Applying to colleges with IB predicted grades

MidwestDad3
Tue, 20 Jan 2015 17:38:11 +0000

There are 4,000 colleges and universities in the US, so they aren’t really “lower ranked” LACs. They are the ones just below the elite of the elite, places that you have a very realistic chance of getting into and whose students are very highly valued by grad schools and employers throughout the US and beyond. A school like Wooster (which has a nationally recognized senior research program), for example, or Centre for another example, looks at many factors beyond GPA. “B” students are accepted at and thrive at these LAC institutions, with many going on to medical school, law school, PhD programs, or to Silicon Valley startups.

IMO CC has somewhat of a dual personality. You see many students on here with absolutely top grades and scores, and stellar ECs, who still look for validation through “Chance Me” threads. That’s fine. Absolutely. But ignore them.

There is another set of students (and it is often their parents who post, rather than the students themselves), who are solid achievers, with good but not top GPAs and test scores, who are active in their schools and communities but who haven’t necessarily written a book yet, or founded an NGO in Africa. Through careful research, due diligence, and strategic applications, they get into great programs–at public and private universities–and many with substantial merit aid. That is the student you want to be. Teacher recommendations, and essays that show you will enthusiastically value the place where you want to study, will be very important for you. Grades will be important insofar as they show you can do the work in college (which you clearly can), but they become less important for comparing student to student as you move away from the elites. If you want a really good picture of what life is like at an American LAC, have a look at the series of “My Sewanee Story” videos on Youtube.

One more thing. This is a generalization but there is some truth in it. Generally speaking for LACs at least, as you move in from the northeast, and the West Coast, to the Midwest and southern parts of the country, it is a little easier to get in, and to receive merit. There are exceptions, of course, but this has been our experience.