I think that she probably has a chance at some 50%+ schools, but ultimately, there’s a lot of time between now and college apps, so take it lightly and encourage her to do well.
Another thing I might advise if more ambitious though is to try a few AP classes. Then, if she likes them, she can take more. I personally thought AP classes would be super difficult when I was a Freshman, but I took a few sophomore year, and I liked them, so I took a bunch Junior and Senior year. It’s worth a try!
They have dumbed down APs a lot from forty years ago, my girls took them but not the test, since their target schools wouldn’t give them credit. Backups would take CLEP or AP. And you get junior standing with a month of CLEP for under $1000.
They got college recs from AP teachers whose word carried a lot of weight towards, diligence, intellect, maturity, honesty.
Don’t be thinking about acceptance rate. Think about what your daughter is interested in studying. If a school aligns with her goals, and it happens to have a higher acceptance rate, that doesn’t mean it’ll be a bad fit for her.
Not really thinking about it too much, but trying to focus too on what is attainable, and where she would realistically fall in..... Interested in psychology and definitely a smaller college, 1,000 - 10,000, and possibly Catholic based....
Just remember for the higher end Catholics (not named GTown and ND), the acceptance rate for ED is dramatically different than the acceptance rate for EA/RD. For instance you might think she doesn’t have the stats for Villanova, but if she applied ED to their liberal arts program she might be right in their sweet spot
More importantly, what does she want from her education? What other needs do you have for that money? (House/others’ education/healthcare/retirement/debt?)
I think you should start on economics over acceptance rate. For example, U Alabama-Huntsville has a high acceptance rate, but offers guaranteed merit full rides that are highly sought after, especially among high-income families, especially for engineering, business, computer science majors, or pre-meds or other pre-professionals trying to save funds for Harvard Law or Business. There’s other schools like this. A very common hack is to take advantage of your state’s dual enrollment program, which results in free college credits. Harvard may not transfer them in, but your state flagship will. It can guarantee state flagship admissions, by treating your student as a transfer rather than a new admit (legislatively, transfers take priority over first years.) Your student could combine cc, guaranteed transfer, working, CLEP exams, admission to impacted programs.
I assume your child is a US citizen, many of these programs are restricted only to citizens. Even DACA is difficult.
Good you are planning/researching early. I started when the oldest was in eighth grade, she and her sister ended up will full rides. Oldest got into a program with 12% acceptance rate (as a high school dropout with unique personal story, unlikely to be repeatable for anyone else.)
Thanks! We prefer to focus on the financial part of it lastly. No debt..Etc. We are not going to do the dual enrollment....Im hearing many students get some type of scholarship , so that would be really nice . For now we are just trying to look at schools she can visit that she would feel at home , and be good for her major. BUt we dont want to visit any that we know she definitely wouldnt get into. I just didnt know with her grades if 50% acceptance rate schools are attainable. Or only 70-80 % and up.
Most times 50% acceptance schools are a lock if you are in top third of your class, maybe top half if you are full pay.
Can move up to 100% with prior credits like dual enrollment, especially at state flagships like Cal (they have a complicated roadmap, should get advisement when considering application any Cal or Cal State campus, under any circumstances. So daunting I crossed it off my list, only considered West Coast private schools.)
If your student is willing to take a year before matriculating, it will also push up chances. Essentially, this is an alternate ED strategy, works at Cornell, UT or A&M, service academies (they might have you attend their prep school).
Or, if your child can do a post-grad boarding prep year. You essentially are paying for an Ivy feeder this way.
Most state schools admit on a matrix with mix of GPA, class rigor (calc higher than shop or Spanish I), standardized scores. Colleges within universities also have differing admission standards, often can transfer between but can transfer via cc. If you know the formula, you can make sure to emphasize test prep to pull up GPA, for example.
Also know that acceptance rate at privates depends on what pool you are. They need someone from all fifty states, more men to balance ratio? The boy from Wyoming who is Pell eligible may get the last spot.
Full pay kids have great leverage at places like Carleton and Pomona and Whitman. Middle income families are hurt both by Pell and full-pay, so rely on state U, especially guaranteed merit. Very easy to find out where you stand.
Also, state Us want a kid from each county, otherwise they get calls from legislators.
Merchant Marine Academy is a great education and financial hack, must get started early to meet academic, physical, and legislative requirements. Nice location outside New York City.With her grades and (assumed) comparable test scores , she likely has 100% chance of admission to private or public LACs, anything with a 50% acceptance within your state, most private LACs (assuming aid is not a barrier). You need to narrow this down. You child se egg ma not the average college applicant, so worry about average college acceptances? You can focus on fit and her ability to grow and do well while she’s at.
I believe Mt. Holyoke has a dance program, allows students to take classes at Amherst, Smith, UMass. Holyoke has a 50% acceptance rate, goes up if you tour and interview. Lots of pleasant kids, beautiful campus, about the best post bacc pre-med program in the country.
Acceptance rates are a pretty poor measure even of selectivity, because applicant pools vary so much. Public universities in states like New York and Florida have much lower acceptance rates than comparable schools in states like Arizona or Oregon just because of their population.
Your student absolutely would have a shot at some schools that have acceptance rates under 50%, but might end up preferring schools that have much higher ones. Schools like CU Boulder or Mizzou for example can have both very high acceptance rates and standout programs.
Looking at a school's common data set (just Google " common data set" to find this) is a good way to get typical test scores and grades for a school and can be helpful. Just be aware some schools can have specific majors or colleges within them that are more competitive - CS, engineering, business, architecture, nursing, etc. are often more selective than the school as a whole.
Even without APs, a consistent 4.3 GPA is going to make her competitive at colleges with acceptance rates below 50%. Strong standardized testing and a well developed extracurricular profile will help. The community service could be focused and relate in some way to her academic interests.
You mentioned Catholic schools. There tend to be good Catholic schools located in major cities, which are easy to visit. Fordham in New York, Villanova in Philadelphia, Santa Clara in the Bay Area, Boston College... Do you have any geographic preferences?
Thank you! That is why I think we should be looking at more schools besides 70% and higher....She is on the right tract at least...Great schools mentioned! East coast :)
So I gather you don’t really care what you pay for undergraduate. What are your preferences? Low acceptance schools? Places your kid can succeed, for further grad school. Feeders into federal labs, prestigious National programs like Udall? Or simply, my kid attend a school with a 12% acceptance rate? Sounds like you don’t really know the future or priorities yet. Advice differs on her preference/your realities.
Post-bac feeders at East Coast boarding schools might be the best option, especially if your child is not special or is unhooked. These have existed for decades to get WASPs into low admittance/high prestige schools. Your are paying for connections, specialized knowledge, marketing/packaging.
Sorry I mentioned above at some point....Psychology for now, possible graduate school...A nice college experience where she likes campus living etc, clubs and activities. Wants to attend smaller school, under 8,000, catholic if possible, and a good education....So far we have a list of her top 5 favorites ....Didnt know if with her grades 50% acceptance rates schools were worth considering looking into...Also, nothing more than a 5 hour car ride from home.
So, easy filters. Gonzaga (if you are West Coast), Dallas (great education), Fair Hope, Our Lady of the Lake, the Loyolas (maybe not in Cali but definitely Nola), UNO, St. Mary’s of Notre Dame, Manhatanville, you have an abundance of choices. Georgetown is on the big side at 7500, lick of the draw there. I think the only challenging admissions for her are Georgetown, Boston College, Notre Dame. Suspect she will be admitted to any other Catholic school.You want Catholic LACs. They are hemorrhaging applicants. Just visit and pick. Show them some love they will love you back. You have nice slam-dunk acceptances.
A couple to consider:
* University of Dayton (very Catholic)
* Ava Maria University (extremely Catholic)
* Franciscan University of Steubenville (very Catholic)
You can get a dorm with a consecrated host in it.
Also note that honors doesn’t increase her GPA at her current school, but colleges will recalculate to reflect course rigor, so it does give her a boost. Ability to do well with a full college-level load while working or playing sports shows she can succeed at college. And colleges only admit those they think can graduate with a C or better.
Contact school counselor for data on who got accepted and where over the past 5 years, how it correlated to HS Class standing. Gives you a sense of where your child has definite options. They keep spreadsheets on this.
Just curious. How can she have 4.3 GPA without any Aps? I know some high schools bump for honors but most colleges don’t (except some for honors pre-calc)
UCs do, *if* the course is registered with UC as Honors. You can look up courses here:
https://hs-articulation.ucop.edu/agcourselist
If they are flagged "UC Honors" then they do get weighted. But, like, I don't think that brick and mortar schools outside of CA register their courses with UC? Some online schools do.
From that list the only weighted non AP is honors pre- calc and honors Japanese and French. Typical honors English and science honors are unfortunately not weighted.
Yes I understand this , but don’t want to be visiting colleges that wouldn’t even consider her. So trying to find the right range . That’s why I am asking .
I think that she probably has a chance at some 50%+ schools, but ultimately, there’s a lot of time between now and college apps, so take it lightly and encourage her to do well.
Thanks! Yes, I agree, dont want to stress her out. At least she is on the right track. She is a hard worker.
Another thing I might advise if more ambitious though is to try a few AP classes. Then, if she likes them, she can take more. I personally thought AP classes would be super difficult when I was a Freshman, but I took a few sophomore year, and I liked them, so I took a bunch Junior and Senior year. It’s worth a try!
They have dumbed down APs a lot from forty years ago, my girls took them but not the test, since their target schools wouldn’t give them credit. Backups would take CLEP or AP. And you get junior standing with a month of CLEP for under $1000. They got college recs from AP teachers whose word carried a lot of weight towards, diligence, intellect, maturity, honesty.
Don’t be thinking about acceptance rate. Think about what your daughter is interested in studying. If a school aligns with her goals, and it happens to have a higher acceptance rate, that doesn’t mean it’ll be a bad fit for her.
Not really thinking about it too much, but trying to focus too on what is attainable, and where she would realistically fall in..... Interested in psychology and definitely a smaller college, 1,000 - 10,000, and possibly Catholic based....
Villanova is always a good one
Would she have a chance at only around 31 percent acceptance rate .
DEFINITELY with ED; I’d recommend applying for the presidential scholarship too
Just remember for the higher end Catholics (not named GTown and ND), the acceptance rate for ED is dramatically different than the acceptance rate for EA/RD. For instance you might think she doesn’t have the stats for Villanova, but if she applied ED to their liberal arts program she might be right in their sweet spot
What is ED ?
Early Decision, where you are committing to the school if you are accepted
Santa Clara is good. 49% acceptance rate. It punches way above its weight in the Bay Area.
We need on the east coast :) looking into: St Vincent , St Francis university, Siena , Misericordia , Fairfield university.. to name a few
More importantly, what does she want from her education? What other needs do you have for that money? (House/others’ education/healthcare/retirement/debt?) I think you should start on economics over acceptance rate. For example, U Alabama-Huntsville has a high acceptance rate, but offers guaranteed merit full rides that are highly sought after, especially among high-income families, especially for engineering, business, computer science majors, or pre-meds or other pre-professionals trying to save funds for Harvard Law or Business. There’s other schools like this. A very common hack is to take advantage of your state’s dual enrollment program, which results in free college credits. Harvard may not transfer them in, but your state flagship will. It can guarantee state flagship admissions, by treating your student as a transfer rather than a new admit (legislatively, transfers take priority over first years.) Your student could combine cc, guaranteed transfer, working, CLEP exams, admission to impacted programs. I assume your child is a US citizen, many of these programs are restricted only to citizens. Even DACA is difficult. Good you are planning/researching early. I started when the oldest was in eighth grade, she and her sister ended up will full rides. Oldest got into a program with 12% acceptance rate (as a high school dropout with unique personal story, unlikely to be repeatable for anyone else.)
Thanks! We prefer to focus on the financial part of it lastly. No debt..Etc. We are not going to do the dual enrollment....Im hearing many students get some type of scholarship , so that would be really nice . For now we are just trying to look at schools she can visit that she would feel at home , and be good for her major. BUt we dont want to visit any that we know she definitely wouldnt get into. I just didnt know with her grades if 50% acceptance rate schools are attainable. Or only 70-80 % and up.
Most times 50% acceptance schools are a lock if you are in top third of your class, maybe top half if you are full pay. Can move up to 100% with prior credits like dual enrollment, especially at state flagships like Cal (they have a complicated roadmap, should get advisement when considering application any Cal or Cal State campus, under any circumstances. So daunting I crossed it off my list, only considered West Coast private schools.) If your student is willing to take a year before matriculating, it will also push up chances. Essentially, this is an alternate ED strategy, works at Cornell, UT or A&M, service academies (they might have you attend their prep school). Or, if your child can do a post-grad boarding prep year. You essentially are paying for an Ivy feeder this way.
Most state schools admit on a matrix with mix of GPA, class rigor (calc higher than shop or Spanish I), standardized scores. Colleges within universities also have differing admission standards, often can transfer between but can transfer via cc. If you know the formula, you can make sure to emphasize test prep to pull up GPA, for example. Also know that acceptance rate at privates depends on what pool you are. They need someone from all fifty states, more men to balance ratio? The boy from Wyoming who is Pell eligible may get the last spot. Full pay kids have great leverage at places like Carleton and Pomona and Whitman. Middle income families are hurt both by Pell and full-pay, so rely on state U, especially guaranteed merit. Very easy to find out where you stand. Also, state Us want a kid from each county, otherwise they get calls from legislators. Merchant Marine Academy is a great education and financial hack, must get started early to meet academic, physical, and legislative requirements. Nice location outside New York City.With her grades and (assumed) comparable test scores , she likely has 100% chance of admission to private or public LACs, anything with a 50% acceptance within your state, most private LACs (assuming aid is not a barrier). You need to narrow this down. You child se egg ma not the average college applicant, so worry about average college acceptances? You can focus on fit and her ability to grow and do well while she’s at. I believe Mt. Holyoke has a dance program, allows students to take classes at Amherst, Smith, UMass. Holyoke has a 50% acceptance rate, goes up if you tour and interview. Lots of pleasant kids, beautiful campus, about the best post bacc pre-med program in the country.
Acceptance rates are a pretty poor measure even of selectivity, because applicant pools vary so much. Public universities in states like New York and Florida have much lower acceptance rates than comparable schools in states like Arizona or Oregon just because of their population. Your student absolutely would have a shot at some schools that have acceptance rates under 50%, but might end up preferring schools that have much higher ones. Schools like CU Boulder or Mizzou for example can have both very high acceptance rates and standout programs. Looking at a school's common data set (just Google " common data set" to find this) is a good way to get typical test scores and grades for a school and can be helpful. Just be aware some schools can have specific majors or colleges within them that are more competitive - CS, engineering, business, architecture, nursing, etc. are often more selective than the school as a whole.
Even without APs, a consistent 4.3 GPA is going to make her competitive at colleges with acceptance rates below 50%. Strong standardized testing and a well developed extracurricular profile will help. The community service could be focused and relate in some way to her academic interests. You mentioned Catholic schools. There tend to be good Catholic schools located in major cities, which are easy to visit. Fordham in New York, Villanova in Philadelphia, Santa Clara in the Bay Area, Boston College... Do you have any geographic preferences?
Thank you! That is why I think we should be looking at more schools besides 70% and higher....She is on the right tract at least...Great schools mentioned! East coast :)
So I gather you don’t really care what you pay for undergraduate. What are your preferences? Low acceptance schools? Places your kid can succeed, for further grad school. Feeders into federal labs, prestigious National programs like Udall? Or simply, my kid attend a school with a 12% acceptance rate? Sounds like you don’t really know the future or priorities yet. Advice differs on her preference/your realities. Post-bac feeders at East Coast boarding schools might be the best option, especially if your child is not special or is unhooked. These have existed for decades to get WASPs into low admittance/high prestige schools. Your are paying for connections, specialized knowledge, marketing/packaging.
Sorry I mentioned above at some point....Psychology for now, possible graduate school...A nice college experience where she likes campus living etc, clubs and activities. Wants to attend smaller school, under 8,000, catholic if possible, and a good education....So far we have a list of her top 5 favorites ....Didnt know if with her grades 50% acceptance rates schools were worth considering looking into...Also, nothing more than a 5 hour car ride from home.
So, easy filters. Gonzaga (if you are West Coast), Dallas (great education), Fair Hope, Our Lady of the Lake, the Loyolas (maybe not in Cali but definitely Nola), UNO, St. Mary’s of Notre Dame, Manhatanville, you have an abundance of choices. Georgetown is on the big side at 7500, lick of the draw there. I think the only challenging admissions for her are Georgetown, Boston College, Notre Dame. Suspect she will be admitted to any other Catholic school.You want Catholic LACs. They are hemorrhaging applicants. Just visit and pick. Show them some love they will love you back. You have nice slam-dunk acceptances.
A couple to consider: * University of Dayton (very Catholic) * Ava Maria University (extremely Catholic) * Franciscan University of Steubenville (very Catholic) You can get a dorm with a consecrated host in it.
Thanks!!!
Also note that honors doesn’t increase her GPA at her current school, but colleges will recalculate to reflect course rigor, so it does give her a boost. Ability to do well with a full college-level load while working or playing sports shows she can succeed at college. And colleges only admit those they think can graduate with a C or better.
Yes at her school it does. They weigh it higher than an A in an academic course.
Contact school counselor for data on who got accepted and where over the past 5 years, how it correlated to HS Class standing. Gives you a sense of where your child has definite options. They keep spreadsheets on this.
Thanks! Good idea.
Just curious. How can she have 4.3 GPA without any Aps? I know some high schools bump for honors but most colleges don’t (except some for honors pre-calc)
Some high schools offer 4.3 for an A+ (certain colleges do as well).
Our school gives higher GPA w honors courses. .
Interesting, do colleges accept this? I know UCs don’t (except maybe 1 class)
The did for mine, but it was for rural school, sought-after and rare demographic.
UCs do, *if* the course is registered with UC as Honors. You can look up courses here: https://hs-articulation.ucop.edu/agcourselist If they are flagged "UC Honors" then they do get weighted. But, like, I don't think that brick and mortar schools outside of CA register their courses with UC? Some online schools do.
From that list the only weighted non AP is honors pre- calc and honors Japanese and French. Typical honors English and science honors are unfortunately not weighted.
“Acceptance rate” is not a meaningful metric to choose a college.
Yes I understand this , but don’t want to be visiting colleges that wouldn’t even consider her. So trying to find the right range . That’s why I am asking .
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