What are my chances after being put on Hold?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Im posting this because I received a response since my last chance thread and this is kind of a different situation. I was put on hold by Temple and I don’t know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing? Can I still get in or are my chances slim to none?

Here is just a recap of my info:

So I didn’t prioritize well in high school and long story short I didn’t receive as good of grades as I really should have.

GPA: 2.76
SAT: 1720 (590 CR) (580 M) (550 W)

Extra curricular: I played football all 4 years which really took up a lot of my time as 1 elective and I went all conference junior year with that, but when that ended I took up bowling for 3 out of the 4 years. I have also participated in various fundraisers throughout the 4 years, usually being successful in raising a lot of funds and putting my time into it. I also have a summer job to add to this list. So I did not just sit around for 4 years.

Legacy: Not sure if this will help or not but, I would be a 4th year legacy to attend Temple University, starting with my great grandfather, then my grandfather, then my mother. (Is this even a factor any more)

Class difficulty: Generally I took A level classes, but I took more difficult classes as I went into junior and Senior year, my gpa also slightly improving.

So once again… Now that I am put on hold, are my chances gone? Do I have a greater chance? Should I be looking elsewhere? How many people actually get called up from hold? Is it more than the wait list?

2

Your SAT scores are above average for Temple (the writing is close to average, the other two seem to be in the 60-70% range (source: http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg02_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=137)

You’re right that it seems to be your grades holding you back. Your GPA would put you in the bottom 10% of students accepted at Temple, and one would presume that the applicants who were admitted with a GPA in that range benefited from stronger test scores, extracurriculars, or other factors.

Being placed on hold means that although the university is hesitant to admit you on the basis of the information they have at the moment, they’re interested by something in your portfolio. Being a legacy may well be what’s kept you in the mix thus far. That means there is a chance that you’ll be admitted. It generally means that they’re not going to make a decision immediately, and are waiting to see if they can get more information on your case.

I can’t say I’m familiar with Temple’s process in particular, but when most universities place you on hold there’s a number of things you can do. I’d suggest seeing if any of these could help you:

-First of all, see if the university will give you further clarification on your status. If you’re 10th on a list of 500 students on hold, that’s very different from being 499th. It would be good to know this before you go to the effort of some of the steps detailed below.
-Forward any grades received after your application was sent in, if these grades show some sort of improvement. It never hurts to give them evidence that you’re trending upwards. I’d say, if your grades have improved, this could be one of the most important tasks on your list. Your GPA is what’s weighing you down, so even a marginal improvement could change Temple’s opinion of you.
-If you have a set of SAT scores that hasn’t been forwarded to Temple, and represents an improvement on your previous scores, send those in.
-If you’ve achieved something else in your academics/extracurriculars since applying, try forwarding that to the admissions office. This would include academic awards (maybe not in your case, no offense), sporting accomplishments, or continuing with your work on fundraising and/or bowling.

If you’ve been in touch with any coaches about your football, give them a call. If you’ve spoken with a particular admissions officer on multiple occasions, it might be time to phone him/her. Know any alumni outside of your family? Maybe they can put in a good word for you. At the very least, you should ring the admissions office and ask if there’s any additional information that could move the needle on your application. Right now, your file could be on the bubble. This is the time to pull out all the stops. Good luck.