4.1 wGPA for english/history major

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:3.5 unweighted, highly regarded Virginia public, grade deflation

UVA ED might be tough. If the public is TJ or McLean it will be harder in ED given your in-house competition. Chicago could be a good use of ED only if poor grades are in rigorous classes and ECs are excellent, but that's a crapshoot. UCs are also good if poor grades are in freshman year, as they don't consider those. I would also recommend UW-Madison, W&M, Tufts (ED), Boston College, Fordham, NYU (ED). If they like LACs, look at (mostly talking about ED) Colgate, Colby, Hamilton, Davidson, Carleton, Middlebury.

3.5uw from a Northern VA public school is not getting into any of those schools. Not a single one. PP is living in 1985 or completely out of their mind.

OP claims it is a well-respected public with grade deflation. If that's true, then these schools are all possible but hard. 1500+ SAT also helps their case. Did your precious child get rejected from one of the aforementioned schools with better stats?

No grudge here. I have one kid in college and another gearing up for the admissions process. Most of the schools suggested by the PP are/were on one or both kids' lists. Oldest had a 3.8uw/4.5w and many of those schools were beyond reach at those stats. Current kid has a 4.0uw/4.8w and still I wouldn't consider almost any of those schools a target (except Madison and Fordham).

There are a lot of well-meaning DCUMs who haven't been through the admissions process in decades and have very skewed ideas of what are good schools for good, but not great, students. "Grade deflation" is in the eye of the beholder but even if this is a TJ student, they will be competing against other students with higher GPAs. A 3.5uw from a DMV public doesn't get you to schools that accept less than 15% of applicants, which is most of the schools on the PPs list. Fordham is the outlier of course. OP's kid would almost certainly be competitive there.

What we're your kids' test scores? That plays a role in contextualizing academics. W&M is certainly in play, definitely ED or EDII. NYU and LACs reach down to lower GPAs if the test score is good + ED + full pay. Tufts and Boston College are very hard but not completely impossible. Your kids likely just weren't competitive applicants, I'm sorry to say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kenyon

This ^^ Kenyon is awesome for english.

Kenyon also offers an excellent history department.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:3.5 unweighted, highly regarded Virginia public, grade deflation

UVA ED might be tough. If the public is TJ or McLean it will be harder in ED given your in-house competition. Chicago could be a good use of ED only if poor grades are in rigorous classes and ECs are excellent, but that's a crapshoot. UCs are also good if poor grades are in freshman year, as they don't consider those. I would also recommend UW-Madison, W&M, Tufts (ED), Boston College, Fordham, NYU (ED). If they like LACs, look at (mostly talking about ED) Colgate, Colby, Hamilton, Davidson, Carleton, Middlebury.

Thanks for the suggestions. Of the two, would W&M or NYU ED be easier?

W&M for sure, as you are in-state and their ED acceptance rate is higher than NYU ED. It is seriously good for history and english so it is an excellent option. I would also look at your child's SCOIR/Naviance data to see the GPA + stats in context.

3.5 is unlikely at W&M, even ED.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:3.5 unweighted, highly regarded Virginia public, grade deflation

UVA ED might be tough. If the public is TJ or McLean it will be harder in ED given your in-house competition. Chicago could be a good use of ED only if poor grades are in rigorous classes and ECs are excellent, but that's a crapshoot. UCs are also good if poor grades are in freshman year, as they don't consider those. I would also recommend UW-Madison, W&M, Tufts (ED), Boston College, Fordham, NYU (ED). If they like LACs, look at (mostly talking about ED) Colgate, Colby, Hamilton, Davidson, Carleton, Middlebury.

3.5uw from a Northern VA public school is not getting into any of those schools. Not a single one. PP is living in 1985 or completely out of their mind.

OP claims it is a well-respected public with grade deflation. If that's true, then these schools are all possible but hard. 1500+ SAT also helps their case. Did your precious child get rejected from one of the aforementioned schools with better stats?

No grudge here. I have one kid in college and another gearing up for the admissions process. Most of the schools suggested by the PP are/were on one or both kids' lists. Oldest had a 3.8uw/4.5w and many of those schools were beyond reach at those stats. Current kid has a 4.0uw/4.8w and still I wouldn't consider almost any of those schools a target (except Madison and Fordham).

There are a lot of well-meaning DCUMs who haven't been through the admissions process in decades and have very skewed ideas of what are good schools for good, but not great, students. "Grade deflation" is in the eye of the beholder but even if this is a TJ student, they will be competing against other students with higher GPAs. A 3.5uw from a DMV public doesn't get you to schools that accept less than 15% of applicants, which is most of the schools on the PPs list. Fordham is the outlier of course. OP's kid would almost certainly be competitive there.

What we're your kids' test scores? That plays a role in contextualizing academics. W&M is certainly in play, definitely ED or EDII. NYU and LACs reach down to lower GPAs if the test score is good + ED + full pay. Tufts and Boston College are very hard but not completely impossible. Your kids likely just weren't competitive applicants, I'm sorry to say.

My college kid did just fine PP, thanks for your concern, and I have no doubt their sibling will too. Mostly because we know the admissions game very very well. Have you ever looked at the CDS for any of these schools? Btw one of the things you will learn if you do is that GPA is uniformaly more important than test scores.

Also OP, get yourself on Naviance or SCOIR or whatever system your school uses - that will help you determine where your kid is going to be competitive with a greater dose of reality than is sometimes the case here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:3.5 unweighted, highly regarded Virginia public, grade deflation

UVA ED might be tough. If the public is TJ or McLean it will be harder in ED given your in-house competition. Chicago could be a good use of ED only if poor grades are in rigorous classes and ECs are excellent, but that's a crapshoot. UCs are also good if poor grades are in freshman year, as they don't consider those. I would also recommend UW-Madison, W&M, Tufts (ED), Boston College, Fordham, NYU (ED). If they like LACs, look at (mostly talking about ED) Colgate, Colby, Hamilton, Davidson, Carleton, Middlebury.

3.5uw from a Northern VA public school is not getting into any of those schools. Not a single one. PP is living in 1985 or completely out of their mind.

OP claims it is a well-respected public with grade deflation. If that's true, then these schools are all possible but hard. 1500+ SAT also helps their case. Did your precious child get rejected from one of the aforementioned schools with better stats?

No grudge here. I have one kid in college and another gearing up for the admissions process. Most of the schools suggested by the PP are/were on one or both kids' lists. Oldest had a 3.8uw/4.5w and many of those schools were beyond reach at those stats. Current kid has a 4.0uw/4.8w and still I wouldn't consider almost any of those schools a target (except Madison and Fordham).

There are a lot of well-meaning DCUMs who haven't been through the admissions process in decades and have very skewed ideas of what are good schools for good, but not great, students. "Grade deflation" is in the eye of the beholder but even if this is a TJ student, they will be competing against other students with higher GPAs. A 3.5uw from a DMV public doesn't get you to schools that accept less than 15% of applicants, which is most of the schools on the PPs list. Fordham is the outlier of course. OP's kid would almost certainly be competitive there.

What we're your kids' test scores? That plays a role in contextualizing academics. W&M is certainly in play, definitely ED or EDII. NYU and LACs reach down to lower GPAs if the test score is good + ED + full pay. Tufts and Boston College are very hard but not completely impossible. Your kids likely just weren't competitive applicants, I'm sorry to say.

My college kid did just fine PP, thanks for your concern, and I have no doubt their sibling will too. Mostly because we know the admissions game very very well. Have you ever looked at the CDS for any of these schools? Btw one of the things you will learn if you do is that GPA is uniformaly more important than test scores.

Also OP, get yourself on Naviance or SCOIR or whatever system your school uses - that will help you determine where your kid is going to be competitive with a greater dose of reality than is sometimes the case here.

Get off your high horse, please. I know the admissions game very well, but maybe my idea of a 3.5 w/ grade deflation is skewed because of the school my kids attended. There, a 3.5 w/ 1500+ can get you in anywhere in the list I provided. But I agree with your point about OP's school data.

[Anonymous]

Wesleyan?

[Anonymous]

If this student is male, his chances at a school such as Vassar might be enhanced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:3.5 unweighted, highly regarded Virginia public, grade deflation

UVA ED might be tough. If the public is TJ or McLean it will be harder in ED given your in-house competition. Chicago could be a good use of ED only if poor grades are in rigorous classes and ECs are excellent, but that's a crapshoot. UCs are also good if poor grades are in freshman year, as they don't consider those. I would also recommend UW-Madison, W&M, Tufts (ED), Boston College, Fordham, NYU (ED). If they like LACs, look at (mostly talking about ED) Colgate, Colby, Hamilton, Davidson, Carleton, Middlebury.

3.5uw from a Northern VA public school is not getting into any of those schools. Not a single one. PP is living in 1985 or completely out of their mind.

Agreed.