<p>NJ Paladin, I hope your daughter is enjoying LSU (my husband & I are alumni). Those LSU automatic scholarships are incredible. It’s on my son’s list, but if he gets into UT he’ll probably go there instead. I bet she can’t wait for her first Saturday night in Death Valley!</p>
<p>Btw… to others on this thread… LSU waives tuition/fees for ACT scores of 30 with gpa’s of 3.0 (or SAT M+CR >= 1330)… just a public service announcement :-).</p>
<p>If you have time, PM me and let me know what she thinks and where she’s living!</p>
<p>Thanks for the messages. Don’t want to hijack this thread - but so far we couldn’t be happier with LSU. They have been great to our D. Easy application, nice people who have been responsive to all questions, automatically qualified for the Tiger scholarship (just missed the full tuition by one point on ACT). She has made lots of friends and is enjoying her classes. </p>
<p>I know a guy that got into Caltech with a GPA in the 3.0-3.3 range. Not anyone famous or connected (unless he has a secret life I’m unaware about). </p>
<p>His freshman and sophomore grades were a disaster…although his grades were rising and he had a 3.1 point his junior year and probably about a 3.3 his senior year. His SATs were about 2000. He had no hook whatsoever, had no interest in extracurricular activities, except that he was a computer science guy applying to liberal arts schools, and we did apply for financial aid. He did have a fabulous essay, based on overcoming an illness. And he went to a very prestigious NY prep school, so almost everyone of the 100 in his class got into good schools. Almost no exceptions. He got into Bard, St. Olaf and Suny Binghamton. And he got a 15,000 dollar scholarship at Bard, where he decided to go and is ecstatic. The big secret was that Bard has something called IDP, the first 90 kids who apply IDP - immediate decision process - a form of early action -first come, first serve, go up to Bard, read two essays, participate in a seminar, get interviewed and are told the answer within a week. And unlike the regular admissions they take about 65% of the IDP applicants, so he knew before Thanksgiving.</p>
<p>I think you might be suprised with the competition this year kids filtered down. some of those schools had kids in the top 5 percent of their schools. admitted and matriculated.</p>
<p>Morvoren - - congrats, but I’m not surprised that a boy with approx. 3.0 from a top prep school and 2000 SAT score would be successful. I hope he is enjoying Bard (is Bard’s IDP binding like ED?)</p>
<p>I graduated in 2002, which may or may not be data that’s too old for current parents, but I’ll add myself just in case.</p>
<p>2.9 UW, 3.6 W. No APs, some honors classes. 30 ACT. 6th decile of class based on weighted GPA (UW rank was lower, I believe 8th decile - but I didn’t submit that to colleges). Attended a very prestigious public HS. average ECs. White female, no hooks other than being full-pay.</p>
<p>Accepted: Drake University, Syracuse University (CAS), Coe College
WL: Scripps College, American University
Denied: Willamette University, Pitzer College, Drew University, Occidental College</p>
<p>Got accepted to Scripps off the WL for a spring semester start. Graduated in 2006 after entering a semester late. Now I’m in grad school, so have hope parents!</p>
<p>Love this thread - - but I can’t help noticing that the 3.3-3.6 thread sees far more action, and even on this thread, many of the posts report the results of students with unweighted 3.3 gpa, which translates to 3.9+ weighted (2.9 unweighted, with no APs and “some” honors = 3.6!!).</p>
<p>Pity the kid who attends a school that does not offer APs or honors!</p>
<p>I think it’s just that this particular board just has more high avg. kids then the general public. As to the weight of honors, that can vary so widely it’s a good thing that most colleges attempt to even them out.</p>
<p>Graduated 2009, top prep school in Atlanta, had about a 3.1 UW, 3.3ish W, 4 APs, 3 or 4 Honors. Top prep school in Atlanta, 32 ACT, 4 years of varsity lacrosse, 3 years JV (captain + award), student government, peer leader, etc.</p>
<p>Accepted to:
University of Alabama (out of state) (rolling - accepted by end of September)
University of South Carolina (out of state) (McKissick Scholar - in-state tuition + $2,000 scholarship) – attending
University of Indiana-Bloomington (out of state)
Southern Methodist University (University and Rotunda Scholar - $10,000/year)
Texas Christian University (Dean’s Scholar - half-tuition)</p>
<p>Deferred:
University of Georgia (in-state) (UGA’s EA app doesn’t require an essay, I was deferred EA and didn’t write the essay for RD)</p>
<p>Rejected:
Boston College (legacy, deferred EA then rejected)
University of Southern California</p>
<p>GPA:3.3
SAT:1840 (M 610, CR 660, W 570)
AP Chem, AP Bio, AP Physics B and an honors level English/History course along with an extra year of Spanish</p>
<p>DS was a 2007 grad: 3.2 avg, (unsure whether weighted or not) 1670/2400 SAT, 2AP’s, half honors classes, one sport for 4yrs, school newspaper 3yrs, one summer journalism program, one internship for writing with local sports team for a few weeks. Never had an after school job or any other EC’s for that matter. Of 6 schools applied to: was accepted to Hofstra, Quinnipiac, Marist(with 4k scholarship), and Local State U. Waitlisted at Fordham, UConn.
He’s in his 3rd year at Marist and loves it.</p>
<p>Well I saw this thread and thought that I should add something (my first post in 3 years) that I have not seen on here yet.</p>
<p>I finished HS with a 3.2 GPA, 2 honors classes, no AP’s, a decent list of EC activities, and a SAT score of 980 (old SAT). I ended up going to the dreaded community college for two years and really buckled down and focused. I managed to leave there with a 3.9 GPA and transfer to UCLA, where I graduated Cum Laude. I’m in my third year of law school now at Texas Tech.</p>
<p>It’s great when I see old teachers from my High School and they ask what I’ve been up too, as most of them didn’t really see that coming from me. Point of this post though is to keep in mind, that even if you (or your child) doesn’t have the greatest grades in High School, it is something that can be overcome.</p>