Acceptance to College

[Patience]

Originally Posted by ReserveRage

Yeah, she applied to the college of Fine Arts I think. The girl is absolutely obsessed with dancing and probably spends at least 20 hours/week practicing and going to various tournaments/competitions. I thought that would help as not too many HS kids are that enthusiastic about a particular hobby.

Oh, didn't she have to audition? My kids (Art & Music) both did and with some schools if the program doesn't accept you neither does the school. In some schools you can be accepted by the school and program seperately, if the program turns you down you can only go in a more general study program

[ReserveRage]

Originally Posted by Patience

Oh, didn't she have to audition? My kids (Art & Music) both did and with some schools if the program doesn't accept you neither does the school. In some schools you can be accepted by the school and program seperately, if the program turns you down you can only go in a more general study program

Good question. I'll email my uncle and get back to you. If she did audition, that could certainly explain the rejection. On an academic basis, I just can't see it given how many very unremarkable kids from my school were accepted to BU.

[glassjaws]

Your uncle should have been donating gobs of money to the school for the past 10 years or so.

[oblivious]

Originally Posted by abwoc

I graduated HS with a 6.something weighted GPA. I'd tell you how the formula works in the county I graduated from, but that doesn't matter. UF took my HS transcript and calculated their own version of my GPA.

That all takes a back seat to SAT/ACT scores and the # of college credits you've already earned through AP, IB, Dual Enrollment, etc.

I was refering to un-weighted GPA. I don't count weighted gpa's for that exact reason. Every school has a different method in calculating the weighted gpa, therefore you can't compare them. Unweighted can be compared.

I am still like WTF 20 unweighted 4.0's. I still say it goes back to how BU ranks her high school. I really don't know what the order is, but I thought it was...


Acceptence....
1. Legacy / Donations accepted
2. Relative of the faculty
3. High School Ranking Combined with GPA (this is where the AP credits get factored into not seperately)
4. SAT / ACT Scores
5. Extra activities

[ReserveRage]

Originally Posted by glassjaws

Your uncle should have been donating gobs of money to the school for the past 10 years or so.

Nope. Barely able to afford the $5k/year HS tuition. They don't have a lot of money. I've heard that's a HUGE factor in admission, ie. if you need to apply for financial aid, how much you need, etc? Of course it's never officially released that this helps but it certainly seems likely.

[glassjaws]

Originally Posted by ReserveRage

Nope. Barely able to afford the $5k/year HS tuition. They don't have a lot of money. I've heard that's a HUGE factor in admission, ie. if you need to apply for financial aid, how much you need, etc? Of course it's never officially released that this helps but it certainly seems likely.

I wasn't too serious. It does make a difference though. I'm quite sure I met people at college who were there because they were children of graduates. Graduates that donate money.

[J_C]

Originally Posted by ReserveRage

Nope. Barely able to afford the $5k/year HS tuition. They don't have a lot of money. I've heard that's a HUGE factor in admission, ie. if you need to apply for financial aid, how much you need, etc? Of course it's never officially released that this helps but it certainly seems likely.

With endownments declining so rapidly these days it really helps to be able to pay your way through - colleges seem to be more sensitive to giving money for financial aid.

[frisbbzepp]

Originally Posted by J_C

With endownments declining so rapidly these days it really helps to be able to pay your way through - colleges seem to be more sensitive to giving money for financial aid.

Speaking of which: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/31/ed...?ref=education

[Patience]

Originally Posted by ReserveRage

Nope. Barely able to afford the $5k/year HS tuition. They don't have a lot of money. I've heard that's a HUGE factor in admission, ie. if you need to apply for financial aid, how much you need, etc? Of course it's never officially released that this helps but it certainly seems likely.

I don't buy that. There is very little financial information on the parents exchanged in the application process.

One other thing for a kid who is into the arts. What is her core GPA? don't count art/music/gym or other non-core electives? that is what most schools will judge on

[ajstudies]

I have been hearing from friends that in order to get into some schools, you need to have a sort of "hook" -- something that makes you stand out from the crowd. Seems like she would have had that with her dance, but maybe that wasn't enough.