So yesterday son’s application status changed from “complete and under review” to “Your application is under consideration for admission. While we realize that you are anxious to receive your decision, please understand that we want to take the time to give each application the full attention that it deserves.”
wondering if anyone else has gotten this. Until senior year his stats were 93.5 weighted gpa (don’t have unweighted), SAT: 2210 (750 CR and 750 math), great recs, essay, etc. However, he had a very poor second quarter of senior year (couple of C’s in AP classes) so I’m wonddring how much they look at that first half report, and I’m thinking even if he’s admitted it will hurt his chance for merit. He’s already gotten very nice acceptances, merit, elsewhere, but still really likes UMASS/A as an option. So we shall see.
Just curious if others have gotten this status update.
@Sapphire50 - I am sure that he still has a solid chance. As you probably know your son’s SAT’s compare very well with the average honors student’s SAT at UMass. Your son has a 1500 M+R SAT and the average honors student at Amherst last year was a 1390 I believe. (Though it will likely be higher this year) Secondly, his GPA will still possibly get him into the honors college. (Even though it is below the average weighted GPA at the honors college which is 4.25) Also, as far as getting C’s in his APs senior year, this is a concern but I can’t say how they will react to this.
Lastly, I was wondering two things:
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What is his weighted GPA on a 4.0 scale? - You say he has a 93.5 weighted GPA which is a 3.8. This is a solid weighted GPA but it is lower than what would be expected for someone with that SAT so I just wanted to make sure that this is his GPA. (I would expect a 4.2+ GPA with that SAT)
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Are you instate? - I would like to know because it will be easier to guess about his possible aid knowing this.
Hi @greenman57
Our school only provides the GPA as a weighted percentage, so I am not sure what it translates to on the 4.0 scale. I would just be guessing as different charts give different ranges - I’ve seen anywhere from 3.7-4.0 weighted/I’m guessing anywhere from 3.6-3.7 unweighted. Yes, he is one of those kids whose GPA lags behind what his SAT reflects (he’s a really smart kid with some time management/organization issues so he has lost points here and there for late or missed assignments, alas). And this is why it is difficult to gauge where he falls in terms of merit, etc. We live in New York State.
@Sapphire50 -
Thanks for the quick response,
As someone who had some parallels to your son in HS I can understand where he is coming from. Unfortunately this situation can be hit or miss with colleges. I would certainly look into a program/school that fits his interests. As you may already know, sometimes very smart students get by in early education by simply being smart and this makes it very easy to skip over learning good habits in organization and academic discipline and still get by. (Sometimes with above average, but still not optimal, results) Anyway, I can’t pretend to know his situation but I can say that at least for me having an interesting/challenging subject was the best thing to keep my attention. As far as aid, I can’t say that UMass is always the best. What I can say is that he still has a shot at getting some significant aid, but no guarantee obviously. Lastly, he should be able to easily switch into the honors college at a later point assuming he keeps a solid GPA.
Thank you for the feedback @Greenman57
My son plans to major in physics and seems to be passionate enough about it that I am hopeful that he will be able to keep up and even excel. I just hope he takes it upon himself to take advantage of the available resources - tutoring, group study, professor and TA hours, etc. - if he finds himself struggling - at whichever school he choses in the end. He has been offered some nice scholarships at schools he has already been accepted to (these are schools that accepted him before his awful midyear report! was sent) and we are just waiting on four more schools (which have all received the report) before making the final decision. He will also attend as many accepted students days/weekends as he can fit into his schedule in March and April.
I’m happy to hear that you guys already have some options.
Anyway, I just wanted to throw in one last thing. This being it’s very easy to get hyper-focused on academics and grades but sometimes it’s equally important in college to get some common interest groups together so that you can balance out all the stress of physics and math classes. (Clubs are a good place to start) I know that this suggestion seems like common sense but you would be surprised at how many engineering/Physics students seem to forget this balance.
Anyway, that’s all I have to say. 
Absolutely. My son is a runner and plays guitar, base and saxophone/volunteers for a hospital - he has many diverse interests and definitely plans to get involved with sports/music and club activities.