Help! I need somebody, help!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Tufts University
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<p>Beetles love...but anyways,</p>

<p>I'm one of those classic completely stressed out high school juniors who is heck-bent on attending Tufts University. </p>

<p>I have been accepted and am considering on enrolling in Tufts Summer Study program for Health Science Honors and Psychology. However, there is one problem.....money.</p>

<p>My family has more than enough to pay for the $3500 combined program, but I'd rather not put that kind of stress on them with the current economy. However, my family is not considered upper class; they have just done a spectacular job saving money for my education and I want to make them proud :p. I am going to get a job, probably min wage, if I do decide to go, I will have enough money to pay for the blunt of the program by the time it rolls around.</p>

<p>I don't know my GPA, but I'd say around a B+/A- unweighted. I have taken all honors since freshman year, with two AP's this year. I took a summer course in pre-calc, got an A, and jumped to Calc honors. Overall, I have strong extracurriculars (with planned leadership positions) which includes plenty of community service. I also have excellent and personal relations with my planned recommendation teacher and guidance counselor, and based on my PSAT, I should be within the average SAT score for accepted students. I am also Asian and female, not really under represented :p </p>

<p>Pretty much, you get the picture, I don't want to go on and on and make this a chance post.</p>

<p>My question is, will the program help in next years admissions or not? Please be honest, I really want to go, but not if I'm going to pay 3.5K for nothing.</p>

<p>P.S. For music, I don't plan on doing the 5 year program, and I'm not outstanding at trombone, but if I'm alright, what are the chances for making the band? I really enjoy trombone even though I'm not fantastic.</p>

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<p>I am also planning on applying ED1</p>

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<p>In general the summer programs make very little difference to most schools. Your base must be strong and the summer program can build upon that. By base, I mean gpa, test scores, rank, essays, recs. Dan in admissions explains this really well in a previous post from either Jan or early Feb. The summer programs show interest to colleges but for a highly selective school like Tufts, I think it would have very little influence on admissions. Only take this course if it is something you would truly love to take. Then and only then is it worth the 3.5k. FYI - I did a summer program at an Ivy school and it was the BEST experience I have ever had. I wont be attending that school though next fall. If you fit at least the mid-range for Tufts, take what you want to take, be who you want to be, then apply!</p>

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<p>I agree- don't do it if it's only because "it looks good for college." Do if you think you'd love it. Think of it this way: that love will shine through in who you are and what you want to accomplish in life, so how could that hurt when you apply to colleges?</p>

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<p>yeah, I get your points, I forgot to mention how much I actually want to go for the courses...haha..it was kinda late at night.</p>

<p>I think I'll compromise and take one program instead of two..but still get a job haha. Im really excited for being able to take a peek at Tufts before I apply that is beyond a visit. Thanks for both your help :]</p>

<p>One last thing, I know GPA isn't the only factor, but what is the average unweighted accepted GPA from what you have seen? I plan on maintaining my grades and hopefully bring them up.</p>

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<p>Think of it as an investment.</p>

<p>If you end up enrolling at Tufts, you'll likely be taking 4 or 5 courses a semester while paying $20k+ in tuition per semester. That makes $3500 for 2 courses look like a pretty good deal. This combined with some AP credits and/or more summer courses will allow you to graduate a semester or even a year early, saving your family a ton of money.</p>

<p>If you don't end up enrolling at Tufts, you'll likely be able to transfer these credits to another school.</p>

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<p>The prime benefit for you will be learning whatever material you learn in the coursework/program, so that should be what you focus on. Make sure that aligns with your inetersts. </p>

<p>I don't know to what extent attending the session affects your app (it cannot hurt, but not sure if it necessarily helps in the positive), but there are certainly many much cheaper and more impactful ways to catch the eye of the adcoms at Tufts besides spending a few weeks on campus during the summer. </p>

<p>A major benefit you should consider of doing the summer program, especially seeing as you have Tufts as your #1 choice, is that it allows you to spend some siginificant time on campus and see what Tufts is like up-close. If, after spending a week or 2 or 3 on campus, Tuft still feels right for you, then it is worth far more than the $3500.</p>

<p>And as far as being not so good on trombone: hey, far as I know, close enough is good enough when you're playing sackbut, right? :-)</p>

<p>Good luck with your process as you head toward senior year.</p>

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<p>yea, based on feedback from here, I plan to enroll in just psychology, since it is something I am very interested in. Thanks for your help everyone; and just to let you know, I also have plans to do a lot of community service this weekend, which is one of my biggest passions :]</p>

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<p>"One last thing, I know GPA isn't the only factor, but what is the average unweighted accepted GPA from what you have seen? I plan on maintaining my grades and hopefully bring them up."</p>

<p>GPA is very hard to pin down. I went to Tufts website and found the profile of 2012 students but there is no gpa mentioned. My guess is that is because each school's gpa means something different and admissions has to figure out what that is. What I did notice was that the numbers reported for SAT were all over 700, ACT 31, and profile did focus a bit on class rank (mean admitted students were in 6% with 85% in top 10% of graduating class). What that tells you is that those two criteria are pretty important to Tufts. For example, at my school the average gpa for accepted students is 4.2W which is the top 10% of students in a graduating class from my HS. What you need to know is where your own gpa fits within your own graduating class. That will give you a better idea.
Have fun at the summer program!!!</p>

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<p>GPA is important. REALLY important. More important than your test scores. But an average unweighted GPA is impossible to calculate because (when possible) we don't use the unweighted GPA. Nbg127's perspective is <em>about</em> right. But even then, the rank we hope to see will shift from school to school. I read schools where we are comfortable admitted in the top 30% and other schools where we are uncomfortable admitting outside the top 3%. Remember, we're looking to build a class of interesting, smart, dynamic people, not a class of people who all have the same high school rank.</p>

<p>More info! <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tufts-university/607941-weighed-gpa.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tufts-university/607941-weighed-gpa.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Yeah, I always get scared when I hear that colleges look at UW gpa, because I have a 3.4 gpa and am top 10% at a really competitive high school. It just frustrates me because some colleges don't realize the context of our gpa (luckily not Tufts). Thanks for clarification Dan.</p>

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<p>^ Yes, I agree completely! I have a lower unweighted GPA, but a 4.0 W GPA. I'm in top 10% of my class and received the prestigious NJ Edward J. Bloustein award. My rigorous course load speaks for itself, IMO.</p>

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<p>I suppose that certain awards are more well known than others and I trust you explained what that award was to adcoms, because if you are outside of NJ (ok I'll give you NY as well), I am thinking people wouldnt have a clue what the Ed Bloustein award is.</p>

<p>As to the response from Dan, I really appreciate the reference to first semester grades in that thread about weighted grades (linked above). Especially the case since my son's school doesn't weight or rank, nor do they graduate 4.0 students. The thinking falls directly in line with what Dan is suggesting - that adcoms will look at the actual transcripts. My son is not a straight A student, although he gets his fair share. But there is no doubt his teachers say he is a really great student who truly engages in learning. He takes what would be considered the most rigorous curriculum offered and most importantly to his dad and me is that as his plate has become more full and far more challenging, he not only rises to the challenge but seems to revel in it. We know how well prepared he is for college. He's going to LOVE it, wherever he gets in!</p>

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<p>To be quite honest, it might affect your admission, or it might not. You're looking for an answer, or hope from people on college confidential who will say yes you will get in or no you won't get in and they have a 50% chance of being right. For financial reasons, I was not able to participate in any summer programs. My dad simply would not let me because we couldn't use thousands of dollars doing something like that, regardless of it's overall impact on me as a person. I had friends who did these programs and I really wanted to - but unfortunately I could not. The point that I am trying to make here is that you've got an opportunity. People will say you have a good shot and some will say you don't, but no one can really make that call. You might have a more probable chance if you're on the higher end of the mid-50% spectrum, but not always. </p>

<p>This program, at TUFTS!!! I might add, will be an awesome program only if you let it enrich your life. You're only going to get something out of it - whether it is a lifelong friendship(s), connections with professors who might possibly be able to recommend you to the school to which you are applying (which will be the best for you - but you're only going to get a great rec from a professor if you impress him/her in any way), or valuable lessons if you want to take something out of it. </p>

<p>The program is a good opportunity and life is (as cliche as it might sound) full of small opportunities. So the end result you won't know until you find out. People (i.e. ME) thought that I had no chance of getting into the school - I still applied and made that seventy dollar investment in myself for the possibility of something great, and I took that risk and I didn't get in, but I have no regrets about applying, I would have had I not applied- but you have to understand it won't always work out. </p>

<p>So I say do the program. It will likely be an amazing experience that can somehow impact you as a person. Don't bank on it getting you in, do it because you want to, not because you think its the "right" thing to do!</p>

<p>Bottom line: people will tell you it will help you get in, people will say it won't. People will say you can get in with your credentials, some others will say you won't be able to. Some will say do the program and some will say you shouldn't. It all really comes down to whether YOU WANT to do it or not. Your opinion is all that matters as it will be the only factor that contributes to how you are during the program. Don't do it if you don't want to. </p>

<p>Also study for the SATs this coming summer - you have a lot of time. You want to be at the high end of the range. Work hard!</p>

<p>Sorry that that was long. I'm a bit of a ranter.</p>

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<p>I love it when people answer my questions :] </p>

<p>Thank you Dan, for calming my fears about GPA, for I have taken difficult classes :p</p>

<p>And thanks to everyone else who has helped me.</p>

<p>Also, this thread has reaffirmed my desire to go to the summer study program...I hope that my love for Jumbos will grow even more :p </p>

<p>I think I'll stay away from chance threads now...:]</p>