Did I get kinda Screwed?

Applying to College
1

<p>I consider myself a smart kid, 32 ACT, Outstanding ECs (Eagle Scout, All State Musician, Community Service, Science Olympiad, Theater, etc) and good essays and recs.</p>

<p>However, I am only in top 20% of my class with a 3.6 W 4.2 UW average. I have taken the hardest courseload and 6 AP classes (Most I could take w/ graduation requierments).</p>

<p>My Class Rank in context of the school looks bad. Usually it is very uncompetitive and last years class a 3.5 UW was top 10%. I go to a Mediocre Public that is 50% Minority (40% African American and 10% Hispanic) in the midwest. Rarely do students go to top schools. Average ACT for school is 20.9. Sounds pretty bad eh?</p>

<p>My class was different, in a good way. According to my counselor, over 60 kids in my class had 30+ ACT scores including 33 kids having 32s or greater. This is a class of 250. Over 120 students had 25+ ACT scores (including those with 30+ Scores). I was ranked at around 50th in my class. My counselor showed me my schools report list and it showed average ACT was 20.9 and there was nothing else was on it to suggest class rigor. Along with that She said that she did not mention my classes greater competition in the rec.</p>

<p>AdComs probably saw me as a typical slacker that was smart, but didn't apply himself.</p>

<p>Students from this class are going to: Penn (2), Brown (1), Columbia (1), Notre Dame (1), Berkely (3), Northwestern (6), Vanderbilt (2), WashU (5), University of Chicago (4), Cornell (1), Michigan (4)... and that is just from what people have told me. There are probably a lot more going to top schools.</p>

<p>I am afraid that my class competition screwed me Class Rank wise and I look like a slacker at a crappy public. That is normally the case, but this year it was not.</p>

<p>I did not apply to super selective places, but was denied by Macalester, Kenyon and waitlisted at Grinnell.</p>

<p>I know this is a super selective year for college admissions, but Macs and Grinnell app # did not change and I was in the 75th percentile Act wise in addition to the rest of my great app.</p>

<p>Did my class rank screw me? I think if I was in the top 10% I would have probably been accepted but instead... no.</p>

2

<p>i’m sure you learned a lot though, and hopefully, that’ll help you get better grades in college so that you can transfer.</p>

3

<p>I dont know about your school, but ours sends a school profile along with the application that gives an overview of the class as a whole’s statistics (average ACT and such)</p>

4

<p>Our school did, but it has last years stats and the only stat they give is the class catalog (to help colleges determine schedule strength) and average act score, which was 20.9 last year. Our Guidence office is overworked and understaffed and there goal is simply to get kids to community college (only 45% of students last year went to a 4 year institution)…</p>

5

<p>Do people at CC not realize that ~20 is the NATIONAL AVERAGE on the ACT. It seems like almost everyone here thinks that anyone who has below a 3.5 GPA/2000 SAT/30 ACT ends up in a community college, flips burgers for a living, and can barely pay their rent each month.</p>

<p>Your essays/recs may have not been as good as you thought they where.</p>

6

<p>I know where your coming from. I got screwed by rank coming out of high school as well.</p>

7

<p>The teachers let me read the recs and I was told the essays were good by an English Professor that is a friend of mine who teaches at a Big Ten university.</p>

<p>I am pretty sure it is my rank/GPA that killed me in the end.</p>

8

<p>Then it was most likely your Class Rank. To be perfectly honest, GPA means nothing (Unless it’s a 4.0). Someone with a 2.0 GPA could get into HYPS if they where the valedictorian. If the adcom compared your stats to previous years, then that’s what got you denied. Did you ever think about appealing? Include a letter from your counselor talking about how much harder it was this year than in previous years.</p>

9

<p>Beloit is a great school with a lot to offer. You’ll be much happier if you can stop obsessing about what might have been and where you ‘got screwed’ and focus on the opportunities you do have. </p>

<p>And no, someone with a 2.0 GPA would not get into HYPS, valedictorian or no. There are valedictorians with 4.0 GPA who didn’t get in.</p>

10

<p>Borb- No, they can’t. There is no way.</p>

11

<p>SmallColleges - you didn’t get screwed-Beloit College is a great school. Outside of a small group very few people have heard of even the top LACs. Just tell people that you are going to a small college in Wisconsin that they have probably never heard of. Mostly to save face people will say oh yeah they have heard of Beloit. You will be able to be a top student at Beloit with all your smarts, at Grinnell you might have to struggle to be in the middle of the pack. I know someone who was just turned down from 6 grad schools as a top student at Grinnell. She is just one of many Grinnellians competing. Bet the top students at Beloit got where they wanted to go next!</p>

<p>BTW - my D - top 4%, great scores, fantastic essays, supplementary material, extra recommendations- all great, heavy, heavy legacy got waitlisted at Grinnell - go figure. She turned down the WL and is moving forward, feeling she lucked out to get to go to Beloit next year - a much better fit for her. </p>

<p>Anyway I agree with other posters - move forward, give yourself a pat on the back as I see elsewhere you got great scholarships at Beloit too.</p>

12

<p>Maybe, but you sound kinda whinny. This will probably not be the last time in your life when things didn’t work out in the best possible way. Think of the rare opportunity you had by being with exceptional class mates through HS. That may influence you more, down the road, than getting in to a more competitive college.</p>

13

<p>As others have said, don’t worry about it any more. There’s a very high probability that by the end of your first term at Beloit you’ll never spend another hour thinking about the college application process and you won’t be able to imagine being anywhere else. A huge majority of high school students in this country will never get the chance to have a college experience as good as the one Beloit can offer you. Good luck, have fun and don’t look back.</p>

14

<p>i’m sure many can relate to what you’re going through, applying to a college thinking it’s a solid match or even a safety but ended up getting rejected. accept the fact that you made a poor judgement by not applying to more matches. i can think of many worse situtions to be in, being accepted to a school of your dream but cannot afford to attend is one. be happy, beloit is a decent school. besides, you can always transfer.</p>