<p>
</p>
<p>Could you elaborate on this? Do you mean you can withdraw the EA application once you have already sent in the application and wait until RD?</p>
<p>And yes, I have seen the ‘deer in the headlights’ look more than once recently! It’s going to be a long semester :)</p>
<p>FWIW, my S struggled through HS and averaged a 3.5 weighted GPA throughout HS; started college this fall.</p>
<p>His SAT I was 2220 (CR -710, M -780, W -730)</p>
<p>His SAT IIs were: Math II -800, Biology(M) -760, Chemistry -790</p>
<p>He was a National AP scholar in his Junior year (Chemistry -4, English Lang/Compos. -4, Physics C-Mech - 5, Statistics -4, Comp. Sci AB -5, Calculus BC -5 Biology -4, Calculus AB -5) He was enrolled in 3 more AP courses in his senior year (English Lit/Comp, Physics C E&M, German) when applying to colleges.</p>
<p>He was rejected by Ursinus, UMd, and UCs (Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz). To be expected, I suppose, but I had thought it was worth trying at the time.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Then they were fools! Your son’s record appears to have all the major indicators of college success. The school he’s attending is lucky to have him.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure that up until the EA deadline you can ask them to change the status from EA to RD. If for some reason he didn’t like his essays by the time the EA deadline rolls around, I’m pretty sure he could send an email unchecking that box so that he could spend more time on the second part of the application. </p>
<p>Heuristix, that’s why my son is definitely applying to a wide range of schools - it’s is certainly possible that he’ll be rejected from all his reaches and I have to assume that his scores will not make up for somewhat lower grades. Kind of depressing though that being an AP National Scholar counts for so little.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I grew up in the NE and now live in Chicago, and honestly, I don’t think there’s all that much difference between Chicago weather and NE weather. It’s a bit colder and a bit snowier. If you think he can handle one, he can handle the other. No one stops applying to Harvard because it snows in Boston :-)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>We’re nowhere near having “the list” as mine as juniors, but I definitely think that the ability to apply ED is a “secret weapon” I want them to leverage. IF (and this is only an if) they show interest in their double-legacy top 20, then I think it only makes sense to do it ED rather than RD. If, of course, they have other schools they prefer over said school, then ED there.</p>
<p>heuristix, I am really in shock over your son’s rejections with that record! maybe our high school is just much more stringent with grades. My son’s weighted is a 3.5, but he is easily a match for schools like Hamilton, Conn College, Dickinson based on our Naviance, and we are going to go for reaches because of his SAT scores. We haven’t had that many applications to Ursinus, but I would have put that as an easy match, too. Yikes. Maybe I should be getting alot more nervous than I was!!</p>
<p>Remember, though, that when you’re talking about a weighted GPA of 3.5, it may matter what those grades were, specifically. A student can have a weighted GPA of 3.5 because of a preponderance of Bs, or it can be caused by some Cs or even a D or too. That can make a difference.</p>
<p>^^good point! I never think about that but you’re right. There could be major inconsistencies in the grades.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Good grief! It sure is getting tough to get into UC. I would have thought he would have been able to get into UCSC with those scores. I guess it depends on what his UC GPA was. And whether he was a California resident - I think they are tougher on out-of-state, but I may be wrong about that too.</p>
<p>I am not surprised about the UC’s - they seem to be very strict about the GPA, and many students from our school with weighted GPA’s above 4.0 and excellent test scores do not even bother applying for that reason. But I am surprised about Ursinus.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Heuristix - Thank you very much for providing your son’s stats and admission results. I’m also surprised by the rejections. If you don’t mind, please tell us his unweighted GPA and class rank. Also, what were his EC’s like?</p>
<p>So, which EA schools are the people on this thread considering? Many schools offer ED, but I haven’t come across too many that offer EA. (At least, not ones that appeal to my S).</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>That’s what we’ve noticed of late at our school and the mid tier UCs. The bar seems to be set higher and higher…unless Riverside or Merced or Santa Cruz are on the table.</p>
<p>PaperChaserPop:
As I mentioned before, school was difficult for him for various reasons. As far as his GPA was concerned, all those AP classes weighted his GPA a lot, meaning his unweighted GPA was quite bad, 2.5 or so. Nevertheless, I had hoped that the discordance between his GPA and Standardized Test scores might pique the some admissions officers’ interest; because clearly learning the material was not the issue. But again, I don’t blame them for siding with caution.</p>
<p>With respect to UC admission, the UC web site lists 3 “paths to admission” the last “path” being “Eligibility by Examination Alone | Students must achieve specified high scores on their college admissions tests”. i.e., GPA is ignored. When I called, I was told that one cannot choose the particular “path” on the application; it is at the discretion of admissions officer. Of course, for an OOS applicant, all bets are off. Clearly, I was hoping that they might consider him using the “examination alone” criteria.</p>
<p>He did not have much in the way of ECs. His previous two summers were spent at CTY (computer science - programming in C), and Rutgers (Young Scholars Program in Discrete Mathematics), but I don’t think those really count.</p>
<p>Heuristix - Thanks for the clarification. Your son’s example provided a valuable lesson. It is hard to overcome a 2.5 GPA with any test scores or EC’s, if you are unhooked. Your son’s AP test scores certainly reflected real grasp of the material. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, in most classes, grades reflect more than just subject mastery. Other than tests, factors contributing to grades may include class participation, team project, and homework assignment. Sometimes good grades reflect more on good scholastic discipline than solid scholastic aptitude, especially in schools with grades inflation. Selective colleges look for aptitude and discipline.</p>
<p>Do the numbers.</p>
<p>1,530,128 took the SAT. Others only took the ACT. Expect the number to be around !,700,000 – this is VERY conservative.</p>
<p>I do not know what the top 20 schools are in your book, so I will bold and guess they have enrollments of 4,000 per school or allowance of 80,000 students. That is generous. I am not taking into account the number of spots reserved for athletes, musicians, arts students and the like. I am ignoring other considerations, such as legacy. For my example, the review is merely academic.</p>
<p>The 80,000 attendants of a possible 1,700,000 applicants represent approximately 5% of the applicant pool. </p>
<p>Now you must ask, are you in that pool?</p>
<p>Second, if the number was more realistic – spots available being more like 40,000 – the odds are halved to 2.5%. And, then if you take into account the slots opened only for specially talented applicant (arts, athletics. . . ) the pool drops to 1-2%. And, then the minority, legacy and other issues are added to the formula.</p>
<p>Is a 3.5 average the proper grade to be in that pool? The numbers would have to answer in the negative. Hence, a dry sterile question placed in this thread about the likelihood would require a sterile negative answer. The admittance would be dependent upon the “other” factors.</p>
<p>If you do not believe me, sign up for the academic index calculator and see how it looks. <a href=“http://www.hernandezcollegeconsulting.com/academic-index-calculator-login/[/url]”>http://www.hernandezcollegeconsulting.com/academic-index-calculator-login/</a></p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It just pains me that in a typical high school, this “discipline” involves forcing oneself to do stupid crap that has no bearing on one’s ability to learn.</p>
<p>
</a></p>
<p>The calculator only takes into account GPA, class rank, and test scores. I just used the calculator with a 3.50-3.59 GPA input for my S and I received a “very high” chance for Ivy league acceptance. This seems to contradict what you were saying above. Frankly, I think the calculator is too optimistic.</p>
<p>“The admittance would be dependent upon the “other” factors.” - This is an understatement. We’ve been saying this all along, high test scores will not offset a 3.5 GPA by themselves. There has to be an impressive achievement or two elsewhere.</p>
<p>
I would argue that this is an important life skill.</p>