<p>This is my first go around with college applications. My son has applied to 9 schools, most of which GPA wise are reaches but SAT wise are great fits. He has his heart set on GW and BU. He would love to go to either. Question is how does one convey to these schools that they are his top choice? Particularly with BU, he now says he should have applied to the general studies program, directly which I didn’t know he could. Is it too late, can we ask that his application be considered for g.s.? i know they sometimes put a reg. candidate into that program but wouldnt’ more weight be considered if he just applied there directly? his SAT is a 1990 but his GPA at best is a 3.0 with his lousy 9th grade year, he has been on a upward trend and in his senior year is taking a very tough full IB program, which is doing pretty well in. Please, if you have advice to some first timers, please share with us your advice. Thank you in advance!!</p>
<p>They’ll likely offer him admission into CGS, so I wouldnt worry about it.</p>
<p>There’s no reason not to call and ask to have his application routed to GS. The worst that can happen is they say no.</p>
<p>Don’t do anything. He’ll automatically get bounced to CGS for admission consideration if he doesn’t get into CAS or whatever school he’s applying to.</p>
<p>how do you know if he will automatically get bounced over to CGS? Do you say this based on his stats or do they do this with most people? Thanks, he really wants to figure out what to do.</p>
<p>I think like everyone does unless you’re obviously not qualified (1.0 900 SATs, etc.)</p>
<p>Why are we even talking about CGS. He has a good chance of getting in to his school of choice still.</p>
<p>His rank/percentage is far more important than GPA. GPA is deflated/inflated like crazy. The upward curve helps. If it helps I got into ENG with a 1970. </p>
<p>And like everyone already said: You will automatically be considered for CGS. But remember, a lot more than GPA and SAT go into that.</p>
<p>thanks lukeaa…boy how we would be thrilled if you are right! Of course that is his real first choice but he would possibly consider CGS if it was offered, as he really likes the idea of attending BU. I just don’t know if he should keep his application to comm. school as is, or change over as an applicant to CGS. Sounds like possibly we should keep things status quo? Any seconds on that? Does he have to let them know that he would consider CGS?</p>
<p>Okay, ctMom, this is how I understand it works. You don’t apply to CGS. If you apply to one of the other schools and don’t get in, Admissions automatically considers you for CGS. </p>
<p>Now below is what I THINK is true, but don’t have any official documentation: </p>
<p>I would hold out for CAS or Comm (I think Comm is a real reach with those stats, might be okay for CAS), BECAUSE</p>
<p>1) In CGS, your program for the first 2 years is set - little freedom to choose classes, explore academically, etc.
2) I don’t think there’s much merit aid (perhaps not much aid at all) for CGS students - my impression is that most CGS students pay full freight, which is hefty …</p>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>
<p>You apply to CGS if you want to.</p>
<p>i said this in a previous forum, i believe it can be searched for, but ill say it again. </p>
<p>if your son knows what he wants to major in or knows what school he wants to be in, then it would be stupid to apply to CGS unless he liked the program. CGS is a 2 yr program which is very similar to high school: you get your classes chosen for you and can’t take any classes for your major with the exception of 1 or 2 electives. after cgs, you can go to any other school in BU and, depending on your major, try to complete the requirements over the next two years. it would be almost impossible to get into ENG and graduate in 4 years, im not 100% positive about the other schools. but seriously, if you know which school u want to go to, APPLY FOR THAT SCHOOL! its not like it looks good when you say “jeez im not a good student, let me prove that to you guys by saying that i KNOW im not fitted for any of the BU schools so i will just let you guys know that i should only be looked at for cgs.” admissions wants to see that you (or your son in this case) knows what he wants and is going for it. and if he doesn’t get the school he wants, he WILL GO TO THE CGS ADMISSIONS PILE AND WILL BE CONSIDERED FOR CGS. i hope this helps for everyone feeling the same as your son is, because he is definately not alone.</p>
<p>you say comm is a reach, but their median 50% scores are even a tiny bit below his, do you mean with regard to his gpa?</p>
<p>I’m not sure about COM exactly because I’m in ENG but from what you said it seems like a match-reach. So a good chance. Again, more info would help but I’m not really sure about COM. I do know its crazy hard from people I know in it. But then again, thats the same with every school.</p>
<p>As for the Com-CGS thing: Aliangel is completely right. You just get put into the CGS admission list. CGS is okay to go through but its not fun. You might have to take another year. Depending on what school you are going into.</p>
<p>i think COMs difficulty also depends on your major. i have heard that journalism can be quite difficult, but i have a friend in advertising and she didn’t even have finals this semester. unfortunately i dont know of any COM majors on this site who would see this forum, but my understanding is that in regards to how difficult it is to be accepted it’s along the same lines as CAS or sargent or any other school with the exception of cfa, engineering, and accelerated programs.</p>
<p>If you need me to ask someone in COM, just let me know.</p>
<p>hey…i’m in COM and I’m not really sure what the question is on this forum but i think it is a little bit more difficult to get into COM than it is to CAS. I’m not sure about the other schools. When I was in high school I had a few friends who got rejected from COM but then others who had practically the same stats they did got into CAS. I don’t think its much of a difference but i think its a little bit more difficult. I got into COM with a 3.4 and around 2000 SAT, but I had a lot of extracurriculars. Hope this helped!</p>