Ok. I have no other excuses to give other than the off balance between work and studying (Half work half school)
I’m normally an A student, for 3 years I made all As out of the 28 or 30 classes i took, with the exception of 3 Bs in total, (those were B+) by the way.
And senior year happened, took 3 APs (Calc, Physics C and Government)
and next thing you know I got an 75 80 85 respectively… as you guys know those are B- and a C…I only have 4 classes senior year and regular english was an 80
Worst day in my life…ever…Does this mean I’m pretty much…screwed!?
@snoogleki - Depends on what you mean by “screwed”. Will you still be accepted by a decent college? Assuming you have a good SAT or ACT score and some ECs, then yes. Is an Ivy League school or another top school in your future? Perhaps not, but we don’t have the full picture here. Typically, Bs and a C don’t get you into the very top schools unless you are an athlete (who will compete for the school) or have some other major hook like that. Good luck to you.
GPA overall: probably like a 91 now
SAT (superscored): 1830 【680 M, 600W, 550CR】
Rank: top 20%
pretty competitive school, consider our valedictorian has a 98 UW average
Class Taken: AP STATS, PHYSICS B, (4) in both, ENGLISH & LANG (3)
Class Taking: AB CALC, PHYSICS C MECHANICS, COMPREHENSIVE GOV, MICRO ECON
Varsity Swimming 9-12
Community Service: 10-12 worked for annual city maratons, half maratons, open water swim, (mostly athletic public events) Have around 150 hrs ish
Internship: Intern/research at a physics (electro mechanics) lab
Job (paid): Teach kids how to swim 11-12
Competitions: Intel Science Research (entered); Physics Bowl (national 7th)
Hooks:
First Gen College Student
decent EC i guess?
Female, minority going into physics
I applied to Cornell, NYU , Boston U (Did ED for engineering got deferred), Stony, Binghamton, Brandeis, Umass, RPI, RIT, Northeastern, Fordham, Penn state
there’re only three schools here that don’t need a mid year report (GOD BLESSED) Penn state, bing and stony
Yes, the more selective schools will look at the downward trend and your chances of acceptances at them have taken a nose dive. Depends upon other candidates that did not show such a downward trend at those schools that are not the most selective and whether the school does look at those midterm grades. From what I’ve seen in the past, kids in your situation do have a much lower chance of acceptance to selective schools.
Going from a 4.0 to < 3.0 in senior year may put you in danger of rescission at some schools that had not previously seen your midyear grades. When you get your admission letters, check very carefully what their conditions on senior year academic performance are.
well my school has a weighted scale, no GPA deflation or inflation… the 3 AP classes are weighted and I calculated the average it came out to be an 86 which I think is a 3.2 ish (Not too familiar with the 4.0 grading scale since my school doesn’t use it)
what are the conditional acceptances like? @ucbalumnus
Some schools just vaguely state that you have to “maintain your academic performance through senior year” (to be verified by your final high school transcript). Others may have specific thresholds you need to meet to be safe from rescission (e.g. “maintain a 3.0 unweighted in previously reported senior year courses”).
While your drop does not have a “smoking gun” (i.e. D or F grades), a GPA drop by a whole point or more (e.g. 4.0 to < 3.0) is cause for concern. If you are considering matriculating to a school where the condition is vaguely worded, you probably want to ask specifically about your situation before making your decision. Otherwise, you risk rescission in the summer after they see your final high school transcript.
do you know if it’s possible to submit an explanation to colleges for the drop in grades? (Half working half studying, low income family, need my financial support since i only have 4 classes senior year) @ucbalumnus
@snoogleki - Here’s the deal (being brutally honest):
Cornell - Not even a reach. You have no shot.
NYU - You are below the 25% range for SAT, so I say REACH
Boston U - Would have said high match, but as you said, you’ve been deferred; still a chance, but slim
Stony - High Match
Binghamton - High Match
Brandeis - You are below the 25% range for SAT, so I say REACH
Umass - Match
RPI - You are below the 25% range for SAT, so I say REACH
RIT - Match
Northeastern - You are below the 25% range for SAT, so I say REACH
Fordham - Match
Penn state - Match
If you didn’t apply before the priority deadline (Nov. 30), Penn State may not be a possibility, as admission has been very competitive this year. If you did, you should have received a decision already (or will by tomorrow).
@kidzncatz see that’s my only regret, I applied to BU for ED partially because I know i’ll have trashy senior year grades… I was really hoping it’ll come through but it didn’t…so I didn’t do Penn state UP till mid January for their 1/31 deadline…
Thanks @stepay really appreciate it. I applied to both Cornell and NYU through HEOP idk if you’re familiar with that, it’s for kids with financial and academic disadvantages (Hence poor and lower SAT) Probably better shot at NYU than Cornell for sure
Have you applied to any safeties, schools where you are sure to be accepted and which you can afford? It sounds like you will be eligible for Pell and TAP, so tuition should be covered at SUNY schools, but probably not room and board. Are there any less selective schools you could apply to through HEOP?
@kidzncatz I actually did Stony Brook for EOP (I checked their box on common app), but a week later they sent me an email saying I was "academically over qualified " I called to ask what happened they said it’s generally for kids with a sub 3.3 GPA and triple digits SAT scores…So I guess Stony is a safety?
But I definitely know I can get into RIT…that’s pretty much it…
You’ll be okay at Bing and Stony Brook. You should also apply to Geneseo HEOP.
You may have a shot at Cornell HEOP. NYU HEOP would require you to commute, can you do that?
BU, Northeastern, Brandeis, UMass: very unlikely. Brandeis is your best shot at having both admission and sufficient aid, but still unlikely.
RPI is trying to recruit more women so I think you have a decent shot.
You should have applied to Barnard though.
You’ll need the summer prep session, are you ready for that (and the inherent loss of income)? This session is super important and WILL make the difference for you…
Most of the private universities will be understanding
No chance with Penn State, first because even for students who applied by the priority deadline it’s been a very tough year, and second because if you qualify for HEOP/EOP in NYS, you won’t qualify for any aid from Penn State and thus wouldn’t be able to afford it.
You can still apply to Wheaton (MA), Dickinson, and Muhlenberg.
If you can apply far away, Lawrence in Wisconsin is EXCELLENT for physics (top 10 in the country for students who get into PHD programs in physics… and complete them!)
I’d suggest applying to all four of these.
I was actually hesitated at first to apply to RPI because of their gender ratio. (7:3 M to F) Seeing that they accepted so little girls made me wonder if it was really worth it to throw out 70 dollars for application fee (We only get 8 fee waivers, and I applied to 10 schools).
But thank you for the suggestions @myo1634
Unfortunately I can’t go anywhere “West-er” than PA and “South-er” than VA… Basically if we have to drive longer than 6 hrs…I can’t go
Actually they admit girls more easily than boys and even have scholarships and mentorship programs for them… but few apply, hence the M to F ratio! It’s the same at Olin (in Massachusetts, but they don’t offer physics as a major) but Olin advertises this - as a result, it’s easier to get in than for boys: they want a 50/50 class and are very upfront about it. http://olin.edu/admission/visits_tours.asp
You can get more than 8 fee waivers!
On the commonapp, all you have to do is check Fee Waiver, and your counselor checks 'Fee Waiver" and the reason (low income, UpwardBound/Trio, lives in public housing, etc.) … no limit to the number of colleges.
For non CommonApp colleges, you have to downoad this: http://www.nacacnet.org/studentinfo/feewaiver/documents/applicationfeewaiver.pdf
Print it, photocopy it, give it to your counselor to send to the colleges (or offer to send it yourself).
I suggest you also apply to Muhlenberg and Dickinson. Dickinson in particular is good for science and they’d love to have a girl scientist who loves physics and could use their state-of-the-art labs. It’s hard to get into but its financial aid makes it worth it. Deadline is February 1st so hurry, there’s only one supplemental essay and it’s not horrendous, the rest is commonapp.
Same thing for Muhlenberg, easier to get into than Dickinson, very friendly people. Look into Wooster (famous for their student research) and Allegheny (all students have a major and a minor).
It’s really too bad you didn’t apply to Geneseo.
Make sure your guidance counselor, in her midyear report (or, if they midyear report doesn’t allow her to say that, to include in the “optional report”) mentions that you’re now working … hours a week to provide for your family, hence the reduced schedule at school. You may want your supervisor to write a letter describing how much you write, that you’re a trusted employee, describing the tasks s/he gives you, how satisfied with your work s/he, and what that shows about you as a young adult.
See the thing about Geneseo is I def don’t want to go there…I visited the campus and did NOT like it at all.
I was determined that if I end up going to a SUNY school it’ll definitely be Stony Brook. (Supposed I got in and they give the same amount of $)
Oh wow, how do I tell her to attach a writing? I go to a school with 700+ graduating seniors and only 3 college guidance. So we mail transcripts + midyear report electronically through Naviance, not sure if the writing report is an option on Naviance but I’ll for sure ask about it. My supervisor doesn’t speak English that well, so I think it’s a bad idea to have her write one.
After all I’ll just be happy if I end up in Stony. It’s STEMs are great, and in state tuition+ possibly some scholarships makes it very affordable. But my top choice is always Boston U. hence why I did ED for them.
Well for NYU HEOP, I can def commute. But I think NYU students are required to dorm for their first year? I’m not really sure about that. And I believe HEOP gives enough money to pay for dorm as well…Not really sure exactly how much HEOP is providing.
If I do get into Cornell/NYU through HEOP I’ll be happy to attend the summer program! @MYOS1634
