Tales of Hope...stories of kids getting into great schools with less than out of this world stats...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kid aimed for one of the top VA colleges, didn't get in, enrolled into a lesser VA school, excelled in academics and extracurriculars, and transferred to the dream school as a sophomore.

Interested in this path - could you tell us more? How does a college freshman have the opportunity to really excel (grades/extracurriculars) in time for March transfer deadlines?

FWIW, many years ago as a college freshman at a state school I hadn't wanted to attend (my parents were temporarily unemployed, I had two other siblings already in college, and I was wrongly advised that I had no other options), I won a well-publicized university-wide prize roughly equivalent to best essay written by a first-year. A few weeks later was accepted as an Ivy League transfer student.

I believe 100% in the "Grow where you're planted" mantra. Also FWIW, my spouse came from a working class family and was smart but unmotivated. Transferred after two years of community college (and living at home...the horror!) to a decent university and has done very well for himself both intellectually and financially.

Our children do not need to be perfect high achievers at age 18. Many, many people need more time to mature, become responsible, and learn to give a #$%*. That's OK.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So does it help if we are full pay AND a protected class?
DS will have a 3.2 unweighted, no SAT yet; but with all honors and 5 AP from a FCPS. DH is a legacy Duke grad (MBA program), so would like DS to go there, but kid would be ok in UVA or JMU, which we have visited. We would be full pay.

What is the weighted GPA? All FCPS stats on Naviance are based on the weighted number. GPAs get better as you go along as most kids take more Honors/AP classes Junior and senior year. Full pay would matter with Duke but not as much with UVA or JMU as they are state schools (lower cost so more parents are full pay and many did the prepay). What year is your DC? The GPA is based on end of year grades only- not quarterly grades- how did you calculate the unweighted GPA?

Assuming the 3.2 translates to a 3.5 weighted and then gets better to a 3.7-3.8 by the end of senior year, your DC would have a chance at JMU. UVA and Duke are off the table- your DC would need better grades and a few more APs (not the easier ones like the Historys, Econ, Enviro Science or Psychology)- plus he would need some excellent extra curriculars.

Not the PP, but I have a GPA question. You mention that if the GPA improves by the end of senior year, they might have a better shot. But how do schools know what the end of senior year GPA is, and how would this factor into their decision? Do you mean this can influence waitlist decisions?

[Anonymous]

Senior Spring GPA is not considered for admission. Maybe the pp meant Junior Spring?

[Anonymous]

Double bonus of URM and legacy, to be brutally honest about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So does it help if we are full pay AND a protected class?
DS will have a 3.2 unweighted, no SAT yet; but with all honors and 5 AP from a FCPS. DH is a legacy Duke grad (MBA program), so would like DS to go there, but kid would be ok in UVA or JMU, which we have visited. We would be full pay.

What is the weighted GPA? All FCPS stats on Naviance are based on the weighted number. GPAs get better as you go along as most kids take more Honors/AP classes Junior and senior year. Full pay would matter with Duke but not as much with UVA or JMU as they are state schools (lower cost so more parents are full pay and many did the prepay). What year is your DC? The GPA is based on end of year grades only- not quarterly grades- how did you calculate the unweighted GPA?

Assuming the 3.2 translates to a 3.5 weighted and then gets better to a 3.7-3.8 by the end of senior year, your DC would have a chance at JMU. UVA and Duke are off the table- your DC would need better grades and a few more APs (not the easier ones like the Historys, Econ, Enviro Science or Psychology)- plus he would need some excellent extra curriculars.

Not the PP, but I have a GPA question. You mention that if the GPA improves by the end of senior year, they might have a better shot. But how do schools know what the end of senior year GPA is, and how would this factor into their decision? Do you mean this can influence waitlist decisions?

They only ever see the GPAs that don't include the senior bump up- from everyone. So, they accept/reject based on those numbers. Many calculate the unweighted GPA on their own so everyone is on the same page. It is the Naviance stats that we look at that we have to temper to look like the stats after junior year- the colleges never see those.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So does it help if we are full pay AND a protected class?
DS will have a 3.2 unweighted, no SAT yet; but with all honors and 5 AP from a FCPS. DH is a legacy Duke grad (MBA program), so would like DS to go there, but kid would be ok in UVA or JMU, which we have visited. We would be full pay.

What is the weighted GPA? All FCPS stats on Naviance are based on the weighted number. GPAs get better as you go along as most kids take more Honors/AP classes Junior and senior year. Full pay would matter with Duke but not as much with UVA or JMU as they are state schools (lower cost so more parents are full pay and many did the prepay). What year is your DC? The GPA is based on end of year grades only- not quarterly grades- how did you calculate the unweighted GPA?

Assuming the 3.2 translates to a 3.5 weighted and then gets better to a 3.7-3.8 by the end of senior year, your DC would have a chance at JMU. UVA and Duke are off the table- your DC would need better grades and a few more APs (not the easier ones like the Historys, Econ, Enviro Science or Psychology)- plus he would need some excellent extra curriculars.

Not the PP, but I have a GPA question. You mention that if the GPA improves by the end of senior year, they might have a better shot. But how do schools know what the end of senior year GPA is, and how would this factor into their decision? Do you mean this can influence waitlist decisions?

You can send the 1st semester grades to admissions office. ESPECIALLY if you've been waitlisted after the ED/EA period AND your first semester grades have improved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So does it help if we are full pay AND a protected class?
DS will have a 3.2 unweighted, no SAT yet; but with all honors and 5 AP from a FCPS. DH is a legacy Duke grad (MBA program), so would like DS to go there, but kid would be ok in UVA or JMU, which we have visited. We would be full pay.

What is the weighted GPA? All FCPS stats on Naviance are based on the weighted number. GPAs get better as you go along as most kids take more Honors/AP classes Junior and senior year. Full pay would matter with Duke but not as much with UVA or JMU as they are state schools (lower cost so more parents are full pay and many did the prepay). What year is your DC? The GPA is based on end of year grades only- not quarterly grades- how did you calculate the unweighted GPA?

Assuming the 3.2 translates to a 3.5 weighted and then gets better to a 3.7-3.8 by the end of senior year, your DC would have a chance at JMU. UVA and Duke are off the table- your DC would need better grades and a few more APs (not the easier ones like the Historys, Econ, Enviro Science or Psychology)- plus he would need some excellent extra curriculars.

Not the PP, but I have a GPA question. You mention that if the GPA improves by the end of senior year, they might have a better shot. But how do schools know what the end of senior year GPA is, and how would this factor into their decision? Do you mean this can influence waitlist decisions?

They only ever see the GPAs that don't include the senior bump up- from everyone. So, they accept/reject based on those numbers. Many calculate the unweighted GPA on their own so everyone is on the same page. It is the Naviance stats that we look at that we have to temper to look like the stats after junior year- the colleges never see those.

So the Naviance stats we see are actually end of senior year GPAs, not the junior GPA at application time? Am I understanding this correctly? If so, how is Naviance supposed to help us? Sorry, I'm so confused.