Can you help me understand the application review typical timeline? Do you think the apps get reviewed now, before this semesters grades are added? I am wondering the impact this semester’s grades have if a kids GPA drops? Our school is not doing a great job with remote teaching, kids are losing their motivation and some are really struggling. It’s very sad to see these kids who used to thrive in this situation. So, when their GPAs slip for a semester will this have a big impact on acceptances?
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On the portal for my daughter’s early school a checklist item for midyear grades appeared around the time that decisions were released.
My daughter’s guidance counselor said that some colleges (particularly large ones) just don’t have the process to be able to request or review first quarter or first semester grades if they are not already there. Other colleges require the first semester grades as soon as they are ready. My daughter’s high school automatically sends all of the seniors first semester grades in mid-January and the students don’t need to request for them to be sent.
I think colleges use what is in the application at the time of review. If the first semester grades are there, they will look at them, if not, they won’t. For smaller/midsize/selective schools, more than likely by the time the final review happens before decisions are finalized, the first semester grades will be there. I have heard about high schools being strategic about sending/not sending the first semester grades if they are not so great. I have also heard about colleges reaching out to the high school GC to request grades if they are not there which often means that the student is in the final rounds.
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Thank you, that is helpful. Our school sends the grades mid feb as the semester isn’t over yet. In a typical year a lower GPA this semester would definitely hurt the applicant but I am wondering if they will review them differently.
Do you think that this semesters grades are as important as previous? Will kids be given some grace due to the teaching environment they may be dealing with?
US too. In but zero merit. Despite credentials that got others merit. We did not fill out FAFSA so maybe that played a role, but I did not get the sense it was needed for merit aid. Iowa State and AZ State both gave us enough merit to make it equal our in-state tuition so I was thinking CU Boulder may do the same. So, just like you, feels good to get positive news, but won’t be enough of a draw to lure him away from our State flagship which is cheaper, just as good of a fit, and better ranked.
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My son got this too. Got the same email. Do you think it really means anything? Not sure if this is a prognostic factor at all.
I think Boulder lists it’s OOS merit scholarships here. They don’t offer that many and I don’t know anyone getting the same merit at Iowa State or ASU and Boulder. Boulder is not known for generous OOS merit.
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If the grades aren’t sent until mid-February, chances are that your student’s application will be read before those grades arrive. Every high school is so different - did your student’s high school give grades in the spring of 2020? The problem with this application year is that there are fewer academic points of reference with test optional and an unusual spring and fall of 2020. Each high school seems to be different too. Even within the same city, there are high schools that have been virtual since March, some that are fully face to face, and others that are hybrid. Each individual might be reacting differently to the situation at their own school. Might be something to discuss with the guidance counselor?
Our school did pass fail in the spring and letter grades this semester. Kids have been fully remote since March with no plan to return. Our guidance counselors are focused on getting a kids meals and making sure they graduate. Big school and small staff. For this with the means- a private college counselor seems to be the way to go.
Given the pass/fail grades in the spring and the absence of test scores for many students, I suspect that some colleges might have deferred more students or even only had RD (Princeton) so that they could get as much academic data as possible. This makes me wonder if the 1st semester grades might be looked at even closer. If there is a noticeable and significant decline in the grades from fall of 2019 to fall of 2020, and there is a reason for it, seems like the student can email the admissions officer if they did not already give an explanation in the covid section of the common app? Would be interested in hearing others opinions.
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That might be the case. There is some irony in that fall semester was affected in its entirety at most schools, for learning format, as opposed to only half the semester in spring. Grading policies are still all over the place. Our school has normal grades this semester despite being mostly virtual, which seems to be a problem for some students more than others. Yet, I think there’s not much to say in the covid section that would actually be helpful to the applicant.
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I just think it’s impossible to know and each college will handle this differently. Maybe some AOs have yes piles, no piles, and “wait for fall grades” piles. I would bet that, for super competitive schools, they wouldn’t have a very big “wait for fall grades” pile because they are likely only accepting kids who are showing strong GPAs from last year.
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Our school district did Pass/Fail for the last 9 week grading period of 2020 and it totally screwed kids like my son who had dual credit classes, since those grades aren’t given/posted until the end of the semester. My son had two DC classes that he had A’s in and it would have have been a big boost to his class rank for Junior year, but class rank was frozen and stopped at whatever it was at the start of the spring semester so those grades didn’t count for his college apps so he didn’t get the GPA boost.
We’re back to regular number/numerical grades now. Interestingly, all 3 of boys have had the strongest grades ever this year, despite starting remotely, and having to take some classes virtually while
the others are in person.
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Our high school gave a choice last spring - number grades and/or a pass/fail option. There was some type of rubric and students could choose for each class. This year we’ve been a mix of remote and hybrid, depending on case numbers. Many kids can just roll with the changes week to week but others have a much harder time. You have to wonder how AOs can sift through all the different high schools and challenges.
One of S21’s EA schools required him to report his grades from the first marking period, and he has to report mid-year grades to a few of his RD schools.
We didn’t complete the FAFSA either. Also we toured summer 2019 and he wrote about it so they knew (at least at one time) we were super interested. However, it was also I think the essay he struggled with the most - a long diversity / community one.
I came out of ostrich mode this weekend for a bit to think about Covid. There is a British Dr. on Youtube who does great coverage of Covid. Link: Dr. Campbell If the variants really beat out the vaccine distribution, spring-summer could be a mess as far as travel goes. He likens this to potentially the tide going way out before the tsunami. That would be crazy timing to make a decision as well especially if you don’t know for sure what schools are doing in fall and maybe have to imagine that they will do the same as last year at best. We are starting to formulate some loose plans A & B based on what happens with the virus as we are not keen on a gap year or paying tens of thousands for remote private school. We also might get the regional trip in if we can earlier than originally planned. It’s somewhat foreseeable that what happened in Britain could happen here.
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Most of California is now in the lower “purple tier.”
https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/25/us/california-coronavirus-stay-at-home-orders/index.html
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I think that something about the kid’s application is really going to have to speak to the AO enough for them to rise to the top in the RD round. It won’t be a perfect process, but I do believe that every kid that gets accepted will belong there.
Just hearing all the various grading policies speaks to the different decisions that were made all across the country. I know that even within our district the policy between schools was supposed to be the same, but the charter schools did something different. Even when we were remote, some met in person. So when looking at kids from the same district, an AO would be trying to compare apples and oranges. It can’t be easy and when they have so many applicants to choose from. I’m thinking that if anything changes to improve your kid’s application, like an award, you may have to consider submitting it.
My S21 didn’t miss a second of class time, they left on a Thursday, always had that Friday off for end of Q3, and went full virtual on Monday. They had standard grading, no P/F and finals. They’d had virtual learning plans in place for a few years as a contingency plan due to their location.
Little brag on my D21 as she just got email advising that she was selected as a Presidential Fellows finalist at Miami University. She will be one of less than 100 who will compete for about 15-20 full scholarship and 5K stipend. Of course an other Covid casualty is that the competition rather than being a cool overnight trip on campus will instead a day long online event and a 30 minute online interview with a faculty member in her major. That said very excited for her. Oh and BTW today is her 18th birthday…
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Congrats to her!!