<p>Hello everyone. I decided to post here to share some hope to anyone that is uncertain about getting into a good college (specifically GWU), especially if they don’t have perfect grades. </p>
<p>Before I get into things, these are my high school credentials:</p>
<p>– High school senior
– 3.3 GPA
– 1700 SATs
– 1 AP class, several honors classes
– Top 30% in my class
– Part-time job since beginning of 11th grade
– Some extra-circulars but not a lot</p>
<p>Let me start by saying that as you can obviously tell, my credentials are nowhere near top-notch and I can’t say that I’ve performed to the best of my abilities in HS, namely because of personal/family issues.</p>
<p>However, I was accepted into George Washington University.</p>
<p>I believe that my desire to attend GW shown through an essay of mine as well as another heartfelt essay is what really got me in. So no matter how low your odds are, remember – “You must do the things you think you cannot do.” (Eleanor Roosevelt)</p>
<p>I completely agree and have mentioned in another post, GW loves to take students who considers GW their first (and only) college of choice. They don’t like to be second-choice. There are may ways to show your love for GW.</p>
<p>BUT applying ED 1 does not guarantee anything, you still need to reach out and show them you want to go there. If you apply ED 1 but never visited or had an interview, I think you are lowing your chances…just my opinion from our experience with GW.</p>
<p>Always apply to a safety school (or 2, or 3).</p>
<p>You don’t want to dream of Harvard and apply nowhere else when your qualifications don’t line up to Harvard standards. </p>
<p>Apply to your dream school, a reach school (or 2), and 3-4 safety schools.</p>
<p>Maybe you’ll get into your dream school, maybe you won’t.</p>
<p>Don’t put all your hens in one basket. Have a realistic backup plan. </p>
<p>Assume you won’t in that you’re not counting on getting in, and plan on applying to safety schools. If you land the “reach” school on first try, good for you… go celebrate. If you get rejected, step back. Look at your experiences and qualifications. Find ways to improve within the realm of reason, and change your dreams if needed. </p>
<p>Always plan the finances and realize the full impact of the debt you’ll go into to attend a “dream” school. Run the numbers and see if it’s truly financially worth it.</p>