Reply to For students who took 12 AP- gpa vs rigor?

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "For students who took 12 AP- gpa vs rigor?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]
My full pay son had those APs last year but reported a little more than half of the scores, because he only wanted to report 5s and one 4. ACT was 35. His gpa was 3.9-something unweighted and 4.6-something weighted, BUT his transcript showed he'd had a resource class for 9th and 10th grade, and he had rather "dull" and non-competitive extracurriculars: a part-time job and volunteering in the same field. No athletics, competition wins or founding of non-profits! He is twice exceptional (gifted with learning disabilities) and he mentioned that in his personal statement because he thought the resource class needed a little context.

He was accepted to a reach he had initially been quite excited about (a program that selects about 5-10 students a year!), but finally picked a safety with a 49% acceptance rate, because:
1. It also has a great reputation for the major he wants.
2. He liked the campus, and was put off by the other campus.
3. He continues to need accommodations and the disability office of that private university is better resourced than the one at the reach public.
4. He had guaranteed 5 year merit aid at the private that brought it in line with the public institution, so money was not a deciding factor.

Conclusion: I think it's good for your son to push himself, not necessarily because he will end up in the most prestigious program, but because he will have more options and that's always empowering!

Additional note: some posters on DCUM told me that essays weren't that important. I think they truly made the difference for my son: he had an intended major in mind, and very specific reasons to choose it based on his family history and life experience. He wrote really thoughtful essays explaining all this, plus the extra 1500 word essay required by the reach program. Please don't neglect the essays! It's the only platform for expressing his own voice and make himself real and unique to the admissions people.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics