ISO a college that really cares about leadership

[Anonymous]

private school kid. feeder school and yes, we will talk to guidance counselor again, probably twice. not dc, not ny.
3.75 GPA in a school that deflates - if this had been 3.8 or so a lot more doors would be open, but it is what it is.
1550 SAT
best in-school leadership possible, including elected school leadership and faculty awards.
best LOR
some regional/state awards in things like debate/debate adjacent.

I'm not at all worried about him in life - he's mature, he's kind, he's good at what he's good at, he just doesnt put the time to get the A in things he doesnt care about, like Spanish. Which is frustrating to me, sure, but it's fine.

Full pay, humanities, not hooked.

Every kid in the last 20 years who has his same school position at the his school has gone to HYP. That's not happening. And we have plenty of safeties he'd be happy with. Just trying to find reaches and targets - the higher up the rankings, the more the colleges with know his school and his position in school. But that GPA. Lower down the rankings and I think random admissions readers might not know school, certainly won't know position.

GC says ND will is an "almost safety". I've put it on the reach side because I just think his GPA makes nothing except true safeties feel secure. And I'm not sure ND is a fit - but maybe.

Any other reaches? IOW, which T30 schools will sometimes take a kid with lower GPA. (not counting athletes, questbridge, donor etc)

[Anonymous]

Military Academy even though it's a long shot for him.

[Anonymous]

I don't think Notre Dame -- unless his stats are very much in line with students from his school who have been accepted there in recent years.

But for some reason, i thought of Cornell?

What type of school does he want?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Military Academy even though it's a long shot for him.

Why do you say that? Gpa?

[Anonymous]

Sounds like a kid who would thrive at Claremont McKenna

[Anonymous]

Why not an ivy? Judging by presidents etc. they seem to do a good job at teaching leadership. University of Richmond has a while School of Leadership, which I think is gimmicky.

[Anonymous]

At our non-DMV private, this kid would:
ED to Vanderbilt (if it is in fact school leadership - like president)....shoe in

Agree on ND. That works for our HS too. Otherwise, add in: Cornell, WashU (ED2), Rice, UChicago (ED3) all work for us.

Add in Wake and a RD Stanford (sometimes we see our strong test scores, lower grade true humanities kids get in RD but need some sort of exceptional humanitarian/social impact/activism EC)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:private school kid. feeder school and yes, we will talk to guidance counselor again, probably twice. not dc, not ny.
3.75 GPA in a school that deflates - if this had been 3.8 or so a lot more doors would be open, but it is what it is.
1550 SAT
best in-school leadership possible, including elected school leadership and faculty awards.
best LOR
some regional/state awards in things like debate/debate adjacent.

Missing a few critical information.

Rigor. GPA is just a number, AOs view the number in the context of the school including rigor.
Matriculation data. Where did similarly profiled kids at his school go in the past five years?

[Anonymous]

What does “ elected school leadership” mean? If it is something like Student Body President and the kids has excellent LORs (best of career type, not best of year) I recommend your kid apply to HYS. Stanford AOs literally COUNT the number of leadership positions a kid has. They are not looking for what impact the kid has had, just the count. Yale cares a ton about how the kid has made use of the resources available to them — so if it is leadership and using those resources to impact a local community, Yale would be good. Harvard loves student body presidents and best of career LORs, so…..

I know you said not HYP, but I’d encourage your kid to reach a bit while having zero expectations.

[Anonymous]

It is (1) high school-dependent, (2) EC/narrative-dependent, and (3) major-dependent.

Can you give more background on 2 and 3?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But that GPA. Lower down the rankings and I think random admissions readers might not know school, certainly won't know position.

Agree. Look for the schools that routinely take kids from your school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What does “ elected school leadership” mean? If it is something like Student Body President and the kids has excellent LORs (best of career type, not best of year) I recommend your kid apply to HYS. Stanford AOs literally COUNT the number of leadership positions a kid has. They are not looking for what impact the kid has had, just the count. Yale cares a ton about how the kid has made use of the resources available to them — so if it is leadership and using those resources to impact a local community, Yale would be good. Harvard loves student body presidents and best of career LORs, so…..

I know you said not HYP, but I’d encourage your kid to reach a bit while having zero expectations.

But don't REA to any of them (maybe P).....wasted at HYS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:private school kid. feeder school and yes, we will talk to guidance counselor again, probably twice. not dc, not ny.
3.75 GPA in a school that deflates - if this had been 3.8 or so a lot more doors would be open, but it is what it is.
1550 SAT
best in-school leadership possible, including elected school leadership and faculty awards.
best LOR
some regional/state awards in things like debate/debate adjacent.

Missing a few critical information.

Rigor. GPA is just a number, AOs view the number in the context of the school including rigor.
Matriculation data. Where did similarly profiled kids at his school go in the past five years?

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:private school kid. feeder school and yes, we will talk to guidance counselor again, probably twice. not dc, not ny.
3.75 GPA in a school that deflates - if this had been 3.8 or so a lot more doors would be open, but it is what it is.
1550 SAT
best in-school leadership possible, including elected school leadership and faculty awards.
best LOR
some regional/state awards in things like debate/debate adjacent.

Missing a few critical information.

Rigor. GPA is just a number, AOs view the number in the context of the school including rigor.
Matriculation data. Where did similarly profiled kids at his school go in the past five years?

+1

Rigor isn't always traditional at privates - its "marked" differently. Not by APs or anything. Usually a few advanced classes and then independent /extra research.

Agree that the historical data is most important. What works for my private HS won't work at yours.

[Anonymous]

OP thanks for feedback.

ND likes our HS and they kids every year with this GPA (and reject more). So with leadership - which ND likes - I guess it's a fit. We've never been so it's hard to know. I think my son may go out there this fall and stay with old classmates who are there.

I loved CMC when we toured, DS didn't like it. Hoping he reconsiders. Did ike Pomona, but Naviance doesnt look good.

not interested in Military academies, although they seem to accept everyone from our HS who applies. I think our HS has good guidance on that process.

GPA too low for HYP, I think. Might try Princeton. I think it's a super reach.

He's interested in both SLACs and medium sized schools (6-8k range).