I heard back from BC yesterday. Rejected. Honestly, I was surprised and disappointed. I have a 3.9/4.3 GPA and a 35 on the ACT. I called to see if they could tell me maybe why I was rejected and my admissions counselor said the only thing he could think of was that I didn’t have any maths or sciences this year. I had already taken all the sciences that my school offered, including AP Chem, the only AP science offered, thus I didn’t have a science to take this year. I had also taken all the maths offered except AP Calc. I considered taking it but decided against it since it would not help me with my intended major. This year I take:
AP Lit
AP Gov
Economics
Yearbook
I took on this light courseload so that I could have a job. I get out of school everyday at 1 and go to work at 2. I got a job to save money for college. This just really sucks.
bump
The cardinal rule for college is to have at least five academic classes per year. There’s a bit of leeway for senior year but not to the point where you only have two core classes and a total of four. You could easily have one more class and still have had time for a job. You’re missing three core classes: math, science, and foreign language; if you had run out of classes, you could have taken at least one class per semester at a nearby community college. Or taken calculus at your high school.
Other factors :
Did you gc indicate in their letter that there was no other science and foreign language classes for you to take? Is that even the actual situation?
(even if true, you’d have been expected to take one more class through other means.)
I bet your gc had told you that not taking math AND not taking more than two academic classes senior year was a mistake though.
However, there are other possibilities :
- although bc meets full need, they are not need blind that I know of, so this may have been a concern to them. Are you lower income?
- most students think their essays are terrific, but adcoms say they’re generally terrible. So, that may be another reason.
- in additional information did you explain your senior schedule was related to work issues?
Based in the few details contained in your post, your high GPA may not reflected high course rigor and the high test score didn’t offer that.??
I think MYOS is right. You only have three academic courses. BC is very rigorous. My guess is that they felt you were slacking in your senior year, even though I understand why you would want to work and save. They might have interpreted that as senioritis. Hopefully you will get into some other choices. Good luck to you.
Agree about the course load, but it’s probably more complicated than that (and what we try to tell kids before they hit submit.) We don’t know where OP is from, whether he/she is the double umpteenth app from there. We don’t know the major, the competition for that, or what sort of ECs and experiences supported that interest. Or whether the other ECs were about responsibilities or just whatever. No idea about the essay or the LoRs.
We only know: it’s not just about stats. OP, sorry for your disappointment. But the best course is to move forward, not dwell on What Ifs. If you’re determined, you will find your future.
Here’s my stats from the BC RD thread.
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): n/a
ACT (breakdown): 35
SAT II: n/a
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.9; 4.25 W
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 7/300
AP (place score in parenthesis): (school offers very few); Euro: 3; APUSH: 3; Lang: 4; Chem: 2
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Senior Year Course Load: AP Lit, AP Gov, Economics, Yearbook
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): AP Scholar
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): Show Choir; Speech and Debate (secretary); Yearbook
(head writer); School Spirit Club (leader); NHS (president); Beta (VP); Student Representatives (pres)
Job/Work Experience: Krispy Kreme; Sweet Peppers Deli
Volunteer/Community service: Habitat for Humanity; local animal shelters; Rotary Club; Prom Committee; Chamber of Commerce Volunteer
Summer Activities: Volunteering; job
Rate out of 10
Essays: 6-7/10
Teacher Recommendation:?? never saw
Counselor Rec: never saw, presume good
Additional Rec: none
Interview: none
Other
Applied for Financial Aid?: YES
Intended Major: Poly Sci
State (if domestic applicant): MS
Country (if international applicant):
School Type: small town public-- it sucks
Ethnicity: white
Gender: female
Income Bracket: $40k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): low income, single parent, first gen 4 year college
Also, I come from a very small public school. Taking few classes your senior is actually encouraged. Like, counselors make that your goal. Take a bunch of classes freshman thru junior year so you only have to take a few your senior year. I am almost positive no one from my school has ever gone to an Ivy. I have the highest ACT score in the history of my school. But I come from a poor background and my mom, single parent, went to community college when she was in her 30s. So I basically had no guidance as to what I needed to do. It just really stinks because I have worked my butt off for so long and I was just doing what I thought I should.
I applied to a bunch of Ivies. Do you think I have no chance of getting in to any of them because of this? :((
I think, in your case, it all depends on how your school was represented to the colleges you applied to. With more to your story, I think it’s terrible that you didn’t get in to BC. I’m sorry. You are in a tough situation at your school and have such little help or guidance. Good luck and I hope you get into a school you are happy to attend. Keep up the good work!
@phoenixmomof2 Thank you. It’s just hard you know? I came into this with such good intentions and so ambitious but I also came into it so blind. I had no idea what I was doing and no one to help me. I can’t tell you how many hours I spent researching how to apply to college and trying to figure it out on my own. I love my mom, but I am the first kid to go to college, so she has no idea how applying works. I tried my hardest, wrote so many essays, slaved over 12 applications all by myself, and I now feel like it was all for naught. Sorry for the rant, it’s just nice to have someone empathize with me.
Check with your gc first thing tomorrow . Ask for permission to skip first period if need be - this is really important.
Your guidance counselor, if s/he has not done so already, need to email all ivies and tell them
- I’ve been made aware that at some high schools mhuff’s senior courseload is considered ‘light’ and so I’d like you to know that in our school, it’s encouraged for college-bound seniors to take such a courseload since that allows them to work near full-time toward college costs.
- mhuff’s test scores are the highest in the history of the school. The school’s average is (19).
- mhuff’s spirit and love of learning Is the most… (inspiring, surprising for our school, genuine…) that I’ve seen in… Years.
Make sure whichever element from the above that was not included before is sent AT THAT VERY MINUTE, first period tomorrow, to all colleges which have not admitted you yet. Those are KEY elements but if no one’s gone to an Ivy your guidance counselor may not know that.
I agree again eith @MYOS1634. Did you discuss with your counselor what info would be included in her recommendation? We’re you able to say anywhere in your app that you had to work so you could save money for college? I think they should know that too. I hope your dream comes true, but I also hope you did apply to some match and safety schools. Best of luck to you.
thanks for the advice! @MYOS1634 I already emailed a statement to all my schools but I will talk to my counselor tomorrow
Yes, it has to come from your guidance counselor and all three points (in these terms, more or less) need to be included. It’s different when it comes from the GC. Considering how close you are to final decision day, your GC MUST mail this email tomorrow first thing.
What are your other colleges?
Where have you been admitted so far?
Which among those is affordable?
@MYOS1634 Bama, Ole Miss, UGA
Full ride to Ole Miss. Presidential to Bama but that only covers tuition. Haven’t heard back from UGA.
Other Ivies/ivyish: Cornell, Yale, Dartmouth, Columbia, Harvard, Vanderbilt, Duke
Also I have a question: how much weight does an interview hold? I had an amazing interview with a Dartmouth alumnus. It lasted two hours and was fantastic. That’s probably my top pick school.
Can your parents afford room&board at Bama?
Full Ride = Barksdale Honors or Provost?
UGA is overall a better university than either Ole Miss or Bama, so I’ll keep my fingers crossed. The Honors Program here is really good. When do you hear back?
Interviews rarely tip the scale but if there’s a doubt and the alumnus/a addressed their concern, then it’s a positive for you.
@MYOS1634 barksdale waiting to hear back for other scholarships. the alumnus really liked me. in reply to my thank you email he stated “I hope I can portray just how bright u are and how successful a future you have ahead of you”
so are u thinking there’s a slim chance of Ivy acceptance? 
and I’m going to be getting financial aid bc of my low family income but no I’d have to pay room and board myself
No way we can predict the other schools based on the policies of one. You have to sit tight and not second guess.