I think most colleges would take a solid straight A student over one that started out as a B student but improved. Two of my kids had a b/b+ freshman year (honors English), and I suspect it cost them some scholarship money (based on students with very similar stats who managed the 4.0).
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Look. Who knows what youâll want to do later, but getting an entry-level DC staffer job does not require a degree from an Ivy. Itâs more about relationships. Iâm certain there is a large GW network that can help. Doesnât seem nearly as easy from Penn State or Rutgers. After that itâs about building a reputation as a smart, hard-working go getter. Your internships and relationships are going to be more important than small class sizes.
Your spreadsheet factors suggest you should have focused on LACs, but you didnât. Anyway, what Iâm trying to say is you need to refocus on whatâs important to you and evaluate your remaining options.
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I promise you that the way I wrote your school list is 100% accurate. It is not strange at all that schools saw you the way they did. You would not likely ever get into schools much better than you did. It is more than a Freshman year issue. It is also that you are pretending your senior year changed everything, and it really did very little.
Enjoy college and I hope you do great!
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@daacquan2 : Some of your criteria (1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, and 11) would imply LACs, and NESCACs would have met criterion 2.
So, if those are your factors, you may find better fits through the NACAC list - although itâll be difficult to match GWU for your chosen major.
Since you will need to deposit somewhere in a couple weeks, what are you looking into to make up your mind? What are your parents saying? Are you leaning toward a college? Will you be visiting all three, or just Rutgers and GWU?
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Which schools on your list were small??
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OP, I am beginning to worry about you.
If you still think that colleges prefer lower grades in the lower years of high school because it shows âgrowthâ, or that âholisticâ means that kind of growth is just as good or better than having to show high grades from the startâŠI was going to say âyouâre delusionalâ, but I realise itâs a TOS violation, so letâs stick with âworrisomeâ.
You applied almost exclusively to schools which have the pick of 1 applicant out of 20, and you are beginning your college career thinking you are going to transfer to one of those colleges when the numbers are going to be more like 1 out of 50, or 100.
IIRC (not going back to the beginning of the thread) you did not have any physical or mental health challenges, no obstacles to overcome but yourself. Colleges see your GPA trajectory and see that you are either the kind of person who took years to understand that they needed to apply themselves when it counted, or the kind of person that took years to find their feet in a new environment. That is a risk, and one that colleges who have their pick of 1 in 20 are only going to take if they find some kind of hook that makes it worth it for them. The âgrowthâ isnât that kind of hook, itâs the problem.
No college is going to tell you âdonât bother to applyâ. They want to see your app, all of it, to see what they can find that makes it worth it to them to admit you. Thatâs holistic.
Rutgers admitted you because you are still one of the best students in the state of New Jersey, who belongs at their flagship. Thatâs their mission.
George Washington saw something in your application, probably the intense focus on internships and political activism, that made them think you are just right for their mission and at their location. Their small merit award is a signal that they do want you, but that they didnât think finances are a deciding factor for you. A lot of the very experienced posters here agree with GW in that it might be just the right place for you.
Now that your dad has made finances one of the deciding factors, why not appeal? Let them know you are really excited but your parents need the cost to be a little closer to the state flagship to be persuaded. Worth a shot. Some of the more experienced posters here have already suggested appealing and may help with the wording.
But please, pick one of the schools that want you, and commit. For all four years.
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I donât recall comparing them - and I agree with you - so not sure where I made that reference (if I did it was unintentional)
I have had similar experiences, and I can tell you, this is why the current college selection system is not great. This sort of scenario can come down to a bad professor here and there. I donât do ANY of my kids homework for them as a rule, but I do help a bit when they ask. I will review their essays, or help them with math concepts if they are struggling, then have them do the actual work.
Weâve come across teachers, in the public school system, who get their âturnâ in the rotation to teach an AP or Honors class, and they really have no business doing so. Both of my kids had a particular honors English teacher freshman year who is notorious for being a vague and difficult grader. My kids have all gotten Aâs in every Honors or AP English class different years, but this teacher they both ended up with a B+ for, since he would randomly dole out Câs without explanation on subjective essays. He also liked to tell each class every day that they were terrible, embarrassing, and the worst class ever, and other comments, but thatâs another story.
The ironic thing is that I actually LIKE the fact that there is variety in teachers and their skill levels for my kids. I tell them you are going to have bad bosses, or bosses you just donât agree with, or silly projects, and on and on. In fact, a kid who never got a below an A in school, to me, has never faced any adversity. But colleges seem to have this strange cutoff of A only all 4 years, which means they are more likely to pull kids who are in âsofterâ school systems, or kids who are in prestigious excellent High Schools where the quality of all the teachers is assured and reliable, or that have relentless parents who will fight the school system against any bad grade to get it rectified (believe me, we have those here and they are successful, I am just not one of them as I believe in letting my kids work through this as it will help them more in the long run).
Sorry for a little bit of a ramble, but was just venting about how your kids college fate when it comes to an âeliteâ school can sometimes be in the hands of a random teacher, who can run the spectrum on competency, fairness or quality scales.
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Remember this too, OP. Hope you are ok with this Rutgers to Require COVID-19 Vaccine for Students | Rutgers University
It is likely that most universities will be requiring the vaccine if you want to attend in person.
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Hopefully many more colleges and universities will require on-campus students to be fully vaccinated, @QballMom, but so far only 14 have announced it, and Rutgers is one of them. If for any reason the OP has an issue with this, he/she needs to be aware of it. Maybe there will be exemptions allowed, but then again, maybe not (or the medical/religious requirements may not apply to the OP).
I think itâs a little rude to say he shouldâve expected this since NYU and Northeastern had some possibility for him.
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Hi everyone, I was looking back and I just realized I never sent a LOCI to Northeastern after being deferred EA. I donât know if this had anything to do with my decision but Iâm sure it did. I sent LOCIâs to UChicago and Georgetown but I guess Northeastern slipped my mind and that is 100% my fault, I think I might have forgot it is because Northeastern EA came out in Late Jan while G-Town and UChicago came out in December⊠Based on other CC forums it seems that a LOCI would have probably been the difference between a rejection and a acceptance/waitlist. Damn.
OP: a lot of great advice here about GW. If your family can afford it, I also think it would be a great choice. The undergrad vibe and opportunities at GWU are totally different from what youâd get at Rutgers.
As a parent of Indian origin who grew up in the US, I have to say that our community is extremely focused on the prestige of the T20s , and year after year, underestimate the difficulty of admissions. I see it happen every cycle, in spite of the wealth of information about the whole process.
If your only choice is Rutgers, you can look into the Bloustein School of Public Policy. And Rutgers has a top history department. See if you can live on campus. Start figuring out how you can get connected with the local political scene and upcoming 2022 congressional races. My kid is a junior involved with AAPI issues -maybe some angles there you may want to pursue. Best of luck to you. I am sure you will find success wherever you go.
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A LOCI is needed after being put on the waitlist, but not when you are deferred. I know a lot of applicants here on CC said they did LOCIâs when deferred but it isnât essential for admission.
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It should have been essential for Northeastern as the applicantion has no essays. the LOCI would have been the only way to express interest in Northeastern. My application, as they reviewed it, mentioned nothing about why I applied, what I like about it, what I bring to the table and what Iâm hoping to accomplish there.
Stop tormenting yourself with these universities. Focus on the 3 that DO want you.
Can you answer questions from #163?
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Iâm visiting both George Washington and Rutgers soon yes. My dad is saying that whatever option I pick Iâll be successful. GWU, Rutgers or Transfer. But he also wants me to try to get off the Boston College waitlist as well and I just sent in my LOCI there.
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I love this discussion on mission â itâs something that CC analysis doesnât delve into as much but I believe it is the crucial factor for top schools. Itâs what lookingforward often mentioned. Applicants need to research and show how they meet the universityâs mission. Thatâs why I always cringe when I see a student has applied to all 8 Ivies â donât think it is likely that analysis was done.
So happy OP is touring and pushing ahead. Good luck!
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@Southoftheriver : been thinking of lookingforward.
@daacquan2
I donât get why your dad would want you to go to Boston College rather than GWU. BC neither has a large Indian community nor is it as highly ranked and regarded as GWU for Political Science.
In short it meets NONE of your 11 criteria.
Boston College is a solid * Jesuit (Catholic)* community, with a core curriculum that requires 2 classes in philosophy and 2 classes in theology. It is very open-minded and tolerant of all faiths, but itâs not a secular university so you have to be respectful of that philosophy and want it because everything will be taught within the context of the Jesuit philosophy (a philosophy of education that many seek).
The study of theology is an essential feature of the Core Curriculum in a Jesuit, Catholic university. This implies an institutional commitment to the Roman Catholic tradition, but also encourages the study and understanding of other theological traditions. (âŠ) The Core requirement in theology is six credit hours and may be fulfilled with one Sacred Texts and Traditions-designated course and one Christian Theology-designated course; alternatively, students may fulfill the Core requirement in theology by completing the twelve-credit sequences THEO/PHIL 1088-1089 Person and Social Responsibility I and II (i.e., the PULSE Program) or THEO/PHIL 1090-1091 Perspectives on Western Culture I and II.
BC is especially known for Economics, Finance, Premeds, Nursing. Itâs good for poli sci but nothing like GWU. Can you show this thread to your dad? Or have him ask people who know? Because for what you want, GWU is the best you have.
No visit to PSU? Is it definitely out?
Transfer is not an option at this point: Your options are GWU or Rutgers (or PSU).
Itâll be an option in January 2023, once you have 3 semestersâ worth of grades and activities + a summer (job, internship, bothâŠ)
Keep in mind that you cannot re-apply to the universities that denied you this year so youâd have to find other universitiers to transfer to. Oh, re-applying is legal, you can send them your transfer application and application fee, but they donât go âOOOps we made a mistake last year when we didnât select this student, letâs admit him this timeâ. It never happens.
You have to make an entirely new list, with a lot of LACs (those would meet your listâs criteria), perhaps universities in the Midwest and South where youâre URM, perhaps American University, perhaps UMD-CP (Political science is a limited enrollment major and Iâm not sure your GPA is strong enough to get in though).
Discarding all your choices from this year, are there colleges youâd like more than GWU to which you havenât applied already?
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