<p>I came home from vacation yesterday to find that I had been accepted EA! So happy right now!</p>
<p>Mykid…scholarships/grant portion is free money…need based. Does not need to be paid back. Congrats!</p>
<p>jbean93, mykidwouldkillme and radannie … if you don’t mind would you post stats… curious for my Junior S who will be applying next year… probably EA.</p>
<p>H 5boys- you can see my son’s stats by clicking on my name and seeing earlier posts, because someone asked me to post once before. I think, though, that altohugh he had very good grades and scores the thing that probably clinched it for him was his artwork and passion for art. He submitted the Arts Supplement to the Common App with samples of work and also wrote his essay about discovering art + his answers to the CC supplement questions revolved around the theme of the mportance of art in his life. Perhaps he would have been accepted regardless, he was a well-quakified cnadidate, etc., but I still suspect the art had a lot to do with it.</p>
<p>Thanks MKWKM!! My S has a lot of things that would make him a fit and that he is passionate about as you can see from my original post to this thread. We are just trying to decide the best strategy for him next year in regards to his GPA being on the lower side. I LOVE EA, but it looks like you have to be on the very top of applicants to be admitted. I’m thinking for him it might be better to apply RD, so they will see his first semester grades next year… as he has done MUCH better so far this year. The typical slow to get it together and actually care boy. His test scores are right in there, but I just don’t know.</p>
<p>5boys - sometimes it helps if you apply ED over EA. Since you are committing yourself to the school, they accept at a higher rate. If he does truly love the school, it might be worth it.</p>
<p>5Boys…try this…I was on the cusp of just about all the qualifications for CC four years ago when I applied ED. My ACT was 30 and my GPA was about 4.5 weighted. I decided that if i really wanted to go to CC I had to prove to them my interest. As a result, I took a summer block between my junior and senior year. It actually did two things…confirm for me that I liked the Block plan…and showed a tremendous amount of interest if I was willing to give up part of my summer to study. I then planned my interview with admissions on the final day of the block study so I could show the admissions counselor how enthused I was about just having spent the three weeks in a class. It paid off and I got in ED that December. CC is holistic in their review…make sure your son’s passions and well roundedness scream out of his application. Show lots of interest…CC wants kids who are passionate about the school…finally, have your son start an email dialogue with the admission counselor for your area so when he picks up that application he will know exactly who he is reading…tell him not to go overboard on this point to the point he is being annoying, but just enough to see that he is interested and asking interesting questions…these are all strategies that worked for me and hopefully will for your son as well…Good Luck.</p>
<p>My S found the regional CC recruiter to be most helpful. </p>
<p>If your home area has a college night and CC sends someone, your S might do well by asking that person for advice.</p>
<p>I also think flyboy has a good suggestion about the email communication, but a chance to meet that person face to face is a huge plus IMO.</p>
<p>5boys, my S was just admitted EA. 30 ACT, 8 APs, AP scholar with honor, but GPA also on lower end of admitted students posting acceptances on this thread. He did have significant upward trend. This thread shows that CC has become very competitive. Although I am sure the fact that his brother is a junior at CC helped, he also did a summer block last year and interviewed while on campus. If your S is really interested in CC I would recommend he take a summer program and apply ED, or at least EA.</p>
<p>Thanks so much everyone!! Your advice is all well taken. I think CC has definitely gotten more competitive in the last few years… unfortunately for my S. He has still yet to visit but he intends to next Fall and also interview and sit in on a few classes… which I feel is imperative for CC. I think he could write a great essay as to why the block plan would work for him, based on his need for intense stimulation in classes to be able to focus. He has done MUCH better in his AP classes this year than the non-AP’s last year. His lower GPA stems mostly from Freshman year… but it is so hard to bring it up to a 3.7 or higher after that. </p>
<p>I don’t think he can take a summer class because he is applying for an internship with Student Conservation, and if he gets it, he will be working all over the US for most of the summer. </p>
<p>He is also leaving in a few weeks for a school in Vermont on an organic working farm for a semester. He will be living, working 3 hours a day, and going to classes with 45 other Juniors from all over the country. I think this will make him stand out, because the school is well renowned.</p>
<p>Wow…really funny…I consider the Vermont school when I was in HS and the summer between my freshman and sophomore year at CC I did an SCA intenship as well. We practically sound identical!</p>
<p>That is sooo funny flyboy, you guys sound A LOT alike. I think I chatted with you awhile back because my S is also considering Whitman and I think you were too… anyway, aren’t you a mountaineer and backpacker, rock climber too like my S? My S has actually read a lot about the guy that is the head of the Outdoor Club at Whitman… I guess he is an amazing climber. My S emailed him a few months back trying to see if he could take the Wilderness First Responder that they offer this month, but he said he had to be 18. I’m sure that will be one of the first things my S will do when he gets to college.</p>
<p>5boys- your son sounds like CC material to me. GPA isn’t everything. ED will also give you a distinct advantage – it sends a mixed message, I think, when you try to convince a school that you are so excited about going there but you didn’t apply ED even though they have an ED option. My son’s GPA was (unweighted) 3.44 and he was accepted. He had plenty of honors courses and a few APs so if it had been weighted it would have been higher, of course, but that’s what it was. His SATs were very good but not Ivy League level. I think they took him because he was a cool kid who had a positive attitude and was clearly passionate about something. I think you can relax a bit. I’m not a college admissions consultant, but that’s my opinion.</p>
<p>5boys, your S sounds like a great fit for CC. His semester in Vermont and summer internship will definitly make him stand out. I would not worry about his freshman grades or his non-AP grades last year. My younger S also had better grades in his AP classes. Although my junior S was a recruited athlete, he applied RD (I believe that the RD admit rate was 17% in 2008) and also had a lower GPA due to a slow start freshman year.</p>
<p>5boys, if CC is a reach school for S think carefully about whether or not you should apply for financial aid. The school is very up front about the fact it is not need-blind.</p>
<p>D was recently rejected EA. Definite reach so not a big surprise but I really don’t think applying for aid helped D - already a marginal candidate and then another strike is needing aid that they’d rather give to top stat applicants, and not without reason frankly. </p>
<p>Didn’t work out for us but it’s a great school and I understand the enthusiasm. I recommend that your S work it as much as possible to be in the zone in terms of stats. My take: High SATS and full pay could help overcome GPA weakness.
Good luck!</p>
<p>5boys-Dont worry about all of these scores that youre seeing. Most people probably arent as high. The people that are posting on this forum are mostly people that are good students, yet over-obsessive college. there are definitely people that get into cc without these kinds of attributes. I expect the average scores to probably go up a good amount from last year, but focus on those averages more than what you see here.</p>
<p>My daughter has 4.2 GPA, 2 APs, 790 W 740 CR 660 M. 750 Lit Sat II, 650 Math 1 SAT II
Top 10%. All State FH player, all state jazz alto sax. Her aid package was not what I expected however…so the acceptance as this point while very exciting, is not financially viable.</p>
<p>^ If the aid package seems low based on your EFC estimate, why not call up the finaid office and talk it over? I thought only merit aid (not the full package of need-based aid, if any) was announced with the early admission letters … but maybe I’m wrong or the practice has changed.</p>
<p>Anyone else waiting for ED 2 admission notices?? Have not slept in DAYS!!! F/A office told me they are mailing out notifications Feb 4th. GAH!!! Can’t Wait</p>
<p>Still waiting for the ED2 notices, can’t sleep well these days</p>