What kind of stats do you need to get in to CC?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Colorado College
1

<p>My S definitely wants to go to CC and wants to apply ED. He goes to a competitive top private school and is at best a B student. Probably will end up with a 3.3UW. He will have AP's in everything but math. I'm pretty sure his SAT's will be good too. I know that 007DAD has a who got in with similar stats. Is your S an athlete?</p>

2

<p>My S got in with similar stats but was probably helped by being international. He is an athlete but (not varsity) and fits the CC profile in many ways.</p>

3

<p>I got in to CC with a 3.4 unweighted, and a 3.5 weighted. I'm not that great of a test taker, but I do have some great extracirriculars, and good essays and recommendations. My interview also went very well.</p>

4

<p>My s does fit the CC profile. He loves to go into depth in the subjects he loves and feels that the block plan would be perfect for him.</p>

<p>He loves the outdoors and is an avid rock climber and snowboarder. He is also an Eagle Scout. Although he is very bright he is not your high stressed high school student who worries about every grade. He is very laid-back and loves to learn for learnings sake..... that kind of explains his low GPA. I think the atmosphere at CC would be in line with that.I was just hoping he could get in with his lower GPA. His EC's will on the top also.</p>

5

<p>Be sure to apply EA or ED because this past year the RD acceptance rate was only 17%.
My son applied RD. He was a recruited athlete, had a much higher GPA , was an AP Scholar and had several very diverse extracurriculars. He was accepted and absolutely loves CC but several friends with similar stats --one with a 33 ACT and who was a legacy--were all rejected. I think CC has become very competitive in the RD round. S knows a handful of kids who turned down Amherst, Darthmouth and similar schools for CC.</p>

6

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<p>My kid has similar stats. B+ student (~3.3 - 3.4 UW), but with lots of IB courses, including the hardest math courses, at a competitive private school with very few straight-A students. 1490 V+M. Not a huge long list of ECs (one interest pursued in depth; a couple of leadership activities with significant responsibilities.) No varsity sport. </p>

<p>Was accepted in the EA round with an early notification letter, a long personal note from an admissions rep, and a merit scholarship. </p>

<p>I'm sure the statistics do matter, but the schools in this peer group seem to work hard to see the whole person behind the numbers. Which is not to say that whatever mojo was working for my kid at CC necessarily will work for yours, or for mine at another, equally competitive school. Fortunately there are many interesting choices among small selective liberal arts colleges, unless you absolutely determined to get great skiing and the block plan. Then there's only one.</p>

7

<p>From the Colorado College website:</p>

<p>
[quote]
First-Year Financial Aid Statistics</p>

<p>85 percent of total CC dollars based on need</p>

<p>15 percent of total CC dollars based on merit</p>

<p>45 percent of first-year students received need-based aid</p>

<p>57 percent of first-year students received some type of aid</p>

<p>First-year aid packages ranged from $1,000 to $40,000*</p>

<p>Average need-based package was approximately $27,300*</p>

<p>Average need-based scholarships and grants were approximately $23,900*</p>

<p>*Family income and assets, family size, number in college, and other considerations affect aid awards significantly. For a general estimate of expected family contribution please visit the websites at College Board or Fin Aid.

[/quote]
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<p>I think it is significant that 15% of the total CC dollars go to MERIT. Also note that approx. 12% of 1st year students receive "some type of aid" that is NOT need-based.</p>

<p>And, there are a few merit scholarships at CC that are independent sourses of money so they are IN ADDITION to what CC itself provides.</p>

8

<p>Thanks tk21769 for the reply! It looks like my S might have a good chance. Like I said he is dead set on CC. There are some other small LAC that interst him but he definitely wants a school with plenty of outdoor stuff to do and he really likes the idea of the block plan. I was, and still am, still a little worried about his GPA. He does really well in the classes that he loves..... which is most, but he is not a strong math student. His SAT's are also around 1450.CR-M. He is an eagle scout, works as a beach lifeguard all summer, has done internship with paramedic fireman program and also has wilderness medicine cert.+ around 1000+ hours of comm. service. </p>

<p>I personally think that CC is perfect for him and have heard so many great things about it.
Did your S just get in this year or is he already attending, and if he is, how does he like it?</p>

9

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<p>Gee, this sounds familiar. </p>

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<p>No, he just got in this year. CC was the first school to respond. Now we're waiting to hear from 4 other schools. However, with EA it was a huge relief to know so early that there's at least one outstanding choice.</p>

10

<p>I agree with you regarding the overnight visit, especially with CC, because I think you really need to see for yourself what the block plan is like. We live in CA so Colorado Springs is not too far from here( actually one of the reasons I love CC so much, it's not all the way across the country). I'm very excited for your S receiving his first acceptance. I would love to hear what other schools he gets accepted to. I'm always a little curious about the competitive private school kid's college acceptances because I do think their stats are a little different than most of the kids on this site. At my son's school very few kids get 4.0 uw, and they limit the # of AP's you can take. There is absolutely NO grade inflation. I was just wondering how much colleges take this into account. Your S might be a good example of how my S will fare next year as far as GPA and SAT scores go.</p>

11

<p>5boys,</p>

<p>Be sure your son's high school counsellor explains what you wrote above in the recommendation.</p>

12

<p>Ditto what Canadianmom said. </p>

<p>You may find it interesting to Google for CC's "Common Data Set" document. The CDS indicates (among many other things) the relative importance a college attaches to various academic and non-academic selection criteria. Criteria are ranked as "Very Important", "Important", "Considered," or "Not Considered". CC (and at least one other selective LAC on my kid's list) shows only one criterion in the "Very Important" category. That one criterion is "Rigor of secondary school record". Class rank, academic GPA, and standardized test scores are all one rung down, in the "Important" category. Though I suspect it's the total picture that matters.</p>

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<p>Here is the link to the common data sets for Colorado College</p>

<p>Common</a> Data Set</p>

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<p>It's interesting to compare what other selective schools consider "Very important."
In most of the ones I've looked at, "Rigor of secondary school record" is one of several in that category.</p>

<p>For CC and Wesleyan University, it is the only criterion in the "Very important" category.
For Brown, it is the only one in that category for most applicants. There is a footnote marking "talent" as "Very important" for certain arts applicants.</p>

<p>Another interesting case is MIT. This is the only school I've looked at that does not mark "Rigor" (or GPA, or SATs) as "Very important". The only "Very important" criterion for MIT is "character/personal qualities".</p>

15

<p>5boys--If you haven't already done so, it might be worth your time to read the CC data sets, especially "C-11." It asks CC to list the GPA's of the first year class by brackets. There is NO data reported for ANY of the last three freshman classes.</p>

<p>Since "rigor of secondary school record" is listed as the sole "very important" factor and the data on rank in class by percentage, i.e. top 10% etc, is given, it appears that CC is looking for someone in the top 25% of their class who took rigorous courses.</p>

<p>SATI M and V is 1200+ (they don't consider Writing) and ACT is 24+ for approx. 85% of the freshman class, although you might find the 75 percentile info informative on the range of scores.</p>

<p>Sounds like your S has a very good chance at CC.</p>

16

<p>Thanks again tk21769 & 07DAD!! The data reports were interesting. I also think it looks pretty optimistic for my S. I think his SAT's will be around 2200 or so, 800 CR. So that may or may not help balance his lower GPA and low math track.... he won't end up doing Calculus, just pre-cal Senior year. His rigor in every other subject is high. 4 years of every academic subject up to AP's I'm glad that they look at rigor because our school does not rank but it usually ends up, I think, that there are the top tier of kids.... something like your S 07DAD, then next tier down..... i.e. my son, and then the bottom tier of kids who go to state schools. I would say 70-75% occupy the 2 top tiers.</p>