Need advice for admissions

eandesmom
Mon, 18 Jul 2016 21:21:58 +0000

OP you need a good mix of schools. Schools like NYU and Stony Brook have lower acceptance rates (mid to upper 30’s) already and you are below their 25% quartiles. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply, just that they are reaches, and somewhat high ones.

You are getting some rather impossible advice here in my opinion. If you have a 88 now, that equates to a 3.3 on most scales, not a 3.5 (which is a 90). Either way, even if you get a 4.0 your first semester senior year, it will not come up to a 3.6. Yes, you should shoot for the absolute best grades you can but be realistic about what can really be pulled off. If you managed a 3.8-4.0 first semester you could get it up to a 3.4 or 89, same thing second semester and it could come up to a 3.4-3.5/89-90 depending on that first semester grade. A more likely result might be a 3.6 each semester.

Likewise, going from an 1170 to a 1400 is pretty unlikely. A 1300 is a lofty goal but not impossible with hard work and studying. Do know though that the 1170 does line up with your gpa and I imagine mid/upper 1200’s is probably more realistic in terms of a goal.

Also, you will likely be applying with your junior year grades and sending first semester grades as an update, depending on whether you are going for Early Application or Regular. You may or may not have any grades or a new sat score to even submit for early application schools so focus your search on the stats you know you have.

There are plenty of good schools for someone with your stats, your options and chances just increase the higher the gpa and test score. You only mention 2 NY schools, what is it you want to study, what is your budget? Does it have to be in New York? Those kinds of things will help people make some suggestions if you would like ideas.

I would suggest you look for schools where you fall into the middle 50% but it is ok to include some where you are at the low end of the range. Look for schools that admit 60% or greater, that will up your odds quite a bit. Look for a couple that admit in the 75%+ category and/or have rolling admissions as your safeties. There may be a few that don’t want essays or LOR’s but most do, at all levels so I’d not use that as a filter at all. My rising senior has similar stats and the vast majority of schools we are looking at require both, I think only 2 out of the 14 under consideration at the moment do not require an essay and/or LOR. Most of them offer ED and/or EA. Cream of the crop or not they are still competitive and not just stats based, many pride themselves on holistic admissions.

In his case, schools where he might be the 75th percentile or higher aren’t schools we are interested in. Instead we are choosing schools that have high acceptance rates (lowest on our list is 62%), he falls in the middle 50th % and our schools naviance has track records that show 100% acceptance at his stats to define his safeties. Oh, and that fits our budget. That’s a pretty key element at our house. Were cost not a consideration we might have 1-2 on there that had a lower acceptance rate but they’ve weeded themselves out.

The A+ schools link mentioned above is a good reference list, so is the Colleges that Changes lives onehttp://ctcl.org/category/college-profiles/ While they are not “how” we came up with his list of schools, every school on his list is in fact on one or the other of those 2 lists (or both) so that does say something (to me).