I’m balancing a ton of EC’s at the moment. Approximately 35 hours of my week are devoted to my EC’s (which are strong).
However, because of this, my UNWEIGHTED GPA is falling. Last year, I had a 3.95, this year, a 3.6-3.7.
With that being said, my WEIGHTED GPA has actually risen (4.34 to a 4.40, because of harder classes/AP’s).
I’m trying my best to keep my grades up, and I’m applying RD to schools like UCONN, Syracuse, Bucknell, and Colgate. How concerned should I be?
Unless you are a recruited athlete, your gpa is much more important than your ECs. GPA is the most important factor in admissions. Most colleges don’t look at weighted GPA since every high school does it differently. It sounds like you need to cut back on your ECs and focus on your classes.
Letting your grades slip in senior year in favor of ECs is a no-no.
Colleges want to be sure students can succeed academically, first and foremost. Letting yourself be distracted by the other stuff doesn’t help your app.
It’s likely you might still get into some of them, but Colgate, at least, is going to frown on that. You need to let something go, or reduce the hours you spend doing some of your activities. It’s going to seem as though you have bitten off more than you can chew by taking harder classes and lowering your GPA. Bad idea.
Alright then, lesson learned. Time to buckle down and shoot for that 3.8+.
Now, with that being said…how do colleges look at mid-year reports? While I’m going to double-down on studying, these EC’s aren’t along the lines of “Water Drinking Club” or “Cookies and Milk Club.” (Both of my made-up clubs do sound interesting, though).
But in all seriousness, how do AO’s view the mid-year report. Do they factor in any outside variables? And how would a 3.65 be viewed…compared to a 3.75-3.8?
Not favorably. Remember too that they add your numbers to their common data set. Without a hook, they may not be willing to take the risk. If you want to be cynical, why would they want to bring their numbers down?
Are you hooked in any way? If not, you’re unlikely to get a pass from an admissions officer. Boosting those grades for your mid term report will help you.
With a few exceptions, ECs don’t get you into college. If I viewed this as an AO might, it seems as though you’re succumbing to senioritis, or you can’t handle the work of your more advanced classes. You’re at college to get a degree and they need to be assured you can handle the work.
It’s good you’ve come here to ask. I think you realize there is a potential problem, and that you can do something about it.
Thanks, and unfortunately, I’m not hooked for most of my schools (with the exception of a legacy here and there).
However, my school seems a to have culture of mild senioritis. Even my counselor, when I mentioned my 0.2 drop, went “Oh, that’s fine.”
I definitely have a lot of conflicting opinions.
It might be fine for U Conn. Colgate though? Not IMO.
Sometimes context is important: You’ll still get into good schools with a (very respectable) 3.7 - so in that context “it’s fine”, as your counselor said.
But when you personally define “fine” as your chances to get into elite schools, then the answer will be different!
As you progress through grades and mature, and subjects get more intricate, you are also “expected” to grow with these demands - else, you’d have to plan for other colleges. If you don’t reverse the trend, then elite colleges will wonder, where this trajectory might lead you in “grades 13 - 16”.
I would dismiss this convenient explanation that there is anything like a senioritis “school culture”. This is essentially an individual attribute. If you give in because (seemingly) everyone around you is, then you are in the wrong circles.
This is “all on you” if you stop sprinting 10 yards before the finish line. Elite colleges expect that you will not just “go with the flow”.
PS: If you do need to “ease off” a bit, then let your senioritis affect your ECs. Those won’t be graded, yet will still appear on your resume even if you start delegating things to the “next generation”.