MLEVINE07

I was accepted to Bard. My stats were low (3.2 GPA, 32/177 at a catholic school). When I was choosing where to go, I asked admissions why I was accepted. Here's why I was accepted, it may help if your looking into Bard.

Dear Mike,
Greg Armbruster forwarded you letter to me and since I am the Bard New
England Admission rep and was the one who read you file, I shall
answer.

You were accepted for a few reasons: You took a challenging courseload
across the curriculum all four years, including Honors and AP classes
and
your grades improved each year. You also had stellar recommendations
from
your teachers and guidance counselor and finally your essays reflected
a
desire to pursue a course of study (psychology) and we are encouraged
by
your passion and ambition for the subject.

Should have other qustions, please contact me.

Congratulations on your acceptance.

Sincerely,
Shelley Morgan
New England Coordinator, Admission

What did this tell you? Work hard on the essay and make sure your recs are amazing. Also, I'm pretty sure they recalulate GPA by dropping +s and -s. I had a 3.0, 3.2, 3.1, 3.7. Recalculated its 3.0, 3.2, 3.4, 3.6. That makes more sense as an upward trend.

I hope this helps.

bella89

I've heard of students getting in with 1.3 gpas

MLEVINE07

You know people with 1.3s that got in? I really doubt that.

bella89

i have absolutely no reason to lie.

visualthinker

Just curious about the situation of a person who could gain admission with that low a GPA- can you elaborate?

bella89

im sure it was higher at the end of high school but she said at the end of her freshman year she had a 1.7, even with improvement, how high can you raise your gpa calculating in a 1.7

MLEVINE07

Was she exceptionally talented in an area?

bella89

i dont know much about her, she just posted her stats and said she got in. it really doesnt matter, I mean props to her for getting in- maybe shes really good at something. Im just surprised thats all

bella89

Admissions are crazy, you never know what it is that makes them decide to accept or reject you.

visualthinker

One feeling I have is that Bard chooses students that seem to be passionate enough to complete a goal that they are excited about. They want students to succeed so if this girl wasn't capable, who would benefit from her admission? The course load is rigorous, you can't slide by in a class of 14, without having done the reading and work, and the intellectual community doesn't seem to be a fit for an unmotivated student. Maybe freshman year was an anomaly and they took it out of their calculations because of specific circumstances she overcame.....

bella89

visual thinker- thats true. i didnt think about it that way

koolcrud

1% of Bard Students were in the bottom half of their HS class. Since most halfway points is about a 2.3-2.5 GPA, I can't imagine many 1.3 GPAs being admitted

bella89

only one person i know of. btw, this thread died with "thats true. i didnt think about it that way"
going on about it is pointless