Making College Applications Stand Out and Counteracting Not-So-Good GPA

Applying to College
1

<p>So, I'm a little young to be freaking out about college applications and yet here I am. So this past school year (my freshman year) I basically killed my GPA. Its a 3.47 on the 4.0 scale. So now I'm trying to buffer my applications with extracurriculars. I don't think I can count on my SATs to be awesome so this seems like the only option. Today I'm going to go see about joining marching and I'm already signed up for debate team next year. This year I participated in FFA, Pep Band, and Golf. I also plan on calling the local animal shelter and veterinary offices to see about volunteering. </p>

<p>The real question is: Is there anything else I can do? and Do these activities seem like good ones to participate in?</p>

<p>Thanks so much!</p>

2

<p>If you were my kid, I would have advised you to try fewer activities and more time studying. I think you much more likely to offset your freshman grades (if you don’t like them) with higher grades in your sophomore and junior years than you are with marching band.</p>

<p>Not that I want to knock marching band. If you want to do marching band for its own sake, then go and have a good time! But realize that it’s going to take up a lot of your out-of-class time.</p>

3

<p>Focus on getting an upward trend on your grades-not too much extra-curricular. As a freshman, you are very lucky. Freshman grades do not count as much. Make sure your sophomore year grades are higher, and junior year the highest. You have 3 years to prepare for the SAT, use it. focus on standardized tests and GPA. No matter how many activities you do, if your SAT is really low and if your GPA is not impressive, they may not consider you</p>

4

<p>Here’s what an adcom at a selective school says

Spend more time learning the material in your classes. Without doing well, very selective schools are not going to admit you. Realistically speaking, no matter what you do in the way of ECs there’s going to be someone out there who’s done about the same but brings strong grades and scores to the table. Guess who gets in?</p>

<p>That said, I wonder if you’re one of the people that thinks their life will only be ok if they go to an Ivy or equivalent college. A 3.5GPA and decent SAT scores will get you into thousands of of colleges where you can get a good education, but of course if your heart is set on the top 20 that’s probably not much consolation.</p>

<p>I suggest you read more about college selection this summer, not so that you give up on your dreams, but so that you realize there are plenty of good opportunities for an education outside the top 20 or top 50 schools. One book I recommend is “Colleges That Change Lives” by Pope. And for general understanding of the process and an understanding of “fit” I recommend “Admission Matters”</p>

5

<p>BTW the ECs you mention are at best run-of-the-mill at the most selective colleges. The question about impressive ECs comes up regularly on this forum. There is a thread with comments by Northstarmom, a Ivy alum interviewer, about what constitutes impressive ECs from the point of view of the most selective colleges. The post is at <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/210497-those-ecs-weak-so-what-s-good.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/210497-those-ecs-weak-so-what-s-good.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>2 very interesting articles about ECs that stand out and how to get them (same author, different examples) are at [How</a> to Be Impressive](<a href=“http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/05/28/the-art-of-activity-innovation-how-to-be-impressive-without-an-impressive-amount-of-work/]How”>The Art of Activity Innovation: How to Be Impressive Without an Impressive Amount of Work - Cal Newport) and [Save</a> This Grind?](<a href=“http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/09/12/case-study-how-could-we-save-this-ridiculously-overloaded-grind/]Save”>Case Study: How Could We Save This Ridiculously Overloaded Grind? - Cal Newport) While I don’t agree with everything in them, take a look at these 2 articles and I think you’ll get some original ideas.</p>

<p>But if I was in your shoes, here’s the advice I’d hope someone would give me. In your 9 years of schooling so far the odds are nobody has ever taught you how to study. And to any extent you have a problem in school its because of that, not some matter of innate ability. So spend time this summer learning how to learn. You can find lots of study skills links on the web; a starting point is <a href=“http://www.stthomas.edu/academicsupport/studyLinks/default.html[/url]”>http://www.stthomas.edu/academicsupport/studyLinks/default.html&lt;/a&gt; One book I highly recommend is “What Smart Students Know” which explains how to study different kinds of material; it is written by one of the founders of the Princeton Review prep service.</p>

6

<ol>
<li><p>Most top colleges disregard freshman GPA, or will look to see an upward trend, which it sounds like you will probably have.</p></li>
<li><p>They like to see passion in one field, rather than barely touching the surface of many.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Sent from my Droid using CC App</p>

7

<p>Thanks for the advice! I’m pretty sure there will be an upward trend in my GPA, as the reason my grades fell this year was partially due to circumstances not under my control. As for my ECs I am quite passionate about the activities I have chosen and all of them have an undercurrent of what I’m truly passionate about, public speaking and performing. After yesterday I’m super-excited about marching band! My study skills are pretty failurish so I guess I’ll be spending sometime working on that.</p>

8

<p>Hey, I had about a 3.5 average UW GPA before 2nd semester Sophomore year, where I stepped it up. Got a 4.0 UW for 2 semesters straight, and now my total UW GPA is 3.7.
It’s possible, have faith and work hard! :)</p>