GPA's and Competitive Scholarships

Parents Forum
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<p>OK, parents, I need your collective wizardry and experienced advice.</p>

<p>My daughter has been invited to a scholarship weekend at a Division 3 private college ... yeah!! However, not to the first tier scholarship weekend, but the second tier offering of scholarships.</p>

<p>D has found 4 schools that she would be very happy at and could see herself attending. Two of the schools, are about equal at the top of her list. The other two colleges are about equal and run a strong second place. This particular school is one of the top two.</p>

<p>The first tier scholarships minimum requirements are a 28 ACT AND 3.75 weighted GPA. Awards are full tuition OR a fellowship ($14,000 and other benefits) OR $11,500.</p>

<p>For the second tier of scholarships minimum requirements are a 25 ACT or 3.5 weighted GPA. Awards are half-tuition OR $9,000.</p>

<p>D's weighted GPA is 3.5, unweighted GPA is 3.2. Her highest ACT score is 33. In her defense, her high school does NOT weight honors classes. The only classes that are weighted are IB classes and AP's. Therefore, at this point she has only had 2 semesters junior year, where her classes are weighted. She is an IB student.</p>

<p>Now, I don't have the opinion that daughter deserves the highest of the high. In fact, I know all too well her shortcomings. </p>

<p>But ... here's my problem ... if the school accepts weighted GPA's and some school districts weight honors classes, I think the college ought to refigure daughter's GPA and weight her honors classes, just like other applicants. At this point, they have looked only at the GPA on her transcript. Should I make an issue of this with the admissions office? </p>

<p>Also, do you think half-tuition is including room and board or just tuition? Tuition is right at $25,000. Room and board about $7,000. We will qualify for some need-based aid, as far as I can tell from a FAFSA estimator. Also, she wants to play a varsity sport in college.</p>

<p>If I should decide to call admissions, I don't want to sound ungrateful as to what has already been offered. I also don't want to sound like a helicopter parent with an overinflated, unrealistic view of my daughter. </p>

<p>Daughter would call or email, but would not stick up for herself. At the first sign of a "We're sorry, but ..." from the admissions office, she would retreat. I don't give up quite that easily, in fact, I love a good ol' difference of opinion argument.</p>

<p>All opinions are welcomed. Thanks in advance.</p>

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<p>I can't help you in the tier department, but perhaps answer one of your questions: half-tuition among most colleges is just that, tuition. Room and board are usually left out, although maybe not in all cases. Does the college have a website with more information about the scholarships? They might provide a more concise answer. You usually see "full ride" or "full package" (or "half ride," etc.) when the college is counting tuition AND room and board, plus other misc. expenses. Regardless, good luck with your daughter!</p>

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<p>I'm surprised they use "weighted" GPA. Most colleges look at your unweighted letter grade/percentage earned for the course. Weighting is more a ranking purpose. </p>

<p>You may want to inquire how they consider weighting. Most schools don't set out such exact criteria because some grades are not on 4 pt scales. They may be on 100 pt percentage scales, etc. Could these possibly be rough figures that show what candidates have been successful in the past?</p>

<p>My school system doesn't even have honors, it's just two tracks, AP/IB (depending on school offering) and regular. I'm not under the impression this is all that uncommon? That's why it's unusual to have exact GPA figures like that, there are a lot of variables. Usually it is something like "an A average" (which 3.75 would be), or B+ average (which 3.5 would be).</p>

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<p>Saint Paul, thanks for the input. I have searched the college's website on several occasions, and there is a little more info on one page, but really not too much more info than I included in the original post.</p>

<p>Princedog, when we visited the campus last spring, the admission counselor said that they accept the weighted GPA, but probably would not reconfigure. </p>

<p>Where we live, all the school systems weight grades, but not necessarily in the same fashion. On my daughter's club team, each girl put together a "sports resume" early in junior year of high school. All resumes were put into a book to give to potential coaches. There are six school districts represented on the team, and after sophomore year several girls had GPA's above 4.0. Well, after only two years of high school, it seems unlikely that several girls could have had that high of a GPA if only AP classes were weighted. Thanks to you also for your input.</p>

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<p>fpfan, check your p.m. </p>

<p>I'd suggest your D e-mail the admissions office rather than call. That way "she" can be sure to hold "her" ground. ;)</p>

<p>Oh, and 1/2 tuition means 1/2 tuition only.</p>

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<p>Yes, some schools certainly do weight honors classes. I've seen lots of scales. That's why I'm surprised they accept the weighted average (as opposed to looking at the courses and then the grades earned in them). That would be the more fair way and also the least confusing anyway I'd think, in light of all the different GPA scales out there. If they evaluated courses vs grades, then they would still see the rigor of the schedule. </p>

<p>Grading scales are also different. In my system, a 94+ is an A (translates to 4.0 unweighted when calculating GPA), but in the next county over, a 90+ is an A (also 4.0). However they may give out less 90%s then here, I don't know. You'd have to see the individual's rank in the context of the school, which is what adcoms usually do. A "school profile" is sent explaining the grading, weighting, average SAT, etc of the school so you can see where the applicant fits. They haven't asked for a transcript, counselor rec, profile, etc? These are usually the things used to place the individual GPA in the context of the applicant pool fairly.</p>

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<p>Princedog:</p>

<p>Quote:
A "school profile" is sent explaining the grading, weighting, average SAT, etc of the school so you can see where the applicant fits. They haven't asked for a transcript, counselor rec, profile, etc? These are usually the things used to place the individual GPA in the context of the applicant pool fairly.</p>

<p>Yes, D's app is complete -- school profile, transcript, ACT scores, req's. etc. And on the school website are the parameters for qualifying for various merit scholarships offered.</p>

<p>Let's say YOUR dream school were offering the Princedog Scholarship -- however, there are only 10 Princedog Scholarships offered per year. Don't you want your Princedog Scholarship Application looked at in the most positive light? Do you want your application and grades to be looked at in the same way as the students in the next county over from you? Of course not. At the very least, don't you want the people who award this Princedog Scholarship to compare apples to apples -- so to speak?</p>

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<p>I don't understand? I am agreeing with you. With all of the various grading scales and weighting systems, the only accurate way to compare grades is to use the unweighted grades and look at the courses in the context of the school. I do not understand why the scholarship would use the weighted GPA. What about kids with GPAs that aren't even on a 4 pt scale? </p>

<p>Unless they are trying to move in rankings somehow by havng artificially higher GPAs but I don't know.</p>

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<p>The UCs accept weighted GPAs but they perform the calculations themselves (as opposed to accepting the HS calculation) and limit the number of courses they'll allow to be weighted. This levels the field for those High Schools that weight versus don't weight. I assume a lot of other colleges do this as well since there has to be some way to benchmark.</p>