S25 would really like to be in DC and GW in particular. He’s interested in majoring in Political Science. I’m realistic about the admissions process as this is our 2nd kid to go through it. Just wanted more thoughts on if he even has a shot to be admitted.
3.4 GPA (trending upward due to dealing with ADHD)
30 ACT superscore
4 years on swim team
Lots of extracurriculars including service, political advocacy, school newspaper, global scholars, yearbook, and others
LOR should be very good
3.4 is weighted or unweighted. If weighted, what’s his unweighted - 4 for an A, 3 for a B etc.
What type of rigor ?
ED is likely the only hope. Is it 100% the top choice and can you pay $90k first year and then up and up.
Last year 1196 applied. 765 admitted. But that includes athletes and more so not quite as good as it sounds.
The ACT is low for GW (would be TO) as is likely the gpa although want to understand that better. . ED is the only shot, and if he really wants it and you can pay, the worst they can say is no. Then you find another like school or if he must be in DC another like AU (still hard) Catholic or a somewhat adjacent school like GMU.
You ask does he have a shot ? I don’t know but I know if he doesn’t apply he doesn’t have a shot. So apply and see.
Figure out what he wants in a school (has he been to GW, it’s very polarizing as a campus type/environment.
Whether the location matters most or he has a preferred campus type you can build a list for him.
And don’t forget most schools have a DC semester. My daughter attended hers and interned at a think tank.
So give GW a shot (ED if willing to pay in full) - knowing it’s not likely and figure out what kind of school would work otherwise. And worst case he goes to another nearby or does a DC semester or year later.
Ok. Talk to the college counselor as it’s a private school.
I added to my answer above.
Has he visited GW? It’s very different in environment than say more suburban American. Does that kind of campus appeal or he wants a traditional campus ? GW must be visited. Very polarizing campus wise.
We need unweighted as tsbna mentioned (unless the AP is the only weighted class)…if his school doesn’t calculate it, you can do so using any A=4 points, B=3 and so on, for core courses only. Some colleges will recalculate unweighted GPAs.
The 1 AP is the only class that affects the weight, so unweighted is essentially the same. School doesn’t do class rank, but he’s probably right in the middle of a class of approximately 350. He’ll apply for financial aid, but his older sibling did as well and is full pay.
This is all great information. Thanks for taking the time to give your input. I don’t think he will ED, because it’s not a dream for him to go there. He does like it, but knows there are other options he can attend and be happy at. He is looking at more target schools that have semester options in DC.
I think with GW you need to demonstrate a lot of interest and likely apply ED and likely be full pay which sounds like you are, regardless of if you apply for aid. But if you’re not going ED it doesn’t mean to not apply. It means to apply and consider it a high reach. A higher reach than ED.
If he likes urban, smaller campus, my daughter is at Charleston. He’d get in. The DC semester is through U of SC Honors College. If that were added to the list, make sure to find out if you must be in the Honors College at Charleston to go to DC so you know up front if attendance is predicated on something like that. It would be wise to do for any school to see if there’s a qualifier so you know up front.
There are certainly other urban campuses (some small like GW), maybe some located in state capitals or major cities with large government operations if he likes the urban-aspect.
Drexel comes to mind. Suffolk too.
And others - maybe DePaul, Portland State, VCU.
Then there are real green campuses - reasonably close to downtown - like a Butler U
You might also take a look at the Common Data Set for GW, specifically Section C7 and Sections C9-C11. Section C7 lists academic and non-academic admissions factors and how they are weighed by the school; Sections C9-C11 give objective (GPA and test score) information about recently matriculated students at the school. These might help give you some insight on how your son compares to other applicants and to recently matriculated students.
Hopefully OP’s HS counselor can help them understand their admission chances, and if the school uses Scoir or Naviance those scattergrams would be helpful. Applying ED would give OP a higher chance of admission IMO.
Only 12% of Class of 2027 matriculants submitted an ACT where the 25%ile is 31, but the 25%ile SAT is 1360 (30% submitted) and ACT 30 is concordant with an SAT of 1360-1380, so I would consider sending the test score. I defer to the HS counselor as well as OP’s GWU AO, whom I would ask for guidance on submitting the 30 or not.
I agree that you should talk with your school counselor about your kid’s chances at GW. It’s probably a lower probability admit, but not an impossible admit. Has he considered George Mason as well? It’s not quite as “in the center” as D.C. is, but it does have good access to the nation’s capital and would be be a likely for your son.
I agree with @tsbna44 about thinking of other possibilities. Suffolk was a great suggestion as it is about 2 blocks from the Massachusetts state government, so lots of opportunities there. If you’re interested in other options, please share the budget, geographic parameters, and any other preferences of what your son is looking for in a college campus.
Strangely enough, Section C11 doesn’t have that information – although Section C7 tells us that academic GPA is a “very important” admissions criterion.
Nothing strange about that at all…many schools do not calculate an average GPA for the enrolled class, so they leave that section blank on the CDS.
Some schools do calculate and report an average GPA, and they way the calculate it is not published (many that do fill in that field report a 4+ average GPA.) Schools can calculate that average however they want to, and some calculate it nutty ways. (Yes, I’ve asked.)
Lastly, some schools that report an average GPA on the CDS do not calculate that in the same way admissions uses/calculates GPA in the admissions process.
Bottom line, I don’t recommend using the average GPA in the CDS, if reported, unless one knows exactly how it’s calculated.
Yes, it is dated, and a three year average. Nor do we know how they calculated that GPA…unweighted (what about schools that give A+)? Core courses only? etc. etc.
It’s quite possible they don’t calculate an average matriculant GPA, many schools have stopped because, well, pick any reason…it takes a lot of time, is complicated, what’s the point, etc.