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<p>I don’t believe for one minute that schools with 20,000+ applicants manually go through (because they’d have to do it manually), parse out whether Trends in 20th Century Film was an English class in school A but an arts class in school B, parse out that this school gives minuses and pluses but that school doesn’t, and recalculate all the applicants’ GPA’s.</p>
<p>Thanks, PG. I’d like to think so. Believe me, these reach schools would be wonderful, but they won’t make or break my D’s life. She has what she has, any quick look will see high-level classes and an upward trend. If they like it, they like it. And many of them have taken kids with her GPA and her rank in the past (sometimes a lot of kids like that). She has competitive test scores, and they can decide.</p>
<p>I do have to get something off my chest that I’ve been thinking about since last night. This thread got restarted as “top schools” instead of “top 20 schools” deliberately. I think there are many of us who figure “top” could include “top 100” or even more than that. I know this is a thread specifically for high reaches, but it doesn’t seem necessary to presume every school these kids are trying for is going to expect a 4.0 and near-perfect scores, plus nationally ranked EC qualifications. </p>
<p>In my opinion there is no reason why we need to be so exclusive. There are thousands of schools in this country; even the top 200-300 are all very selective and it’s an honor to be accepted into them. I don’t see why anyone needs to presume we’re aiming for only the “top” 1% of schools, since none of the colleges in the US insist that the kids be in the “top” 1% of students in all attributes.</p>
<p>If someone really wants to go back to a “top 20” distinction, that’s their choice. But it’s not necessary to make people anxious about the one C their kid got freshman year, or question the quality of their high school, when now they honestly are qualified to go to a very selective school and could get in. </p>
<p>Call me a rebel, but I consider these generalized parent threads a place to give support and advice, tell of past experience, provide a reasonable reality check, and offer a “fare thee well.”</p>
<p>I agree, EmmyBet. To me, top school extends appreciably beyond top 20.</p>
<p>This is precisely why I left out the “top 20” distinction on this new thread… I think there are a lot of amazing schools out there that are not necessarily top 20, that many kids would be thrilled to attend. One thing about having these lop-sided kids is that if forces you to look outside of the top 20,30 or 50… and we have been VERY pleased at what we have seen.</p>
<p>I think the biggest challenge for my DS is that even if he could get into one of these top 20-30 schools would he be able to handle it??? He is not a bit competitive and thrives when the pressure isn’t sky high… He is very bright, but a little lazy too… isn’t one to spend all his time studying. I mean if you could have seen him studying for his mid-terms this week… it was funny… 1/2 hour of studying… 1 hour of break time… he just can’t focus for very long. He may outgrow this as he matures, but who knows… thankfully he is bright enough to get away with this and still get half way decent grades most of the time.</p>
<p>Congratulations to Aeddar and STove’s kids!
I agree with those who are saying that the essays can make a huge difference. As far as grades and class rank go, this is so particular to the circumstances that I don’t agree with the folks on CC who go around espousing which one is more important, or whether they are more important than test scores, especially for schools that evaluate holistically. My daughter just missed the top 25% of her class - because she goes to school with a bunch of geniuses - at an urban public school, no less. She had 2200 SATs, and I believe that all of those above her in class rank had better SATs than she did. My son, from the same school, was admitted to an Ivy a few years ago and he was not in the top 10% either. My oldest daughter was NMF and was not in the top 20%. This is just how the school is. The college admissions officers know. Just go for fit and let the strengths shine!</p>
<p>I’m sure some colleges do go through and pull apart transcripts and recalculate GPA’s… time that could be better spent on some deeper holistic assessments, imo! But certainly some will see strength in elective classes as a good thing-- a student who chooses music theory, or art history, or Shakespeare or jazz band… is someone who’s searching and studying and following a rigorous path by choice-- and a college that doesn’t take that into account is missing something important. So, as Levirm says “Just go for fit and let the strengths shine!”</p>
<p>I definitely agree that the most important issue in this particular thread’s question is fit. The reason why my D always WANTED to apply to the reach schools on her list is fit. The reason she IS applying to them after all is that she has raised her stats enough to have a chance. </p>
<p>Will she think hard about what kind of peer group she will have there? Absolutely. Will she choose carefully between schools where she would be a “big fish” or a “little fish”? Of course. I myself have also tried to imagine her at a place where the stakes are higher, the demands more intense. I am sure she could handle it, if her heart is in it - she is the kind of kid who can fly to the moon when she is excited about something. She’s also learned how to apply her considerable skills to things that don’t excite her so much, and to succeed. HER reach schools are a good fit. And I will make sure she always hears that, no matter what the results are in the spring.</p>
<p>Wise words, folks. Thank you.</p>
<p>Our S was accepted ED into the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology at the University of Pennsylvania. 3.6 GPA (at the lower-end of 10% in his class) and 2290 SAT. We’re very pleasantly surprised, albeit a bit worried about his college GPA as he will be pursuing a dual-degree from Wharton and the Engineering School in 4 years.</p>
<p>^^^
That does sound tough!
But congratulations on the acceptance and good luck to him.</p>
<p>I got into Brandeis University with a 3.475 GPA and a 2140 SAT score…I got to a competitive high school, but even then, I’m only in the top third of my class.</p>
<p>Congrats collegebum and shulie!</p>
<p>Congratulations to collegebum’s son and to shulie26! I am sure that both of you will do very well in college!
collegebum, your son has a challenging road ahead but he clearly has the ability to hang with the other students in the program. I think that a lot of these students do better when surrounded by hard workers.</p>
<p>Bumping this thread for updates. We should have some results by now…</p>
<p>Bump…</p>
<p>well, I’ve looked through most of these posts, and none of them seem to fit my criteria…because my gap is a bit more dramatic.</p>
<p>let’s just say…3.2 GPA, 2300 SAT, 34 ACT, and AP Scholar with distinction. I have a very dedicated, very eclectic group of EC’s.</p>
<p>And there is no one else like me out there. At least from what I’ve seen.</p>
<p>SO, if anyone could help me, somehow, some way, with dismal final results or a happy (albeit conditional) ending, that would be so, so sosososos awesome to relieve my stress. because I’m dying right now.</p>
<p>marsh… OP here… happy to see his thread bumped back up. There was a same titled thread for previous years as well and it really gave me hope for my DS 12. Well here is the deal… My S had around a 3.4 top private prep, rigorous classes, and 2200 SAT"s so close to you. He has some extraordinary and very atypical EC’s. I really thought that those EC’s would help blow over his low GPA… but in my heart I don’t think so… it is all about the grades IMHO… unfortunately. Given that, my S has had some success so far, and if you keep up with the Parents 2012 thread you can see more of his results in the next few weeks… he does has a few definite reaches…so stay tuned… here are his results so far though.</p>
<p>Western Washington… Acccepted… full scholarship
Sewanee–University of the South…Accepted 40,000 scholarship
UVM----Accepted
Hobart and Smith–Accepted 68,000 scholarship
University of Puget Sound–Accepted 68,000</p>
<p>Still waiting on</p>
<p>Colorado College–deferred ED
Lewis and Clark–deferred EA
Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Hamilton, Whitman, Midd, Colgate, St. Lawrence and Uof Denver.</p>
<p>So, 3.188 GPA: Rejected from CMU, Case Western, Cal Poly, RPI. Waiting on UCs, CP Pomona, WPI, SIT, RIT and College of Wooster</p>
<p>Going through this thread and the other thread started by Paperchaserpop, I gather most of the under 3.6 gpa kids seem to be getting into their reach schools. Now that this is almost Mid April, are there any stories out there about these overachieving kids. AS a father of a Junior with high Sat1 scores and low gpa I am and pretty sure many other parents are interested in these stats.</p>
<p>fatherofm, one good resource is to check with your kids’ high school. See how students with stats similar to your own child’s have done applying to different colleges. If your child’s stats are unusual for the school, or they’re applying to colleges that are off your high school’s radar, it’s not much help, but it is a useful starting point.</p>
<p>A 3.6 with a 1500SAT or a 24 ACT kid is going to look a lot different than a 3.6 with a 2200 SAT or a 35 ACT. Can people post both for more complete information?</p>