B Grades - Page 2

portugueseninja · 03-10-2009, 03:27 PM

The thing with clubs is that there can be a very fine line between a club and a social group. Hosting a movie marathon every week could easily be twisted into "creating and being the leader of a media studies club".

mazatl · 03-10-2009, 03:50 PM

coming from a difficult school can make a very big difference in how Bs are interpreted; it can also affect how one's ranking is interpreted. i had never even heard of the importance of 'top 10%' before i came onto this forum (three years after i applied to college). basically all the kids at my school got into very well-respected schools (even those in the bottom 10%), and many kids who were only top 50% or top 30% or whatever got into top-25 schools.

in terms of yale specifically, there were definitely people accepted there with Bs on their transcripts, but the vast majority had a B+ average or better. if you are at a very well-regarded school, Bs on your transcript will not automatically put you out of contention. regardless of whether you get into yale, you will get into a very good school, so don't worry.

sadface · 03-11-2009, 01:35 AM

^^ What school is this? I mean I know that almost everyone goes to a good place, but I don't know about top 25

thefranchize9 · 03-11-2009, 03:06 PM

IceStorm815, if you put it that way then I guess what i do doesn't necessarily matter unless I put in a lot of extra work. I've done some great work in my IB acting class so I'll record some things and send them when I apply. In regards to sports. I run cross country and track and I'm much better at XC. I've won a numerous medals and helped my team win a prep championships which we've haven't won since the nineties. However, I will see how well I do next season, however I'm leaning towards not getting recruited.

Icestorm815 · 03-11-2009, 10:57 PM

Well, I'd definitely put the medals on your list of awards. That's always a plus and will most certainly benefit you.

I'd just like to clarify myself a bit. I wouldn't say that your activities don't necessarily matter. I meant that in order for activities to hold serious weight in your application you need to show some considerable talent and interest. For example, say a student lists playing piano as an activity. They put down about 4-5 hours of practice a week, did not list any awards for playing, and did not submit any supplemental material. The college isn't able to determine what level of skill the student has and whether or not they demonstrate any passion or interest in it to continue on at the university level. Thus, the college is stuck to assume it's just a hobby the student does and can't honestly use it to greatly tip the scales in his or her favor.

If you were to just list XC as an activity, and nothing more, it becomes just that, an activity. Listing awards and accomplishments makes you more marketable. I hope what I'm saying comes off clearer than before.

On a side note, from the way you described yourself it seems like you might have a shot at being recruited. Personally, I'd at least give it a try. Contact the coaches and let them know you might be interested. They'll tell you what you need to do and then they'll just evaluate you from there. There isn't a downfall for giving it a shot, unless your whole application rides on your athletic ability. (Which I highly doubt)

thefranchize9 · 03-11-2009, 11:14 PM

Thanks for the advice Icestorm.

Icestorm815 · 03-11-2009, 11:50 PM

No problem. Hope it helps!

Dbate · 03-12-2009, 12:10 AM

Quote:

"I've done some great work in my IB acting class so I'll record some things and send them when I apply."

I would advise against it unless you are a serious actor. On the supplemental material page it states to only send in things that are outstanding because mediocre things will hurt the application. Not to say that you are mediocre but unless you are in a play company or one of the best actors in your state (which some of my friends are) then you should definitely not send it in. Moreover the track aspect seems to be much more fully developed than acting so if you send in an acting supplement then you might actually detract from the main focus of your application.

This is my advice (and you can gauge if it is successful later by if I get in or not) formulate a theme around your application. My theme was science beause I have spent five years doing independent research relating to physics and quantum mechanics and have won numerous awards for it. To develop the theme both of my essays dealt with science but in different ways. The common app was about being one of the few blacks at science competitions and the other was about evolution and my Christian faith. Also I listed the awards and sent in my research paper. The science things for me personally were important because I also worked to buy the things for the research and did it entirely on my own. I also didn't list some of the organizations I am in like being treasurer for english honor society and only listed parliamentarian for science honor society to show science throughout my app. So I tried to develop a theme which hopefully could be interpeted as this "passion" that people keep talking about.

Perhaps using a more focused approach will be better than listing random things. Also from Michele Hernadez's book she states that one essays should highlight your primary EC and what you learned from it and the other essay should be personal. So keep that in mind and don't be afraid to write early and get CC members to critque it because it definitely helped me.

smoda61 · 03-12-2009, 06:28 AM

Dbate - Did you do SCEA or are you RD?

collegehopefull · 03-12-2009, 09:31 AM

The Government's mom is in the admissions department apparently.
Way to be lucky, dude.

Yale Admissions Officer Scott Clark Shares Insight into the Admissions process wit AC's Marissa Becker

(LOL at the url)

Excerpted:
Marissa: Would you rather take an applicant who takes harder classes during their high school career but not doing as well or someone who takes easier classes and doing very well?

Scott: Simply put, you absolutely must take the harder classes. Not doing as well, I suppose could be defined as having a few B’s as opposed to a student who took easier classes and got straight A’s.

In our minds, there really isn’t a big difference between a transcript with straight A’s and a transcript with three or four B’s quite honestly. However, that being said, you still need to be doing very well in the difficult classes that you’re taking because we need to be certain that you can also do well in the difficult classes that Yale has to offer.

That’s why it’s so important to us that we see that you’re challenging yourself very much in your high school career, but not over challenging yourself. Not providing so much of a challenge that you’re burning out or ceasing to enjoy your work because then that defeats the purpose. We want you to love learning because you’re choosing your classes.

You are the architect of your educational experience at Yale and so we need to be quite certain that you are someone who enjoys learning and you’re not doing it simply to get somewhere and not just simply to build your resume.

And so while we advocate challenge, while we say that you must take difficult courses, overloading yourself and then
burning out and then learning to hate your courses will be counter productive.

I don't think he has much incentive to lie, or be misleading in that interview.

thefranchize9 · 06-24-2009, 05:07 PM

How much do senior year grades count tho? There is a rising trend from my sophomore year onward as i took harder classes. My freshman year grades were really good. I'm just still nervous; I want yale so bad it hurts. lol

cavalierpup3 · 06-25-2009, 03:51 PM

Just wanted to say thanks for all the contributors to this thread! I had the same questions about B's- unfortunately I have a couple too- and you all made me feel a little better about it. Haha thanks again!

Harambee · 11-02-2009, 09:48 PM

Yeah, this thread was pretty helpful. I have a couple B's on my transcript. All of them were 1 point away from an A. But mostly I have A's, and this thread helped to clarify some questions I had.

speakmusic14 · 11-03-2009, 12:35 AM

does anybody know how national achievement (top 20) in speech and debate weighs in admissions?

Hunt · 11-03-2009, 09:49 AM

The bottom line: everything counts. Things that are not so good (Bs on the transcript, weaker ECs, lower scores) have to be offset by things that are very good. (They can also be offset by hooks, like URM, legacy, recruited athlete development, celebrity.) You are competing with a lot of very accomplished students, some of whom don't have weak anything. And:

Quote:

In our minds, there really isn’t a big difference between a transcript with straight A’s and a transcript with three or four B’s quite honestly.

Always take with a grain of salt any statement that includes such words as "quite honestly" or "I'll be frank." All other things being equal, they'll take the kid with the straight As. It's just that all other things are never equal--they are complicated.

Bottom bottom line: Apply to reach schools, but be realistic about your chances and make sure you apply to a range of schools, including true safeties.