<p>I have a 3.89 UW GPA and a 29 ACT, although I am trying to get that up. I have quite a bit of extracurriculars but nothing amazing or nation wide. I’m from the West coast. What chance do I have? I interviewed and she told me she thought I would be a great fit and encouraged me to apply. Do they do this for everyone?</p>
<p>It would be unkind to tell an interviewee that they were a ‘great fit’ and then encourage them to apply if the adcom (I assume that’s who interviewed you) didn’t think you had a good shot at getting in. Of course, if you were interviewed by an alum or a student, it’s hard to say how much they know about your chances. </p>
<p>And if you can get that ACT up, there are merit scholarships (Trustee Scholarships) that you become eligible for, so it’s well worth your time to practice. If you can get above a 32, it puts you in the top 25% of admitted students in that area.</p>
<p>While it might be unkind, I am on my third kid applying to college, and in the many interviews the three have gone through, they were told they they were a good fit and encouraged to apply in every one, including schools where they clearly were reaches. I think this is just what the admissions counselors do. Thirrdplanet, your grades look very strong. I don’t know about the ACT, I am from a state where everyone takes the SAT. I think Grinnell more than most top LACs is a bit of a wildcard, its number of apps, admission rate, yield, etc., has bounced around more than most. As noted above, I think the 2011 domestic admit rate was approx. 65%, 2012 was approx. 40%. Pretty dramatic change.</p>
<p>Is the 28-32 ACT range applicable for admitted students as well as those who enroll? On the data set I believe this is the range for students who enroll but that also could mean a bunch of students have above that and go to other schools. I now have a 30 ACT. Would this be about the 50th percentile for accepted students? Anyone know the ACT range for those accepted ED?</p>
<p>Found this link, if you scroll down it says the mean ACT for enrolled students was a 30. I think it’s for last year’s entering class though.</p>
<p>[Interpreting</a> Test Scores - Student Affairs | Grinnell College](<a href=“http://www.grinnell.edu/offices/studentaffairs/academic-advising/publications/advisers_handbook/interpreting_scores]Interpreting”>http://www.grinnell.edu/offices/studentaffairs/academic-advising/publications/advisers_handbook/interpreting_scores)</p>
<p>Another factor for this thread – which ties into basketball thread – is the Flutie effect. BC, which has same faculty and academic concepts of before the Hail Flutie pass, changed applications by twofold or threefold AFTER the fateful athletic play against the UM unbeatable team in 1984. Overnight, the school changed from being competitive to highly competitive for admissions. Grinnell, which is more selected than selective because of physical location in tundra Iowa fields, may see surge in applications because of an accomplishment unrelated to academic matters. We’ll see if Taylor delivers Flutie effect.</p>
<p>I highly doubt his record is going to draw many applicants, if any. People aren’t going to want to live in the middle of nowhere Iowa just because he beat the record. I mean seriously? It’s a very rigorous LAC school that doesn’t draw as many athletes as it does intellectuals.</p>
<p>I know I am resurrecting an old thread, but I read recently that UChicago set a record for apps with 30,000, up 20% from last year; Skidmore’s apps were up 42%; BU set a records for apps. This in a year where the senior class is smaller than it has been in a number of years. These are anecdotal numbers, but I guess I just don’t believe that some small number of schools somehow figure something out, or that a bunch of kids all of the sudden discover schools exist and want to go there, particularly schools like Chicago, BU and Skidmore (and Grinnell for that matter). Rather, I think it has more to do with the increasing number of international apps and domestic students applying to more schools. I have a niece who is a top student and applied to 20 competitive schools! Apparently Skidmore eliminated a supplemental essay, making it that much easier to apply there via the common app. I think all of these schools will have a harder time filling their classes, yields will be harder to predict, the number of kids waitlisted will grow. I feel sorry for admissions directors, I would guess they stock up on aspirin going into the Spring.</p>
<p>My high school recommends applying to 6 to 8 colleges, however many people I know have applied to more than double that number (the highest I’ve heard is 25). I myself applied to 10. As competition grows, from what I observed, a lot of my peers and friends feel a lot of pressure and apply to more schools to increase the chances of getting in at least somewhere. There are also financial issues that push people to apply to more schools as what each school deems demonstrated need varies. Personally, I think some people (like me) aren’t quite sure where they really want to go by January, and thus apply to more schools and choose favorites after hearing back.</p>
<p>Does anyone know what time admissions come out on the 23rd?</p>
<p>@POmani how do you know they come out the 23rd?</p>
<p>Says so on this thread </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1455425-admissions-notification-dates-2013-a-3.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1455425-admissions-notification-dates-2013-a-3.html</a></p>
<p>I don’t have a problem with a kid applying to a lot of schools–if the colleges are going to play a “game,” I don’t know why the students should not do so as well. My comment is more along the lines of it feels like it has all gone mad. Duke, Yale, Barnard, Dartmouth, Tufts, Babson, Bard, MIT, Harvard, NYU, Macalester and Emory all set application records, most by a double digit percentage. It might be quicker to list the schools that did not set records than those that did. Again, in a year where there are fewer kids comng out of high school than there has been for years. A notable exception is Boston College, which had applications drop from 34,000 to 25,000 after it added a 400 word supplemental essay. In the words of the BC admissions director, it got rid of the “why not” applicants. I don’t know, maybe BC will get punished in the rankings, but it seems to me that getting rid of some of those why not apps may be a good thing in terms of being able to accept kids who are more likely to attend and may be better fits for the school. Not sure if BC is brave or stupid. It seems like most schools are perfectly happy to go after the why nots, it’s all about driving up that application number for rankings purposes. It’s just hard for me to see how it improves the school in the long run.</p>
<p>Just because my son will be applying in the Fall, from where are you getting your stats? I am just wanting to see which schools are getting to be “so popular”. Thanks</p>
<p>Parents here are looking at good LACs that have merit aid possibilities. Grinnell gives about 15% of their students who qualify for zero financial aid awards averageing about $10K, and their sticker price is a little below east coast LACs, though the travel differential can eat into that. Denison is another school that is getting a good look due to good merit money.</p>
<p>landemom–I haven’t found a list. My info is from separate newspaper articles, etc., just googling around, nothing systematic. My point is that it seems like all of the “elite” schools have gotten “so popular.” Same number (or this year fewer) of kids applying, but more applications.</p>
<p>cptofthehouse–I don’t think Grinnell is much less than a lot of the East coast schools anymore. Agree that some of the Ohio LACs are still a bargain. The Denison campus is beautiful, Granville is tiny but charming.</p>