Is it a good decision to apply early decision if my grades are like this?
Alright, so I'm an Asian-American and I'm going to be 1st generation college student. I'm going to be a senior starting in september and was wondering if I should apply to Virginia Tech for early decision if it's one of my top choices. I live in the state of Virginia also.
My grades
- Currently a 3.74 gpa (weighted)
-Aps= US, World, Bio, English Language (past years), Euro, Human Geo, English Lit, Calc AB (Senior Yr)
SATS
- 1740 out of 2400 (taken only once)
Ecs
Pretty bad here
- 2 yrs of FBLA, 1 Yr of Debate, 1 yr of Community basketball, 2 yrs learning self defense, 1 yr working as a self defense instructor (teach a couple of people here and there- Community)
My Schedule for Senior yr is this- ab calc, english lit, human geo, euro, astronomy, and photography, and maybe Geo systems
Would it be a wise decision to apply early decision to Vtech? I know I have to improve my SAT score (I think I have a month and 2 wks to prepare).
No, your stats aren't good at all. I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but that is the true. Your SAT Scores are way too low, and you're EC's aren't even that impressive (even if they were, that itself wouldn't get you in).
College admission is getting harder every year. Last year the average GPA I think was 4.0 and the SAT was around 2000. A lot of kids in my kid got rejected who would have gotten in back in 2005.
Eh, I don't find what you're saying offensive (it's honest). Of course that was the first sat test I ever took and I didn't prepare for it so I knew my score was going to be low (busy with APS). So you're suggesting that I should just apply regular decision then? Also, the stats for applying to Vtech last yr weren't that (what you said), Around a 3.8 GPA and an SAT score of 1900 could get you in. Wouldn't applying Early Decision help my chances of being admitted?
If your school uses Naviance (sometimes called Family Connection) you can see what previous stats students from your school have had that were accepted, waitlisted, and denied. It will be a clearer picture of what you can expect.
Keep in mind that math scores will need to be stronger for entrance to the e-school. Architecture is also highly competitive and may require higher higher stats than the CAS.
I wouldn't apply for early decision because VT makes you cancel all of your applications if they accept you early decision anyway. It is best to just do regular decision so you can keep your options open. I can tell you that your chances of getting accepted are about average or just a little bit low. I am going to be a freshman at Virginia Tech this year and I will tell you my credentials so you can compare.
GPA: 4.05 (Weighted)
APs: None. My school did not offer AP classes, but my school was affiliated with a local community college so I took college credit classes.
College Credit: Even though most of my classes did not transfer to Virginia Tech, I had almost 50 college credit hours. 20/50 successfully transferred.
ECs: 2 years on the MACC team. 2 years in FCCLA. 1 year in HOSA. 2 years in BETA. 3 years in French Club. 4 years in Virginia Tech Talent Search. 1 year in AASIS. I had a few more, but I can't name them right off.
SAT: My SAT scores were not great at all. Mainly due to the reason that I hadn't had math for a while when I took it. In fact, your SAT score is higher than mine.
Math: 600
Reading: 540
Writing: 570
Total: 1710/2400
ACT: ACT was taken during my junior year, so they are not as good as my SAT scores.
Math: 24
Reading: 25
Science: 25
English/Writing: 25
Composite: 25/36
I think the main thing that got me into Virginia Tech was that I took some difficult classes in high school and had a high GPA along with them. I never took a break from tough classes throughout my 4 years in high school.
My senior schedule was sorta tough.
Advanced Math/CC
Advanced Biology/CC
Physics
Calculus/CC
Advanced Government
Advanced Composition/CC
Body Structure and Function/CC
Chemistry
Hopefully you will get accepted. It isn't an incredibly hard college to get into, like MIT or Harvard. I will give Virginia Tech major credit on their engineering program. They allow some people into VT with very low credentials, but they don't let up on their engineering and architecture programs.
One part of the admission process is to view the rigor of the course curriculum compared to your personal course selection.
The other part is they look at the school profile. I.E. how many go to Ivy, private, public, IS/OOS, community college etc.
A 3.74 wgpa may be good for someone who goes to a hs that offers limited AP, it can be bad if they offer a ton of AP classes. In your situation, they offer a ton (note Human Geo). What is your class ranking? If you say top 35% you may be facing issues.
Being asian doesn't help or hurt, what helps is that you are 1st generation.
I don't really know my class ranking, but I go to a school in fairfax county (NOVA) and it recieved an "honorable mention." Will this help my chances of getting in? I think my school's pretty competitive.
Believe it or not, but coming from Fairfax can actually hurt because the way the system works.
Tech wants diversity, and that means from all over the state for IS students, BUT Fairfax is not only competitive from the state level, it is from a national level too. THUS, this may hurt a student from Fairfax. Yes, this student may have a more rigorous course load with a higher wgpa than someone else from a different area (let's say Norfolk), but Tech wants the best students from across the state. This means they are not just going to come from NoVa because they have a nationally recognized school system compared to other counties within the state.
Fairfax school system's education budget is larger than the lowest 8 states in the nation. Almost everyone of their public hs's are nationally ranked in the top 100. TJ is a public magnet, but because of their stats, most magazines have now placed them on the private school list, AND they still come out No. 1 in the nation! I believe the avg SAT score for Fairfax students is @1350 out of 1600. That means the competition is stiff.
Fairfax a few yrs back found that many of their students were being rejected IS because they had a 7 pt system with 4.5 scale, the parents went ballistic on the board, and had the system changed to a 10 pt., so the kids could be more competitive. PW county followed suit within a month.
I will say, PW is not deemed as competitive as Fairfax, and Tech is a numbers driven school. A 3.74 weighted with that many AP's under your belt is going to hurt as a PW student. At our DD's school, nobody with less than a 1250 out of 1600, and over a 4.0 wgpa got into Tech. Now, the school down the road was a different story.
There is a cliche for Tech and UVA. Tech, easy to get in, hard to stay. UVA, hard to get in, easy to stay.
You do have the 1st generation issue going for you. I would write an awesome essay to overcome your stat issues.
The only way to get in, is to apply. I have a member of this site for almost 3 yrs., and I can tell you there were kids that people said IN without a doubt, that ended up with a rejection. There were kids we said SORRY, NO, but got in. None of us are on the admissions committee, most of us are just going from anecdotal history. Ask, but don't let the answer stop you.
Last edited by bulletandpima; 08-24-2010 at 09:34 AM.
