My son started the admissions process aiming for a school ranked in the top 25 of national universities. He had a 3.6 unweighted GPA, which put him in the bottom half of accepted students at most schools ranked at this level. Additionally, because his school does not weight grades, he was ranked in the top third of his class. He had a 2130 SAT, which put him in the 50th to 75th percentile of accepted students at most schools in which he was interested. His high school curriculum consisted mostly of honors courses, with 6 academic courses in each of his first three years and 5 academic courses in his senior year. All but two of his courses were honors, dual-enrollment with a local university, or AP (7 APs in total, 3 prior to senior year). He played an intramural sport for three years, had work experience, and held office in three clubs while an active member of four others. He had volunteer service at his school and two week-long service trips, one with a church group and one with an independent organization. His activities started in 9th grade and he continuously participated in them through high school.
While we were extremely proud of him, his achievements appeared to pale in comparison to other applicants who took more courses and APs, completed research in high school, and engaged in more time-consuming extra-curricular activities such as varsity sports and band. We encouraged him to apply to schools that were ranked in the top 100 of national universities and to look closely at the opportunities he would have at each school, regardless of its prestige, as we were pretty sure that a top 25 ranked university was out of his reach.
In the end, he was accepted to the top 25 ranked university to which he applied and he is going there this Fall. He did not get accepted to the other highly ranked school he really liked. He was not chosen for a prestigious scholarship at another school after having gotten into the final selection round. But he had many good choices among the schools to which he was admitted.
For what its worth, this process taught him there is such a thing as holistic admissions. It also taught him that the essay is crucial. DS spent months on his essay, resulting in nearly a dozen revisions. In the end, his main essay told a great story of how, even though he had engaged in seemingly disparate activities in high school, these activities fit together in that they furthered his passion for service in his local community. He also spent quite a long time on the short essay questions that are on many applications.
The other main lesson learned is that recommendations really matter. DS was able to cultivate personal relationships with several of his teachers, two of whom it appears wrote excellent recommendations for him. We didn't see these, but based on the number of schools and scholarship programs to which he was accepted, my guess is that they were outstanding.
Would the process have gone more smoothly if he had studied harder for the SAT, worked more on his homework than on his extra-curricular activities, or focused on fewer activities? Should he have taken 10 APs instead of 7, taken fewer study halls, and engaged in research or in a national competition while in high school? Sure! But then he wouldn't have been our son.
Good luck to all of you with sons and daughters who may not have done everything perfectly through high school, but who have the smarts and the heart to pursue their passions. Admissions is a sometimes grueling, nerve-wracking process. I hope you can find the positives in it along the way.
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