My daughter is shall we say is an average high school student who only recently (junior year) started to take her classes seriously…now that she’s starting her senior year things are coming into sharper focus…her.student essay is complete, her common application and individual applications are complete, she’s waiting for her teacher recommendation letters which should be completed shortly…since she’s looking to apply early action to most of her schools, everything seems to be smooth sailing except for one little thing…her current GPA is sitting at 2.95…the question is does she send her applications in now or should she wait until the first marking period is complete so that she can push the GPA over 3.0…she insists that a 3.65 GPA for the first marking period is not going to be a problem based on her knowledge of her upcoming classes…her SAT scores are a bit under 1100 where they’ve been stuck after a lot of tutoring so it’s unlikely we’ll see any more gains there…haven’t had a chance to discuss this with her guidance counselor as classes haven’t started yet…she has four reaches, five fairly possibles and a four safety schools picked out…any thoughts on the best strategy would be greatly appreciated
We’re in the same boat. Son is hovering at 3.0, and almost all his schools offer EA, but we’re not sure if we should wait for first quarter grades. Will be watching this thread.
The GPA and SAT scores could be worse. They’re not bad at all. It depends on where you live and how competitive the schools are. If it’s anything like Texas, there’s a good several schools that will accept her as she is. Best thing she can do is see her guidance counselor on a college application plan. They have the local knowledge of schools that could be a good fit for her.
I would apply to the safeties now (assuming that they are safeties based on current GPA, not the projected GPA). Get the other essays totally ready to go, update the GPA after first quarter, and hit send. If grades continue to trend up, have the guidance counselor send midterm reports as well.
Where does she want to apply EA? Are her current stats within reach of that college? If so…apply now. If not, wait.
For her three favorite choices, one is a fairly significant reach and the other two are slight reaches but she’s certainly under the average GPA/SAT in all three cases…however she has friends who graduated last spring from the same high school with somewhat similar scores and perhaps lesser extra curriculars who were accepted…spoke to her guidance counselor who said she should apply now and that they will probably want to see her first marking period grades before making any decisions…seems like a tough call
Is she going to be disappointed if she is rejected?
I’m sure she will be but we’re casting a wide net so she’ll have to work with the schools that accept her…
In my opinion, it is nice to apply EA or rolling admissions to colleges that you would like to attend, where you have a good chance of being accepted. An early acceptance really is nice to have, and as my kid put it they “know they are going to college somewhere”.
I think it would be heartbreaking to apply and not get accepted.
Does she have any sure things that she plans to apply EA or rolling admissions to also? If so, go for it.
If these are huge reaches, frankly, I would think twice about EA applications. I would want my kid’s application to be stronger from the get go… But that is my opinion.
If it’s only a matter of typing in 4 characters and then hitting Send, I don’t see a reason not to wait, as long as it’s not Cutting the deadline close. Getting in way earlier than the application deadline doesn’t really get you anything.
The optics of starting with a 3 rather than a 2 can be meaningful, even if only subconsciously.
I can’t speak for all schools, but I remember years ago when the Tufts admissions officer used to post on CC he said that the most common reason for deferring an ED applicant there was doubts about grades that were on the rise. Your chances were pretty good of being accepted if the grades that came in January were as good or better than your junior year grades.
from the letters, emails etc she is getting all the schools are really pushing for ED or EA applications…they are offering early move in dates, first in line for dorms and class schedules etc…statistically it seems like the odds of acceptance are somewhat greater when applying early in many cases but I’m not sure that applies to the weaker applicants so that’s where some of the confusion lies…she definitely has three or four “safer” schools which happen to be out of state state schools that have rolling admissions…I assume everybody agrees that those applications should go forward now which is our intention
Isn’t the GPA requested on apps specifically end of junior year GPA? I’m not sure you have a choice here.
I believe you are correct but I assume the guidance counselor could highlight first marking period grades if they were very good…I was told schools that were still considering my daughter would most likely ask for them…the real question is would they make a difference to those schools where she’s clearly on the bubble
When do these EA schools notify of acceptance? If it’s before the mid year marks are in, the colleges won’t request or see them before they make their EA decision.
As an example…between my two kids, they applied to 7 EA or rolling schools and they had those acceptances in December or before. Midterm marks were not completed until January. No way these EA schools would have used them in their EA decision making.
They are NOT going to defer making their EA decisions just to see your daughters first semester grades. If they aren’t sure, they will defer her to the regular admission round and the first semester grades will then be seen.
Regarding pushing EA or ED applications…there is plenty of housing available, and classes available, and your kid will still have a move in date…even if accepted regular decision.
Yes, do the rolling admission applications…do them now if they are available!
My suggestion is to do a rolling safety now and maybe a single EA to the ‘least competitive’ of the others. For my D, getting an early rolling acceptance turned her from “I’ll never get in anywhere” to totally engaged with the college process (and she ultimately got into her reach first choice, though the rolling safety was her [and my] #2 choice). I do think getting above the 3.0 threshold will actually be significant for acceptance to the rest of your schools, more so perhaps than the Early advantage.