<p>Congrats to GKM and son! It’s great we start the admissions news with a bang!</p>
<p>geez, I should proofread my posts. In case you need a translation. My son expected more rejections than he got. (He got 3, and got into 4 schools - almost the same results his academic superstar brother got.) </p>
<p>And the chess thing - you learn from losing and pushing yourself.</p>
<p>My son looked at Bard, but hated the location and thought it was too small. I love the educations philosophy. Congrats, GreatKidsMom, those first acceptances are especially sweet.</p>
<p>Just to add to my previous comment…the point is that all 3.5 and 30+ ACTs are unique and that is a sweet spot for many colleges. The point, if I remember, of last year’s thread was to find out where (in the upper echelon of selectivity) those kids just below the HYPSetc. stats would be accepted…or broadly, just how high can a 3.5 student reach with positive results. There will, of course, be interesting info this year, and I will read with interest.</p>
<p>GreatKidsMom, how awesome to have a November acceptance to a school your S likes!</p>
<p>S2 had UChicago and Tufts as his top two all along. We considered them reachy but not pie-in-the-sky. He spent incredible amounts of time and energy on the essays for those two, and it showed. He used some of those those essays for other schools, and given Tufts’ and Chicago’s quirky prompts, other schools may have realized where he really belonged. :)</p>
<p>He had eight apps, got into four (Chicago EA, Tufts RD, UMD and URoch – the latter two with merit), waitlisted at Carleton and Bowdoin, rejected at Swat and Georgetown (his pie-in-the-sky apps). We knew the GPA/perceived rank would be a huge issue at Swat, having read the Naviance tea leaves, and because we live in the DC area, Georgetown is an even tougher admit for locals, esp. for the School of Foreign Service.</p>
<p>We spent enough time on Naviance to know there weren’t many data points for kids like S2 and that we’d be treading in unchartered waters. Because we knew he was going to be one of those kids the admissions committee really had to think about, S2 realized it was important to Love Thy Safety and to write Kick-A$$ Essays --especially because he didn’t care for a lot of the schools that were in his sweet spot GAP/SAT wise and had good programs in his intended major.</p>
<p>I think if he had been willing to consider WashU or Northwestern, he would have had a decent shot (and I think he would have liked them, too). He felt UMCP was a better value for what he wanted than BU, NYU, Brandeis and Syracuse, which were also places where we felt he’d hit a sweet spot. Other schools that made the final list but which he dropped after good EA news – CMC, CMU H&SS, W&M. Also looked at Haverford, Colby, Grinnell, Reed, UVA and a few others. There were about thirty on the table at one point or another during the process.</p>
<p>Our sense was that he’d have a very tough time with schools accepting <20%, would be 50-50 in the 20-30% range, and be a merit possibility with an acceptance rate over 40%. That was pretty much exactly how it shook out. At the 20-30% acceptance rate schools, they seemed willing to take a chance on him, given his excellent scores and essays, and they’d live with the 3.5 UW because of full IB and all the APs. </p>
<p>Caveat: I wouldn’t try to generalize our experience. I clearly had nothing better to do the last two years than to analyze college data. :)</p>
<p>Hurray for Great Kid!</p>
<p>Thanks, PaperChasePop, mathmom. momofthreeboys countingdown and emmyBet!
I hope the news is as good for those of you with kids applying for 2011.</p>
<p>CountingDown: My S seems very similar to your S…excellent scores and extracurriculars, and full IB. I think all of that most definitely helps a 3.5 kid with lower admit % schools.</p>
<p>Good to know someone else is praying for good news from Wes. I’m applying ED there as well, but am in kind of the opposite situation as most people in this thread. UW (school does not weight) GPA is 3.89 with mostly AP/honors (in top 10%)…but an SAT of 2090 (760 W 730 CR 600 M). ECs are quirky enough and my essay was written magnificently but the topic was a gamble…so who knows. It doesn’t help that I’m a white male in CT, but at least I don’t go to private school :-P. Good luck to all</p>
<p>GKMom, congrats on Bard. My S did IDP last year, and it was such a relief to have a good school in hand early, so he eliminated all safety schools from his list.</p>
<p>I have to say, though, that if your son is in the top 10% of his class, then that’s just as, if not more important, than his GPA per se. Also, he’s got top SAT scores all around, so you are in quite a different position than most people looking to a thread like this, I think.</p>
<p>SDonCC, I think it would be unusual for a 3.6 or under student to be striving for top universities without some other positive application factors–a special talent, amazing extracurriculars, unusual life experience, high test scores, many AP/IBs, top 10%—something. So, at least for me, it’s been helpful to read about other 3.6 and under kid and see what their strengths are, as well as their college prospects, targets and results.</p>
<p>Although I do think we’ve discussed this a bit already, I am curious to see what others think.</p>
<p>CONGRATULATIONS to your S GKM!!! That is SO exciting. I’m sure it is a great relief too. Like I told you earlier I am watching your DS’s acceptances carefully for next year because he seems similar to mine. 3.5 GPA at a top prep school, high test scores, great EC’s and LOR’s. If you don’t mind me asking what is it that stood out for your S about Bard? It has been off and on my DS’s list. I think the IDP program is amazing but we live in CA, so don’t know if it will be feasible. MY DS loves a intellectual student body, but is not artsy at all. He is very into the outdoors and wants a rural school. I just can’t quite put my finger on the vibe of Bard and whether it would be a fit for my DS.</p>
<p>Your son should visit Bard maybe with an overnight. I didn’t think it looked nearly as artsy hipster as I expected, but that may have been due to it being a Friday morning in February. It’s a great location for hiking. We were at Vassar later the same day which definitely looked more hipsterish.</p>
<p>Thanks mathmom… Hopefully we will get there this year when we visit schools in the East. Do you know if they have an outdoor club?</p>
<p>Bard’s 2010 Outdoor Club facebook page. I’m sure you could contact them for more info.
[Bard</a> Outdoors Club 2010 | Facebook](<a href=“Facebook Public Group | Facebook”>Facebook Public Group | Facebook)</p>
<p>And a link to Bard’s student clubs: [Student</a> Clubs](<a href=“http://inside.bard.edu/campus/clubs/]Student”>http://inside.bard.edu/campus/clubs/)</p>
<p>It is a great place for outdoorsy kids - lovely walks & views right there - even a waterfall. But I would guess, even with all its natural beauty, it is still more more focused on the intellectual life, than the physical one. (Or maybe that’s just my kid?)</p>
<p>Have you looked at Colorado College?</p>
<p>Thanks SM… I will have him check it out. My DS’s perfect school would be a balance of intellectual life and plenty of outdoor stuff to do. Yes, Colorado College is high on his list, as is, Whitman, Bates, Sewanee, Colby, Hamilton, St. Lawrence and a few others. He probably doesn’t have the grades to get into Bowdoin or Midd. but he may try.</p>
<p>Hey, 5boys! My S just fit in really well at Bard. He’s not at all hipsterish but is very intellectual and also involved in the arts. While visiting he read the student newspaper and some of the things he read really hit a cord; he also loved the L & T (3 week freshman writing seminar before year starts) and the citizen science thing as well. I do think the entire hipsterish thing is overblown…there were some, but the student body looked pretty much like others we saw. The hipster thing is perhaps a bit of an older reputation for the school that won’t go away. </p>
<p>As for outdoor life…I’m not sure. Gorgeous outdoor setting, but the school is definitely not focused on athletics. You definitely should do a visit and find out more re the outdoor opportunities.</p>
<p>5boys - Whitman sounds like a great choice for your son. My son’s friends who are there really love it. (Not to push you away from Bard - as GKM says - have him go and visit - sit in on classes and eavesdrop on conversations.)</p>
<p>Congratulations to your son, GKM!
Does anyone have any suggestions for my daughter who fits the criteria of this thread: about 3.5 unweighted GPA with one C in math last year, all classes are in gifted program, 2200 superscored SAT (770 CR, 710 M, 720 W), a couple of creative writing regional contest wins, interested in creative writing but does not want to go to a small LAC in a rural area with a female majority, also interested in international relations, wants political diversity on campus, wants a campus with quads and a “traditional” look and feel, definitely does not want a majority “hipster” culture, would prefer to be able to get to NYC on public transportation within a few hours to visit siblings once every four to six weeks, or have them visit her.
She applied to JHU early decision, but we think that it is a reach. She refuses to apply to Pitt or CMU as they are literally down the street (Pitt is missing those “quads” also). DH refuses to allow her to apply to a SUNY (he went to one and doesn’t think she should apply.)
Does Wesleyan have any political diversity? Is Tufts too much of a reach? Does anyone have any other suggestions?</p>
<p>levirm, Tufts will be a reach, but they really do read the applications if she’s got good recommendations and can write some great essays she should definitely apply. They have some quirky optional essays that give a creative kid a place to shine. I’m pretty sure that my son’s alternate history of the US (what if the British had won at Yorktown) pushed him over the edge. He had B-'s in Latin and Chemistry. His GPA varied depended on what you counted, since the school counted orchestra (and he had 2 classes of orchestra every year) he ended up with a 6% rank which also helped him enormously. Has your daughter looked at American? My son loved it. It has a decent campus, great IR, and there is lots to do on campus.</p>
<p>The other reach my son got into was U of Chicago - again the quirky essays were a big help. The campus is gorgeous.</p>
<p>levirm, seconding the suggestion for American. Also look at TCNJ, Syracuse.</p>
<p>levirim – RE Wesleyan:</p>
<p>Does Wesleyan have any political diversity? Meh, not much unfortunately, although they do have a small but active College Republicans group, vast majority of students seem to be liberal. </p>
<p>They also don’t have a traditional quad, but they do have a wonderful campus. </p>
<p>My S loved Wesleyan…don’t know about their international relations program, but they were extremely impressive in the sciences.</p>