By Anne McGrath, USNews.com
MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR GRADES
By itself, a 3.5 GPA won't count for much. It might just prove that you've taken easy courses. What's critical to the people deciding your fate is that given your abilities, you've pursued the most challenging possible curriculum and have (mostly) succeeded.
The admissions officers will pore over your transcript to see what you've studied. They'll compare your core academic courses--English, math, science, social studies, and foreign language--with the profile of your high school's offerings that your counselor will send them. "We're looking for signs of ambition academically; someone who has just taken run-of-the-mill courses might not be ready for the challenge here," says Bob Nesmith, associate director of admission at Centre College in Kentucky, which has become more of a reach for many B students as applications have shot up in recent years. "You don't necessarily have to be taking AP s," says Mitchell. "But it's important to take the next step."
Obviously, it's better to have A's and B's than C's, but think carefully before dropping down from an AP or honors course to an easier class. On the one hand, a transcript smattered with C's may scream that you aren't ready for college material. On the other, "there's a huge difference between a C plus in AP calculus and in geometry," says Mark Anderson, dean of admission at Gustavus Adolphus, a liberal arts college in Minnesota that brought in 33 percent of its last freshman class from the 2.9-to-3.5 range. For kids with C's, the trend line is more telling than the bottom line. "No two 3.0s are alike," says Flagler's Williar. "A 3.3 that goes to a 3.0 to a 2.6 is not as good as the reverse."
This is where senior year comes in. "Senior-year January grades can be key for marginal kids," says Barbara Weintraub, the college and career adviser at James Hubert Blake High School in Silver Spring, Md. Missy Sanchez, a counselor at Woodward Academy in College Park, Ga., recalls one girl who fell in love with the University of Denver but cried after her visit because she knew her 2.3 GPA wouldn't get her in. She managed to bring her grades up with a 3.2 spring semester junior year and applied early decision. She was deferred, pulled off a 3.5 first semester senior year, and got in.
Will your performance be judged more leniently if you apply early decision? Some schools take in a higher proportion of their early-decision pool than of their regular applicants; at Wooster, for instance, 87 percent of early applicants got in last year compared with 72 percent of the non-early group. In part, such differences reflect the fact that early applicants are often highly capable students. But they also indicate a preference for kids so enthusiastic about the school they've already bought a sweatshirt, even if they're not obvious "ins" based on performance.
But the weaker your academic record, the more you'll need to make of senior year and the more likely you'll be deferred into the regular pool, anyway. A school with rolling admissions--decisions are made as applications are received until the class is full--is another story. There, by throwing your hat in the ring early, you might impress the committee with your interest and initiative and possibly nab a spot when there are still lots of openings--or at least get an early read on where repair work is called for. "If we don't see your record until spring of senior year, you won't have time to fix it," says Otterbein's Johnson.
BE UPFRONT ABOUT YOUR FAILINGS
One mistake that insecure applicants often make is keeping mum about flaws in their record in the hopes that they won't be noticed. It's far better to acknowledge them and take responsibility. "We're going to see those grades--they're the big pink elephant in the room. So let's hit it head on rather than just focus on what looks good," says Douglas Christiansen, dean of admissions at Purdue University in Indiana. "In 20 years, the most refreshing attribute I've seen [in applicants] is the recognition of their successes and failures. Discuss your bad grade and what you need to do about it. Get a tutor? Drop an activity? I'm looking for the ability to be successful, and part of that is the ability to recognize your shortcomings and fix them."
Frankness worked for DiAndra Thompson. "I let [the admissions officer] know my SAT scores were not the best--he probably already knew it, but I just put it right out there," says the rising junior of her interview at Ursinus two years ago, when she applied with a respectable 3.5 from St. Catharine Academy in the Bronx and scores of only 980. "And I said, 'But I really work hard and am a good student.' " Her candor, along with the supporting evidence on her transcript and an impressive record of service that included four years of Saturdays at a center for children whose parents have AIDS, got her the nod.
It's fine to describe obstacles that have caused you to stumble in your interview or personal statement, as long as you don't whine. "The worst thing you can do is make it sound like someone else's fault," says Friedhoff. "Don't say 'It was the teacher.' Say, 'I had some challenges--I didn't know how to do well with her different style.' " Judi Robinovitz, an educational consultant in Boca Raton, Fla., whose own son, now an attorney, applied to college having struggled with learning disabilities, advises "100 percent" honesty about learning issues you've faced--"not in a 'woe is me' way, but to show how you have become successful."
