OOS hoping to get in....chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Maryland - College Park
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<p>Really hoping to get in to UMD. I visited a few months ago and really felt like it was the place for me. Do you think these stats will get me in? Here's the short version....</p>

<p>SAT - 1960 (1310 CR/M)
GPA - 3.9 W (3.2 UW) - Virtually all honors classes with 5 APs Junior and Senior years
Top 15% of class
Lead Pianist in the Jazz Band
Athletics - Freshman Football, three years of varsity golf
VP Fundraising for Recycling Club
Resident of CT</p>

<p>Thanks for your comments.....</p>

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<p>Your SAT scores would be fine, but you UW GPA is too low. I’d still apply, but it’s a reach.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the input. Do you know if they focus on W? Some schools just ask for the highest GPA version to be sent.</p>

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<p>Short answer YES!</p>

<p>If you look at umd.edu for scholars, gemstone and honors they give their 50% range, and you will quickly see that all of them have a gpa topping 4.0. Thus, the only way to have a gpa above 4.0 is weighted.</p>

<p>Now a couple of side notes

  1. You are lucky because you are a CT resident and not NY/NJ.
  2. What is your intended major?
  3. Did you select UMDCP for college board to send your scores? If so, look at the bottom of the hard copy and it will give you an overview of you of their stats with your chances/standing. If it hasn’t changed in the past few yrs., it will also show the recalculation of your gpa to UMD stds.<br>
  4. It is important to realize that your rank and gpa mean one thing, but they also look at the rigor of your course curriculum. If the school offers 15 AP’s and you took 3, that will not help, especially if it is AP Western Art, AP Human Geography, AP Basket Weaving. If you took AP Chem, AP Calc and AP EURO that is different. </p>

<p>The line don’t bs a bser applies for college apps. They know the difference when it comes to AP classes. Just because the school says it is AP doesn’t mean they think it is worthy.</p>

<p>Finally, little known fact of what is included in your transcript…PROFILE of your school. That means admissions can see not only your course rigor, but the school’s rigor. Fill it with BS AP classes will hurt you more than taking a few rigorous APs</p>

<p>You have a great SAT, you are not coming from the super high competitive OOS (NJ/NY), and if I had to bet I would bet IN, but I am concerned that your wgpa is much higher than your uwgpa, which makes me think that when they recalc your wgpa it will reduce. Are you on a 4.5 or 5.0 scale for AP? Are you on a 93 or 90 A scale? If you are on a 5.0 90 A scale, you may see that the gpa to their method drops in comparison to the school gpa.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the great reply Bullet. We’re on a 4.0 scale and I think the reason for the disparity in GPAs is that I have taken virtually all Honors classes in HS as well as an AP course. As far as APs, I have taken, or will take, US History, Spanish, Economics, Calc AB and English…not sure which are considered easy or rigorous…but those are the ones that made sense at that time.</p>

<p>As far as majors, I’m interested in business, but would really like to keep my options open so I may classify myself as Letters and Sciences.</p>

<p>Finally, I haven’t sent my SATs to UMD yet since I figured I would send my application in first. But does that matter? Does it show any interested by sending the SATs in now?</p>

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<p>First off if your APs on a 4.0 scale UMD will recalc your gpa.</p>

<p>Secondly, Smith Business is ranked very high, higher than UMDCP according to USNWR. It is very competitive, even from OOS.</p>

<p>Third, when you take your SAT or ACT you are allowed free of charge to send the scores to 5 colleges. If you elect to send to UMD understand they superscore so keep sending to them. I.E. 700 M 670 V, next time 690 M 700 V. UMD will say you had 700 on each because of superscoring.</p>

<p>Fourth, you want to use the collegeboard option of sending because when you are filling out 7 applications with the same deadline, you will know that at least 5 of them already got your SAT scores. Leaving you with 2 to have officially mailed by college board.</p>

<p>Finally, what may hurt you is that you have only taken 1 AP so far, HOWEVER, if your school does not allow AP’s until SR yr UMD will see you as taking the most rigorous course load available at your school.</p>

<p>Don’t get into the weeds and worry that somebody has 9 APs and you don’t. Admissions cares about APs, but more importantly they care about the course rigor at you school and the AP’s you are taking. AP Human Geography is a BS AP. AP Euro carries more weight. AP Lit in Letters and Sciences will carry more weight than AP Western Art. </p>

<p>The adage of choose wisely is very apropo when it comes to AP course selection.</p>

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<p>If you’re from a town with one of the top schools in Fairfield County, I’d say you have an excellent chance, even into Smith. I’m pretty sure Smith puts heavy weight on SAT scores, particularly the math score.</p>