<p>good job on your june SAT! Unfortunatley your GPA could hold you back from gaining acceptance. Maryland does not have an holistic admissions review, meaning that they base their admissions on few factors, and they mainly seem to care about the grades and the scores. </p>
<p>Also you are fortunate that you are applying to Smith. Not that I am putting anyone down, but compared to Clark and CMNS, Smith is a joke to get into. With most colleges, it is much tougher to get into the Science programs than the Humanities and Business programs.</p>
<p>Yeah, I agree SAT and GPA play a huge role, but class rigor is part of the equation. Here’s what UMD considers for acceptance.</p>
<p>Very Important
Academic GPA
Rigor of secondary school record
Standardized Test Scores</p>
<p>Important
Application Essay
Class Rank
First generation college student
Recommendations
State Residency
Talent/Ability</p>
<p>Considered
Alumni Relation
Character/Personal Qualities
Extracurricular Activities
Geographical Residence
Racial/Ethnic Status
Volunteer Work
Work Experience</p>
<p>I feel I’m “exceptional” in 2/3 very important, my gpa sux. My class rank sucks, its 33% because many kids take academic classes, get higher grades so they have 3.9-4.1s.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure that the mid year grades do get there in time to be considered even for EA applicants. That being said, they’ve probably already thrown out a few of the worst applications and put some of the best in the accept pile, but you won’t be in either of those categories. I know when I was applying, I kept myself motivated by thinking that there was a slight chance that they had seen that I was an improving student and put a post-it note on my application saying “only accept if mid-year grades are straight A’s.” Probably not how it actually happened, but it certainly helped make me do my homework!</p>
<p>I also sort of think you should disregard MrPhysics’s comment. As MDdad pointed out, there are many factors that go into the admission process. I’m a strong believer in the importance of essays because it’s really the only chance they have to “hear” what you have to say. I made sure to be myself (ie not BS), make some jokes, and address my upward trend in grades. Also, I don’t think MrPhysics is right to say that business is easier to get into than STEM majors. Engineering and business are both very hard to get into because they are LEPs (limited enrollment programs). Computer science, math, physics, and some other science majors are not, so I don’t know where he’s really getting his info. Many students in STEM majors have high stats, but that doesn’t mean you have to in order to get in.</p>
<p>Also, you should remember that many eventual business majors don’t get accepted as freshmen. You should definitely choose a second major choice (preferably something business-related, like Econ, International Business, or Communications) so that you can show interest in business before re-applying to Smith after freshman year. Even if you end up in Letters and Sciences (basically means undecided major), look up the course requirements for business majors and try to take a few of the classes that freshmen usually take.</p>
<p>If you do well on your AP tests, that will help too. That indicates that you grasp the material, but your school does not inflate grades. Around here, lots of kids get an A, but they don’t take or pass the AP tests. If you are in northern Virginia, UMCP is probably aware of the rigor of your high school.</p>
<p>Yeah at our school its the opposite. We get Cs in the classes but a high score on the AP Exam. I got a C in AP Chem, C+ in BC Calc, but I think I got a 5 in calc and a 3-4 on the AP Chem exam</p>
<p>The rigor of your school should be addressed in your school profile or by your counselor. Admissions people know your school. Good luck.</p>
<p>How important is the counselor rec. I’ve been told by kids that most colleges don’t really even look at them.</p>
<p>I should have made my past post more clear. Essays are also very important; they allow the admissions officers to see the side of you that isn’t present in your application. What I was trying to get at was that Maryland places alot of importance on your academic record. The list that MdDad pointed out seems to be 100% true. One option is to gain acceptance into an easier college to study economics and then transfer to Smith.</p>
<p>@ameliab, If you look at almost every big name school in the country, you will see that it is tougher to get into the STEM related majors than Business and Humanities Majors (An exception to this would be U Penn’s Wharton School of Business). Several college admissions counselors told me that for STEM applicants they are looking for higher Math and Science grades as well as scores. I’m not sure about CMNS, but I know for fact that Clark applicants definitely have higher stats than Smith applicants.</p>