Hi guys, I am a current junior and I’m confused as to what tier of college I should be shooting for. My GPA is underwhelming to say the least, but I have strong SATs and I’d be a recruited athlete for track and xc (At all D3 schools and some less strong D1)
Here are some stats to give you guys an idea of the type of student I am:
GPA: 87 UW
Classes: Full IB Diploma candidate, Freshman and Sophmore year all honors courses.
Class rank: n/a
SAT: 1500 (720 reading, 780 math)
ECs:
National Merit Commended
Volunteer track coach in my community
-Youth Court
Boys State Nominee
State champion in the Mile
Team Cross Country state title
All-state track
I’ve spoken to a few of the top d3 schools, who have all said that they’d like to have me but can only pull for students in the ballpark of prospective students. I’d like to go to one of the best schools I can get into, and am fine with either a big or small school, primarily east coast, south, or midwest. Thank you for any and all evaluations/school suggestions. This is my first post here, so apologies if I messed something up.
Some quality LACs that MIGHT work would be Connecticut College, Denison University, Rhodes College, Franklin and Marshall, Lafayette, Gettysburg, Sewanee, Elon University, maybe University of Richmond. Exactly what classes you are taking and the exact grades will obviously have an impact. There are some different ones here. For example, Rhodes has a stunning campus in Memphis; Sewanee is also stunning but completely in nature. But they are all excellent schools where your real strengths might sufficiently outweigh classroom performance that doesn’t quite match test scores and your obviously strong work ethic. (I’m recommending mostly small schools because I think you seem excited to run track, and close interaction with professors might be a good idea for you.)
Can I ask a question? Why do you think you have not performed as well in the classroom as on the SAT and on the track? The 87 UW is okay, but I also note that you took honors courses F and So years, but it looks like not after. There can be lots of reasons why student performance lags. A subtle learning issue, diagnosed or not, can impact performance. For example, I know a student who struggled with dysgraphia (inability to write) and that was a barrier. Is it motivation? Sometimes bright students are bored by high school, or don’t see its relevance. Is it some distraction or substance issue?
More important than getting into this college or that one will be succeeding once you arrive. If you can honestly answer that question, it might be a start (perhaps with help) into finding out how you can succeed in college.
Anyway, when you do get to college: go to class, this is extremely important; get to know your professors and seek help from them (I know students don’t like to do this because they don’t want to reveal what they don’t know. Hint: The professor usually knows anyway.); go to student sessions before tests, it helps and can really help you understand what will be on the test; get a tutor early in the semester, especially for science classes. This is not what struggling students do; it’s what successful students do.
Thanks for the response. To clarify, I’m currently taking all IB classes, which the honors were precursors for. I think the reason I may not have lived up to my academic potential in highschool boils down to poor time management and worse study skills (I might have ADHD, when I was younger I used to spend hours pacing and I’m somewhat restless) I am hoping that in college I’ll have much more success, as I hope to find something I’m passionate about, which right now is the pre-law track. I really don’t understand what my issue is now though. For example, I’ve gotten like 83ish in IB math this year and got 780 on math sat. One of my close friends got only 10 points higher on the SAT, but has a 99 in AP Calc and is one of the best mathletes in the state.
I appreciate the suggestion of talking to teachers, that’s something I’ve struggled with. My junior year has been awful with stints of flu and pneumonia (which I have now), and has hurt both my academic and athletic performances. Thanks again for the response, and I’ll take your advice as I continue in the process.
Yes, it’s very common for students to be hesitant to speak to teachers/professors. I like to ask students to flip it around. Say you’re an econ professor. A student comes to office hours, introduces hisself/herself, says they are struggling, and asking how they can better approach the material. You’d probably want to help them; you’re there to teach after all. That’s the goal–to have them understand a certain body of material. Now maybe a few professors won’t be helpful, but most will be. And many will work very hard to be helpful.
ADHD makes sense, if that’s part of the answer (and I don’t mean there’s any sort of huge problem, but something to consider, for the long run). I might also suggest that before you even get to college–and you’ll be able to go to a terrific place–you get in touch with academic counseling. Most schools have some sort of academic counseling program. It might include meeting with a school counselor and/or taking a class on doing college work (which is usually something like 6-8 one-hour classes over part of a semester). College students are only in class about 15 hours of the week. Much more of the work is done outside the classroom, which requires planning, time management, diligence, and discipline. Many, many students need help learning and embracing these things. It really is best to be pro-active and take advantages of the services offered (and that you are paying for) before one has a rough semester.
Speaking of paying for it, it’s important your choices are affordable. Are there significant financial considerations? That could dramatically change the list of schools that are good possibilities. All the ones I suggested are really, really outstanding, and very nice places.
Thanks again for another helpful reply. I’m lucky enough that my parents are in a great place financially, and have said I can go to the school I like best no matter the price. As an athlete in college, I’ll get a lot of free academic counseling, something I’m excited to utilize. Unfortunately, my high school right now (public) has a very high turnover of academic counselors, so I haven’t really had a chance to even meet with mine before they either quit or were fired. My school is in a weird place. We recently had something that resembled a riot at an assembly, and the principal resigned. I’ve gone a bit off topic here, but I do really appreciate your feedback. One final thing I was wondering, is whether I have a realistic chance at a Williams/Amherst sort of caliber. I’ve talked to coaches in schools like that, and they’ve indicated that I have a shot, but they might just be stringing me along.
Grades typically are the single most important qualification for college admissions.
Being a recruited athlete probably won’t compensate for a GPA that is too far below the average for entering students. The Amherst and Williams Common Data Sets don’t report average GPAs, but presumably they are somewhere above 3.8 UW (with many students coming in from rigorous programs at competitive high schools.)
Look at Naviance results, if your school makes them available, for students with similar stats. Keep in mind that at some schools like Amherst/Williams, a rather high percentage of entering students were captains of 1 or more varsity teams. At Notre Dame, for 2017 enrolled students, the number was 42%. I believe I’ve seen similar numbers for some of the top LACs. So I think it is not unusual for students at these schools to enter with both high stats and athletic accomplishments.
Consider LACs that are a bit less selective (like Dickinson, Gettysburg … or some of the “Colleges That Change Lives”).
If you are having a positive conversations with coaches at Amherst and Williams and similarly competitive schools, I’d certainly advise continuing with that. I’d just also advise sinking a couple of hooks at schools where you’d likely/certainly be accepted without the support of the track coach. That way you’ll know you’ll have some great options that are a fit for you. If you want to go to Williams/Amherst and are accepted, that’s certainly great. If you ended up at some of the other schools suggested above, truly you’d get just as good of an education. You’d find fellow students, faculty, and staff every bit as hard working, intelligent, and inspiring as at Williams and Amherst (where you’ll find amazing people). They all have beautiful campuses.
Here’s something that can work in your favor: we went to an admissions thing where we went over 4 applications (with fake names). The school had accepted a male applicant whose grades were not quite as high as some of the other applicants (like you, the applicant had high test scores and was a very successful track athlete). The school was 56% female, and admissions rep said they hoped to maintain something of a gender balance, so the application was especially appealing to admissions. Some LACs, like Connecticut College, with a higher % of female students might offer you higher chances of acceptance. (Females get a boost at many STEM schools and some state flagships where there is a predominantly male student body.)
Williams & Amherst are athletic powerhouses, in addition to being top-notch academically. They might be possible, but your best bets for academically elite D3 would be schools that DON’T have such robust athletic programs–especially in the sports you participate in. They would presumably be more likely to overlook your relatively low GPA.