Extremely low GPA [3.15, upward trend] applied to 60 schools. Dismissed from school, big upward trend in GPA [admission results]

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For anyone with low stats who think its over!
Demographics

Gender: M

Race/Ethnicity: White

Residence: Southern California

Type of School: Competitive? private

Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): Academic comeback :muscle:

Intended Major(s): Chemical engineering, Biochem at a few.

Academics

GPA (UW/W): With first senior year S1 (3.15/3.36) without senior year (2.9/3.15)

Freshman year GPA: 2.50

Sophomore year GPA: 2.84

I was dismissed from school my sophomore year (expelled kind of, but I finished online and came back the next year :sob:). Honestly, for the dumbest reason, my school is very weird with some stuff.

Junior year GPA: 4.11

Senior year GPA: 4.61

Rank (or percentile): School doesn’t rank

Senior Year Course Load:

AP Biology

AP Calculus AB

AP English Literature and Composition

AP Research

US Gov (AP Test)

Woodworking 1

Law and Society

Standardized Testing

SAT: 1330

I didn’t submit anywhere, lmao. I am not a good test taker and get distracted EXTREMELY easily (very bad ADHD)

Extracurriculars/Activities

List all extracurricular involvements, including leadership roles, time commitments, major achievements, etc.

#1 online clothing business … 10k net profit … recycled old clothes that would end up in landfills.

#2 Climate Technology paid internship … pertained to my major kind of?

#3 Co-established School Environmental Club

#4 XC / Track. Since 5th grade. XC team captain. CIF.

#5 Tracking fluctuations in schools river height and measuring precipitation every morning. Graphing data-comparing over time; monitor our local ecosystem. This turned into a program/club.

I had 10 activities in all, but I think these are the main ones. (18 for UCs) I had a big theme of environmental work throughout my essays and extracurriculars, I also mentioned this in all interviews to make my application profile more cohesive.

Awards/Honors

Definitely lacking in this category

#1 AP Capstone candidate

#2 school math award

#3 league champion in the 800m

Letters of Recommendation:

Math teacher: Taught me Algebra 2 and pre-calculus for my sophomore and junior years. Spoke very highly of my growth 10/10

Spanish teacher/XC coach: Taught me Spanish in 9th, 10th, and 11th grade. Spoke very highly of my growth 10/10

English teacher: Solid, didn’t have as big of a connection with this teacher. 8/10

Interviews

I interviewed for, I think 8, schools, but I can only remember 7

Beloit: The XC coach just called me, and we talked for around 45 minutes; it went well and felt effortless.

USF: 10/10. Actually one of my best interviews; unfortunately, I don’t like San Francisco.

Chapman: I don’t remember anything from this, to be honest, but the interviewer sent me a handwritten letter after.

Oberlin: 10/10. I also talked to the XC/track coach and had to fill out a ton of stuff, and we called a few times. She said I was a great fit for the school and that she would talk to admissions. I had an interview with a student as well. I can’t remember tbh

Occidental: 7/10. Honestly, it was kind of awkward; it was my first interview, and I didn’t know what to say. It could have been worse. I talked about a rep who came to my school, and she liked that I remembered their name.

U. Rochester: 10/10 we talked about my research paper and talked over email after about it.

Syracuse: 9/10 went good, but she told me not to do engineering lol (She was nice but thought I would enjoy environmental science more)

Essays (IMPORTANT FOR ME) 10/10

I am very proud of my essays. All in all, I submitted over 70 essays, and I didn’t have to sacrifice any quality of writing. I spent soooo long working on these essays (I started at the beginning of my summer going into senior year); I studied what works best and literally thought about the psychology of admissions officers. I also read over hundreds of other essays people wrote and what worked well. I think I did the best job I could at explaining everything and emphasizing the impact I can have and the uniqueness of my situation. I think the reason I got rejected from so many schools is that I didn’t have an excuse for my poor grades early on, or at least not one worth mentioning. But I definitely had unique essays, which helped a lot, in my opinion. Sometimes, my essays were a bit risky, but I tried to be different without being cringe, and I think it worked very well.

BIG TIP: Connect your academic work to your story or personal life; I did this in interviews as well. For example, I am doing a research paper right now. I weaved this throughout my Common App essay, college PIQ supplemental essays, and interviews. You need to sound passionate when talking about said academic work as well; it shows that you actually care about this stuff and will continue to moving forward.

I am happy to share any of the essays I wrote if anyone is interested!

Decisions (indicate ED/EA/REA/SCEA/RD)

The summer going into my senior year, I was so stressed I wouldn’t be going to college because of my GPA; that is why I came up with this list. I also used fee waivers every chance I got; I probably only paid for 15 colleges (not counting UC/Calstate)

Acceptances:

Chapman University (Initially Deferred) EA

Arizona State University ROLLING

Penn State (Berks) ROLLING

Purdue University (Fort Wayne) EA

Manhattan College (+ $30k/year scholarship) ROLLING

University of Pittsburgh (Johnstown) ROLLING

New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) (+ $22k/year scholarship) ROLLING

Loyola Marymount University (Study Abroad first year) ED

Salve Regina University (+ $27k/year scholarship) EA

Rutgers University-Camden EA

*Rutgers University-New Brunswick (Initially Waitlisted) EA

Seattle University (+ $27.5k/year scholarship) RD

*UC Riverside RD

*California State Polytechnic University (Pomona) RD

Drexel University (+ $8k/year, Initially Deferred) EA

University of San Francisco (Initially Deferred) EA

American University (+ $20k/year scholarship) RD

*Illinois Institute of Technology (+ $20k/year scholarship + Honors College) EA

Pace University (+ $22k/year scholarship) EA

Syracuse University (Too expensive :frowning:

Wheaton College (Massachusetts) (Honors + $40k/year scholarship) EA

*Dennison University (+ $20k/year scholarship) RD

*Kenyon College (+ $18k/year scholarship) RD

Beloit College (+ $27k/year scholarship) EA

Clark University (+ $20k/year scholarship) EA

Florida Southern College (Initially Deferred) EA

Hanover College (+ $22k/year scholarship) EA

Hobart and William Smith Colleges (+ $38k/year scholarship) EA

Ohio Wesleyan University (+ $24k/year scholarship) EA

Rollins College (+ $22k/year scholarship) EA

Waitlists:

*Virginia Tech - Waitlisted RD

*Fordham University - Deferred, then Waitlisted EA

*California Polytechnic State University (San Luis Obispo) - Waitlisted RD

*Occidental College - Waitlisted RD

Rejections:

Santa Clara University EA

University of Colorado Boulder EA

University of San Diego RD

University of Washington RD

University of Southern California (USC) (Initially Deferred) EA

Pepperdine University EA

Tulane University EA

UC Berkeley RD

UC Davis RD

UC Irvine RD

UCLA RD

UC San Diego RD

UC Santa Barbara RD

UC Santa Cruz RD

California State University (Long Beach) RD

San Diego State University RD

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology EA

Northeastern University (Initially Deferred) EA

Clemson University (Initially Deferred) EA

Oberlin College RD

Trinity University EA

Bard College EA

University of Rochester RD

Furman University RD

Reed College EA

Colby College RD

COLLEGES WITH STARS BEFORE THEIR NAME ARE WHERE I AM THINKING OF ATTENDING, SO ADVICE IS APPRECIATED :slight_smile: I honestly don’t know if these results are that good; I know I am below every one of these colleges’ average GPA, but still idk.

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were you able to get out of ED with Loyola Marymount because of the first year abroad?

Ignore the waitlists for now. For those acceptances with asterisks
Rutgers
UC riverside
Cal poly
IIT
Dennison
Kenyon

Do you have any favorites. how does COA compare (not just the scholarships). ?
Would you do XC at any of these schools?

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How is it that you aren’t going here with an ED acceptance?

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Denison and Kenyon don’t offer engineering, so I’d cross those off the list.

IIT doesn’t offer very many courses outside of STEM, so if that’s important, it’s probably not the best fit. My kid is a ChemE major and toured there but decided not to apply because he wanted to also do some foreign language and music and didn’t want to have to go to nearby schools to do that.

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Are all of the asterisked acceptances affordable without any loans?

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Yes, but cost is a big factor

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Since I cant do the first year on campus its not binding

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What is the cost (not the amount in scholarships) for all the acceptances under consideration? This should be tuition, room & board (i.e. the directly-billed costs to the university).

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I just want to congratulate you on your huge uptrend in high school. I know that this was not easy. Of course this helped you a lot in terms of acceptances. However, this is also going to help you a lot, probably even more, in terms of being ready to do well once you get to university.

Good job! Make sure that you keep up the hard work when you do get to university.

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You have wonderful acceptances - wow from large to not large.

You ruled out Syracuse - who is also too expensive?

Do you want tiny or large? Do you want religious or non?

Do you want a main campus (big sports - like Pitt) or you are ok with a second campus?

You can perhaps solve some of these via that way.

Or as an example - put two together and not 20 at once. Rutgers NB or Camden - which?

If NB, eliminate Camden or vice versa, etc. And keep doing this. Looking at one vs. another - so in small groups of two.

Congrats to you and well done (too well done) !!

But I think you can reduce this list to something manageable very quickly - and yes, ignore the WL.

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First off congrats on your acceptances and turning things around. Get this book. It’s all on time management but also similar strategies for people with Adhd How to Become a Straight-A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High while Studying Less by Cal Newport | eBook | Barnes & Noble®

So my daughter went to Beloit and they have a great environmental program.

IIT is a great very small school. It is a technical school so not a typical school per se but great placement opportunities and smaller classes.

The question is what is your end goal. If it is to be an engineer then do that. But you need to find out which school also has support for your ADHD. You also have to know you will have to use every resource available for time managment and for studying. Math /science help sessions. Peer to peer sessions. Going to professor hours on a regular basis. Engineering is extremely hard. Your grade point will suffer the first semester /year. Adhd isn’t going to help. Is it controlled with meds? Biofeedback?

Anyway. Find a school that fits your goals. Have you seen the schools you were accepted to?

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*UC Riverside RD
If you want a large university that’s probably the one to beat. (Otherwise, is Rutgers NB affordable and would you really cross a continent for it?)
In terms of downsides, whixh is the worst for you, the bus system at Rutgers NB (there are actually several campuses so you cant3 just walk to class) or the location for UCR

Serious contenders should be
*California State Polytechnic University (Pomona) RD
and
*Illinois Institute of Technology (+ $20k/year scholarship + Honors College) EA

IIT will guarantee more personal attention, which may help due to your ADD, but is it affordable?
CPP is a very respected university that would allow to remain instate.

If truly hesitating between Biochem and ChemE then these 2 are equal contenders and I think Denison is likely to be cheaper for roughly the same level of academics, community, and personal attention. Would you be running at either one?
*Denison University (+ $20k/year scholarship) RD
OR
*Kenyon College (+ $18k/year scholarship) RD

Finally, if you can consider Denison or Kenyon, what about these 2, likekybto be among your cheaper options?
*Wheaton College (Massachusetts) (Honors + $40k/year scholarship) EA

*Hobart and William Smith Colleges (+ $38k/year scholarship) EA
More partying at HWS, quirkier student body at Wheaton MA but both solid academically with a concern for student employability.

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Thank you for this reply, I am thinking all of the same things right now. 60k is my budget so Rutgers is in that range, along with Denison. I’m going to Rutgers in a few days so hopefully that will settle the Rutgers vs Riverside debate in my head haha, but as it is I liked the walkability of riverside but hated the area, and in addition to that I’m not too confident I will even have anything to do on campus since a lot of students commute. I have always been able to do my own thing and work through my ADHD, and I don’t like to ask for help regarding it (maybe I should but idk). I also think Ohio isn’t the best place for me, but I feel like I got so lucky with my acceptances at Denison and Kenyon I just can’t rule them out, especially if I am going to do biochem. Kenyon is also barely in my budget. The main reason I am so stuck on Rutgers and riverside is because they will be the only schools I am touring and it’s hard for me to imagine myself at a school across the country I’ve never seen.

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Any chance you could go to Ohio? It’s quite doable to visit both Kenyon and Denison in one day if you fly into Columbus and (have a parent) rent a car.

What makes you afraid of Ohio?
(It’s a really good mix of America: rural areas with cute towns, super industrial areas, economically depressed areas, research parks, big cities, plus a hundred colleges dotted through).

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Congrats on the great comeback and the excellent range of options!

I know you have a limited amount of time to make a decision, but I don’t think skipping over the question of major/career and going straight to “which campus do I prefer” is helping you. I think it’s really important to think through your academic options, and their implications.

If you gave up the option of engineering to go to one of the LAC’s and major in biochemistry, what would your career goal be? Many of the popular paths for biochem majors require grad school - either in the health professions, or in the sciences. Do you want to have to do more school after undergrad? My sense is that it would be smarter to go someplace where you preserve the ChemE option and have several good off-ramps to other potential majors if you don’t end up liking ChemE. The fact that you haven’t visited the Ohio schools and don’t plan to is even further evidence that you should let those schools go.

Many students with ADHD prefer a more practical, hands-on learning experience. Is that case for you? If so, you might enjoy your classes more at a “learn by doing” school like CPP than at UCR, since the UC’s are known for a more theoretical approach. Lower-division classes are also much smaller at the Cal Poly schools than at the UC’s.

You don’t seem that sure about ChemE (or you would have ruled out Denison and Kenyon before even posting here). So, for all of your ChemE schools, I would look through all of the potential majors , and consider where you would have the best array of alternatives. I would especially favor schools where there is not a binary choice between ChemE as a practical, pre-professional major, and Biochem as a purely academic major.

For example, a chemistry-loving student who learns that he dislikes ChemE, but still wants to do something practical that utilizes chemistry, might end up loving a major like Food Science, where he could apply his knowledge of chemistry to the design of new food items or new food production/processing technologies, or to practical problems in food safety. Several of your schools have this option:

Anyway, that’s one example of an “in-between” major - still very “applied” and practical even though it’s not ABET-accredited engineering.

Engineering-wise, CPP has an Energy Engineering minor that might enhance ChemE, since this seems to be an interest of yours. Program: Energy Engineering Minor: 18 units - Cal Poly Pomona - Acalog ACMS™

IIT has Materials Engineering in addition to ChemE, and several minors: Energy/Environment/Economics, Environmental Engineering, and Polymer Science/Engineering. (It also funnels ChemE’s into several different 5th year masters programs, but if your scholarship didn’t apply to that, it wouldn’t be affordable at all.)

Rutgers also has Materials Science & Engineering… plus they have an interdiscipinary Packaging Engineering program, which includes both chemical and materials engineering content in addition to industrial and mechanical. Packaging Engineering | Rutgers University | Rutgers School of Engineering This is a highly-employable and lucrative field that involves a lot of creative problem-solving. There aren’t many programs (Cal Poly SLO and SJSU are the only two in California), and grads are in high demand. The Rutgers packaging program also offers a certificate, which is available to majors in all of the engineering disciplines.

UCR has Bioengineering, which is more biochem-ish than the more common Biomedical Engineering. Other than that, it’s pretty much just ChemE, or Biochem, from what I can see.

CPP has Biotechnology, which is not engineering but is still much more applied/practical than pure biochem. The two most chem-adjacent tracks are “Biochemistry & Molecular Separation Techniques,” and “Food, Agriculture & Environment.” Either of these could be a really great alternative to straight-biochem. CPP Biotechnology BS

ITT is a much smaller school than the others. (This could be good in some ways, but would it come at a price in terms of the range of facilities and opportunities?) Notably, the student body is 43% international students (!), so that would have a huge effect on the feel of the community (though whether it’s a plus or a minus would be subjective). The on-campus full-pay cost is very high - $76K/year (they are really pulling in those full-pay international dollars!!) so even with your $20K discount, 56K/year it isn’t cheap - it’s even more than Rutgers OOS, which you indicated is already a stretch. Being in a major city becomes a lot less fun if you don’t have the budget to do fun things that cost money.

So, having thrown out a lot of things to think about, my opinion is this:

Cal Poly Pomona is the one to beat. It’s the most affordable, and it has the highly-lauded “learn by doing” Cal Poly approach, small class sizes, and some fantastic alternatives to ChemE, so that you wouldn’t feel stuck with limited academic choices. I know you don’t love Riverside’s Inland Empire location and commuter population, so the downside of CPP is that it’s similar in both respects. But it’s a fantastic education for a very affordable price, and you could strategize on the quality-of-life issues.

UCR has by far the fewest practical alternatives to ChemE; and given its more theoretical bent, it may also be the school that’s most likely to make you want a practical alternative to ChemE! (That is, unless you are an outlier among people with ADHD, and really prefer a highly-theoretical approach.) Since you aren’t in love with the environment either, and it costs more than CPP, IMHO CPP wins between the two CA schools.

If IIT were less expensive, I’d be more inclined to give it a chance, but I am skeptical that the “bang for the buck” is there. If I were going to push my budget envelope, I’d rather do it for a school with Rutgers’ flagship-university reputation and greater academic variety and depth.

Rutgers has a lot to offer. Is it worth $100,000 more than CPP, over four years? Only you can say. But my opinion is that the decision should come down to Cal Poly Pomona vs. Rutgers, and that the burden is on Rutgers to show better academic fit and better quality of life, to an extent that would justify the additional cost. Also, on the continuum of CPP “learn by doing” vs. UC “theoretical,” where does Rutgers fall, in terms of their engineering programs? Maybe someone who’s more familiar can comment on that.

CPP is a Division II school - would you be able to be a walk-on for cross-country there? That could upgrade your social experience in addition to giving you an athletic outlet. Alternatively, the Bronco Running Club seems very active, with scheduled runs every afternoon. Their Insta feed just posted about this weekend’s “legendary beach social” with the running clubs from UCR, UCI, and UCLA.

Could you change your mind about all of the engineering and applied science programs, and go for the LAC experience at Kenyon or Denison? Sure - they are great schools! It’s just a very different education, so be clear on what you want.

Any thoughts about all of the above?
Congrats again on earning these opportunities for yourself!

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^^^ :heart:

Fantastic post! So much helpful information for the OP to consider as they make their decision.

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Wow, congratulations, you have some great choices here! A few thoughts about Ohio and Denison and Kenyon. The competing concerns here seem to be how committed are you to Chem E as well as to your sport. On Chem E and academics – – spend some time researching departments at, say Cal Poly, RIverside and then Denison and Kenyon. Do you get excited by the descriptions of the Chem E offerings at the CA schools? Or are you intrigued by what you see in non-Engineering coursework at the Ohio schools? Denison has a strong Environmental Sciences department, with the “Reserve” providing hands on course work and research opportunities, I’m sure Kenyon has similar types of opportunities. The question is whether you are committed to Chem E or similar Engineering type offerings which cannot be replicated at Denison or Kenyon. Only you can answer that – there is no “right” choice, just the right choice for you.

Another consideration – how important is continuing your sport for you and where are conversations with coaches at the Ohio schools (and anywhere else)? Being a D3 athlete can be a great way to remain competitive without overwhelming your academics. My son was a four year athlete at Denison and the structure and discipline of his sport really helped him stay on top of his academics.

Finally, Granville and Gambier, Ohio are charming villages with historic homes and are heavily influenced by the presence of those schools. Both have amazing athletic facilities and both are about 15 minutes away from more “regular” Ohio towns which have box stores etc. Edited to add: both schools draw heavily from the Northeast, Chicago, and California. They are not Ohio schools which draw a heavily-Ohio student population, in contrast to some other Ohio small schools such as Ohio Wesleyan, Hiram, John Carroll etc.

Good luck with your decision making process, and congratulations on having great choices!

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A couple more thoughts about UCR (because my previous post wasn’t long-winded enough? :sweat_smile:) - if you want to keep UCR in play, check out the Environmental Sciences department. The BS has multiple tracks, one of which is Environmental Toxicology, which could be a cool biochem-adjacent major if you didn’t do engineering. Another possible track is Soil Science, which is also chem-heavy. Lots of interesting career potential with these, although an undergrad degree would not be enough for many roles. The Earth Sciences department also offers a minor in Global Climate Change. (Not linking to anything, as UCR’s website doesn’t make it easy to link to specific sub-programs.) If you stuck with ChemE, there’s a BS+MS in ChemE+EnviroE that could be a appealing, and you could actually afford the extra year.

I still think the educational experience and breadth of offerings at CPP could be a better fit, but just to be even-handed about all the options!

Lastly (I promise, I’ll stop) if you’re comparing add-on grad options, the Regenerative Studies program in the College of Environmental Design at CPP looks interesting: Master of Science in Regenerative Studies Of course, you wouldn’t necessarily have to do undergrad at CPP to keep this program in mind; it could work for a Denison/Kenyon grad too! (I’m curious about the employment outcomes for this MS program.)

Good luck - I look forward to hearing what you decide!

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My DS had a great summer research experience at UCR with a very well regarded professor. I think that the school is undervalued.

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Just an update: I was accepted from the waitlist at Occidental and am currently trying to talk with their financial aid department. I would love to go there, but it’s just out of my price range. Thank you so much, @aquapt, for all of the help; it was extremely helpful.

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