Should I take a post graduate year? (senior in high school)

Applying to College
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Should I do a Post Graduate year?

Background Information

I am currently a senior. My freshman and sophomore years weren’t the best academically, but I turned that around during my junior and now senior year. My current GPA is 2.96 (which will be updated when our term ends). And on my last SAT, I earned 1100. I am currently studying for the November 5th SAT and working towards the 1300 range. I believe by the end of my senior year, I can bring my GPA up to 3.45.

In terms of course rigor, I am currently taking AP Statistics, AP Psychology, and AP Environmental Science. As for honors classes, I am taking accounting, business law, and civics in the second half of the year. My school offers college credits for three classes–business management, business law, and accounting–all of which I have taken and/or am taking and will be receiving college credit for.

Regarding extracurriculars/unacademic achievements, I have been a member of the stock market club since my freshman and junior years (sophomore excluded due to COVID), and now am the President of the club. We are participating in the Wharton Global High School Investment competition. I also intern at an accounting firm. In terms of work experience, I have worked at my family restaurant since August 2019 and continue to work there. I started my own business in December 2020. My business originally stemmed from a social media marketing agency but became an eBay and Amazon store.

My parents immigrated from Turkey in 1996, with my father having some college experience and my mother having some high school experience. As a result, I am advanced in Turkish. My interests are business, economics, and finance, and my career goal is investment banking.

Questions

Should I do a post-graduate year?
And given my stats, what would my chances of being admitted into a program be?

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Only you can answer if you should take a post grad year. For someone with your GPA you have a lot of rigor. Are you sure you are not taking on too much?

There will be many a college you can get in. You will have to work hard to get in I banking but it’s possible.

What state are you from ? What size college etc do you like ? What is your budget!

As for can you get into a PG program, of course.

What would be your expected outcome?

A 3.45 from a 2.96 seems almost impossible to me if you are talking unweighted. Or are you weighting it ?

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Hi,

No, it definitely isn’t too much for me. I am currently managing all A’s and B’s. I live in CT and have connected with UConn alum who have gotten into banking. I don’t care about college size or anything. In terms of budget, I am fortunately very flexible. As for the 3.45, I am referring to weighted. The way my school does it is if I were to have a C in an AP class, it’s the same as an A in a regular class (not sure how it is for other schools).

As for the PG program, I believe I can get into a decent school. My one concern is I don’t want to spend the money and “waste” a year doing high school again if the outcome isn’t going to be that much more beneficial for me. I’ve heard of people taking PG years and getting into Yale, and I’m sure people have stayed stagnant as well.

P.S. the reason for my GPA being low is that I didn’t have any academic drive during my freshman and sophomore years. I never felt challenged, and because of it, I never tried. I asked my school counselors to put me into more difficult classes multiple times, and with reason (having low grades), they denied me.

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Most colleges really look at unweighted grades, so getting a C in an AP class doesn’t really equal an A in an unweighted class. My daughter attends an MA boarding school. It is extremely difficult to get into a PG program unless you are a recruited athlete. Every single PG at her school this year is a varsity athlete and the majority came from other top boarding schools.
It could help you get your GPA up to do an extra year. Most boarding schools don’t have AP classes or weighting, but the amount of work and rigor is as if you were in AP’s, and more C’s won’t help. Also, one PG year is not going to get a 1100-1300 3.0 non-athlete into Yale.

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Right, I am aware. Thank you for the input. I used Yale as an extraordinary example. I may also have connections I can utilize to help me get into a PG program. And the purpose behind my madness is to show academic interest. I was recommended to take a look into PG programs by a Yale grad who is now studying law at NYU, as well as an ex-Stanford admissions officer who recommended it if you have a rough transcript.

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Most schools an AP is +1 so a C would be a B. Of course, each college will recalculate their GPA as they will do.

The reality is you are not going to get into UCONN. And you might not get into a school that traditionally places people in IB - but that doesn’t mean you can’t get in. Also, IB, while still heavy in NY, is also in so many other cities such as Nashville, Charlotte, Atlanta, Dallas and even abroad.

If you were looking to stay in Connecticut, it’s likely going to be in a directional school. If you are seeking a private, a school like UHA will be a stretch (Hartford) unless you get up your SAT. But maybe a school like Hartwick, Roger Williams or High Point.

For publics, if you want to stay in New England, maybe URI or U Maine.

Certainly a WVU or Mississippi State is a possibility.

One of my colleagues now works at Black Rock after an MBA at Ga State )no natl pedigree).

This might be your path - go to undergrad, work a few years, and segue to a higher level MBA.

Life is a marathon - so you can and with fortitude will get to where you want…it may take time.

Good luck.

PS - nothing wrong with starting at a community college, proving yourself, and then applying to a “brand name” but frankly, you can get to where you want from anywhere and some schools, like High Point, are connected.

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My school uses Naviance, which shows the GPA and SAT scores of students that applied and whether they were rejected, waitlisted, and or accepted. There are a lot of kids–with worse GPAs and below 1000 SAT scores–who get into UConn. Colleges, especially today, look at more than just a GPA and SAT. Keep that in mind. I didn’t include a lot of my application in this.

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I don’t think that there’s anything that you could do that would get you into a more prestigious program than what you already might have available to you in-state, at UConn. I don’t think, for example, that a post-grad year is going to get you into Wharton, or any Ivy or T20 school.

I would suggest that you apply to UConn now. You’ll probably get branched, and that’s fine. You would do your first two years at the branch near you, and then transfer to Storrs. You might be able to appeal to UConn and persuade them to allow you to start at Storrs - it’s been done before, by people who were offered admission to a branch, but were able to talk their way into starting at Storrs.

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If your guidance counselor says so - that’s most important.

According to UCONN, in their last common data set, 55% of applicants got in.

Most important is rigor, rank, GPA, and test score (section C7). ECs, Volunteer work, first gen, etc. are one level down in importance. Are you first gen - sounds like it. That would help.

80% were in the top 25% of their class - are you? I’m guessing not.

Just under half submitted an SAT/ACT - with the 25% at 610 reading and 620 math - so at a 1230, well above your current score - so you’d go TO.

The CDS doesn’t list the average GPA but several publications show a 3.77 average.

You should recalculate your GPA using a 4 for A, 3 for B, 2 for C - that’s unweighted.

Then add a .5 for Honors and 1 for AP - so a C AP = a B.

UCONN has satellites in Waterbury, Hartford and more that might work. I don’t see it - but I’m not your GC and perhaps your school is ranked higher than normal but I don’t see it happening.

But you can apply - and you’ll find out. Just have a safety school as well. It’s October - time to get moving!!

Best of luck.

CDS_2021-2022_UConn_Website.pdf

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You asked these two questions, and knowledgeable adults are giving their opinions, which is all we can do based on our experiences and research. Obviously, you are of the opinion that you can get in to UConn and you have connections who can help you get into a good PG program. So my advice is to apply to both and see what choices you will end up with. Good luck.

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In general, PG years are most beneficial to a very small group of students - often recruited athletes who need another year of physical maturity or who need more academic preparation to meet the admissions requirements. With that said, I think that there is a reasonable case for a student whose high school experience was derailed by covid to want another year of high school.

I’d be wary, though, of thinking that a PG year could dramatically change your college options. It could help some, but remember that even in the RD season, only half that PG year will be visible to colleges. But your entire current senior year will be.

Also, a year of prep school will cost a lot. You could also use that $ for a fifth year of college, to have a masters and differentiate yourself from the field then.

I agree that you should apply to college now. If you want to apply concurrently for a PG year, do it. In the spring, you’ll have more information about which options are available and you may feel more drawn to one.

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It’s hard to be around high-flyers (" Yale grad who is now studying law at NYU as well as an ex-Stanford admissions officer"), especially when you are ambitious yourself (“my career goal is investment banking”). Apparently you are a moderately high-flyer in your school, so that is your frame of reference.

If you and your GC are pretty sure you can get into UConn I wouldn’t waste time on a PG year. IF you are now a highly motivated, focused student who takes initiative and will use the resources of the college well (all characteristics needed for somebody aspiring to IB) you can get anywhere from UConn (eg, the national scholarships / fellowships office).

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CT resident here. I think UConn is iffy for admission for this student. It is not a sure thing. But what about Eastern Connecticut State University? It’s practically next door. We know folks who graduated from there and did very well. We also know others who started there and did very very well, and transferred to UConn.

So…I would work with your school counselor asap to get a well rounded list that includes UConn.

PG programs are very costly. Can you afford to spend the money on such a program, or will that be coming out of whatever money will be paying for college.

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Another option is to start at one of the four Connecticut state 4 yr colleges, and then transfer to Storrs, possibly after only your freshman year, assuming that you do well. Beware - UConn often mandates that those who are majoring in a course of study for which the first two years’ classes are available at the branch, complete those classes at the branch, before they will allow transfer to Storrs. Meanwhile, those who do well at one of the CT state colleges are often allowed to transfer to Storrs after only one year.

So much as starting at a CT state college may pain you, this may be your best and quickest path to getting into the business school at Storrs. I would advise you to apply now to UConn, and also to at least one (and maybe more) of the CT state colleges - they all offer a business major, but have different locations, sizes, and atmospheres.

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