<p>Sat: 2250
ACT: 31
SAT II:
Chem: 750
Physics: 770
Math I: 800
GPA: Unweighted 3.5 (very low…)
Weighted: 4.0
Freshman: 3.6
Sophomore: 3.5
Junior: 3.5
AP’s taken: 9-11th
9th grade
AP Human Geography: 4
10th Grade
AP World History: 4
AP European History: 3
11th Grade
AP US History:5
AP Lang & Comp: 4
AP Chemistry: 5</p>
<h2>AP Physics B: 5</h2>
<p>I’m a little concerned about my gpa…it’s a 3.5 which is pretty low for BC would they take into account of the rigor of my schedule? I understand I should have done better in freshman year. No excuses, I wasn’t motivated. I was just being childish.</p>
<p>Anyways, what do you think? I’m hoping for a reply from scottj
My EC’s are somewhat ok, they’re not unique though. </p>
<p>Math Club: 6 years
Chess Club: 6 years
Foreign Language Honor Society: 3 years
Science Olympiads: 2 years
Junior Honor society: 2 years
Volunteer at Hospital: 250+ hours</p>
<p>They look at the rigor of class schedules as well as the school itself. Your SAT hints that you are a qualified applicant, and should prove the difficulty of your school.</p>
<p>Thank you for the criticism, how will they look at my GPA? I’m a bit worried they’ll take it as a “downer” since it’s a low 3.5… Also are my SAT II’s fine? How about my EC’s?</p>
<p>SAT IIs are very strong, but as for you GPA i would apply RD and make sure you finish the 1st semester off strongly. Your ECs are alright, but they may want to see what you do outside of school sponsored events, maybe a sport your play a lot (that’s the case for me, at least). The volunteering is great if you can hype it up a lot in your essays.</p>
<p>Dear Arunie62O : Your successful performance on the SAT I/SAT II trump the ACT scores and certainly position you in the sweet spot on the Boston College spectrum of standardized test scores. </p>
<p>Your GPA is fairly consistent across all three years of High School; certainly, you should steer clear of statements regarding a lack of motivation at any point in your application particularly given the consistency in your grades. </p>
<p>Your AP curriculum in English/History/Sciences is strong and well executed showing that you should be well suited for “B+/A-” work (3.5 GPA) in a collegiate setting. Do you plan on capping your AP scholar’s roles with Calculus and Foreign Language AP? You might be well positioned to add Macro/Microeconomics or perhaps AP Government.</p>
<p>Now, let’s turn our attention to your extra curriculars. Some of these clubs are very individual, inward-facing ambitions. What do I mean by this? Math Club is generally about individual problem solving; Chess Club is about individual game play against an opponent. None of the elements here highlight team work of any type. </p>
<p>I started thinking along these lines when I realized that there were no sports, music, arts, or other ensemble work offered in your profile. You might say that I have jumped to conclusions, but do you prefer working alone? That will somewhat run counter to Boston College’s “Men and Women for Others” philosophy. Even moreso, I am not sure that a reader would look at the collection of activities here and say that the other freshmen accepted would just have to know this new person. Is there anything in your High School for which you are the leader for the community and others are following your lead? You will want to give this some significant thought in your essay.</p>
<h2>I’m not interested in AP Gov so I avoided that…</h2>
<p>You’re not wrong to assume that I’d prefer working alone. I didn’t intend to display it that way , I was just devoted to math and chess as my EC when I started in 7th grade and just started tutoring kids in french for FHS and helping out the community with Key Club for about 2 years. It’s pretty hard to gain a leadership position in these clubs since many kids vie for these positions. At best all I’ve had was president of the chess club and winning the tournament for 3 years (probably irrelevant but whatever). </p>
<p>Should I mention about any jobs I’ve taken? I have been tutoring little kids in math for awhile at the temple and at Kumon. I’m not really sure if I should mention that…</p>
<p>Dear Arunie62O : If your work profile can help demonstrate leadership outside the classroom, it would be to your advantage to call that material to the forefront. From the grades perspective, you should be fine overall although we certainly wish you had another half-letter grade on your average to push your most recent GPA into the 3.8 range.</p>
<p>Now, a general message to all our readers here on College Confidential.</p>
<p>Dear Readers : On occasion, I am asked about my process for choosing a chance-me to review. In all honesty, I will typically read all of the chance-me threads, but only comment on those where there is a point of interest for the general community. On the one hand, I wish more potential freshman would cast a more critical eye on their own profiles prior to asking for help. It does not take a great deal of analysis to tell an 1800 SAT I applicant that they are low and a 2300 SAT I applicant that they are over the bar. However, these are all very valid concerns from seventeen and eighteen year olds just entering the process.</p>
<p>The key point in this particular review with Arunie62O are the subtle messages that can be sent to an experienced reader by your choice (and positioning) of extra-curriculars. Notice that our review centered on the Math and Chess Clubs (the lead items presented) which led to a leap-of-faith conclusion about preferring to work alone; a conclusion later confirmed by the poster. Now, Arunie62O never planned to expose this element in his/her extra-curriculars, but it became clear when we saw absolutely no team participation and limited leadership roles.</p>
<p>Remember that college is both a singular and team effort. You will be part of many study groups, team projects, smaller discussion sessions, and dorm events that will stress both your individual and team work skills - even outside the classroom. It is critically important to demonstrate balance in all elements of social engagement with some shining points (leadership skills) among the set.</p>
<p>So, in closing, we chose Arunie62O’s profile as rarely does one get the chance to clearly articulate this “team work” aspect moving from High School to College. We hope that the discussion that I have had with Arunie62O actually helps many students rethink how they are presenting their extra-curriculars to say something about who they are as both an individual and a team player.</p>
