking care of yourself and focusing on your Junior year grades. Certainly someone who has shown steady improvement over their HS carrier is going to be looked at favorably. Certain colleges actually exclude Frosh year grades.
Hello again. I just sent you a message, but realized in the meantime . . . never mind. I don’t care. My three are all in college (Oberlin, Cornell, Lehigh) and doing well. I stand by what I said, although I’ll concede I could have phrased it better. I read the article you attached and found it quite interesting, but it didn’t fully convince me to change my mind. There is mention of how many selective schools place greater importance on factors such as gender, race, high school attended, etc. which reinforces what I was trying to say previously - there are often so many factors involved, it can be impossible to pin down the exact formula for getting into every institution. Wish you well.
I know I’ve mentioned this on other posts, so I apologize to anyone who feels (justifiably) that I’m a broken record: Have you read “Who Gets In And Why” by Jeffrey Selingo? He covers exactly what you’re suggesting, that the the ‘holistic’ approach to creating an incoming freshman class means that someone with a higher GPA might get passed over for someone with a lower GPA but who plays the piccolo and the college’s orhestra is going to be short a piccolo player the next year, or if the school is short on women in their engineering department, or if they really want students from a state where they rarely get applicants - but he also points out that the difference in GPA isn’t going to be much and that grades are still the top criterion for all colleges.
The book does not, however, address how schools factor in medical issues. OP, it sounds like your medical issues didn’t begin until sophomore year, but correct me if that’s wrong. If that’s the case, though, you might still need to explain why you got c’s and b’s during your freshman year. Maybe you can analyze what actually went wrong freshman year, do waaaaay better junior year, and then use those fantastic debate skills to write a great explanation about how you learned from both your freshman year debacle and your sophomore year medical issues to rise up to your actual potential (as displayed by your junior year record)?
I was trying to say that you and RichInPitt are both right, but also wanted to (subtly, in that post) point out that the OP’s GPA might be much too low for Claremont McKenna and Skidmore to overlook even with a medical issue (and especially if there was no medical issue his freshman year). You really never know, though, so it’s probably worth applying anyway if he can afford the application fees.
