What Are My Chances?
Levels 4 - Highly Selective
Welcome!
In the spirit of the new year, we will now be kicking off something new: a paid newsletter with additional features.
Our mission is to create an environment for parents, students, and educators to gain insights into the admissions processes with an eye toward specific job outcomes.
To this end, we will continue to provide the free content many of you have come to enjoy and rely on. Based on feedback, premium scribers will receive additional content, such as:
College and Grad School Application Analysis (What are my chances?)
Career Pathways (e.g., how do I get to X profession?)
Q&A on high school, college, grad school, and job searches
If you are looking for an opportunity to get answers to more specific answers, or need greater insight on how to get where you or someone else wants to be, this is THE way to do it.
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But if you want to make sure that you are not leaving your college and grad school outcomes to chance, and have the best insights to maximize your chances, this is the way to do it.
To provide an example of what you would be receiving, Admissions Decisions will provide a detailed review of a student’s application profile, with feedback provided on the application’s strengths and weaknesses. The intent is to provide you with a view of how an admissions officer may review the application and how you can use the information to better prepare your applicant(s).
Applicant Profile:
Demographics:
Female
White
US - California
Public School
Statistics:
4.52 Weighted, 4.0 Unweighted GPA
Class Rank: Valedictorian
SAT: 1400 Composite (760 Writing, 640 Math)
Academics:
10+ APs, Mostly 4s with a few 5s
Extracurriculars:
Multi-Varsity Athlete with State Recognition (Not a recruited athlete)
Several recognized leadership roles at the state and local level
Several volunteer impact roles specifically focused on political engagement (e.g., get out to vote)
Assessment:
Consideration for Georgetown, School of Foreign Service
Consideration for Early Action: Not Likely
Consideration for Regular Decision: Likely
Rationale:
Georgetown School of Foreign Service ranks the following criteria as its MOST important factors:
Rigor of secondary school record (e.g., did you take AP/Honors/CP level courses)
Class Rank
Academic GPA
Standardized Test Scores
Letters of Recommendation
Application Essay
Talent/Ability
Character/Fitness
For the purposes of this discussion, we will ignore the last four and focus on the first four.
The academic schedule provided suggests a very rigorous set of courses taken in high school, which would go in favor of admitting this student.
The class rank also supports admitting the student (they are currently ranked as the valedictorian of a very large class).
From a GPA standpoint, the applicant is in line with competition (Georgetown does not officially report GPA, but our insights suggest a 3.86-4.0 unweighted GPA is expected)
That leaves the standardized test scores. For Georgetown:
Georgetown College reported the middle 50% for SAT (25-75% percentile) were 700-710 for Reading/Writing, 710-780 for Math, and 1380-1530 for composite
Georgetown School of Foreign Service is even more selective: 730-780 for Reading/Writing, 730-790 for Math, and 1460-1560 Composite
The applicant’s SAT Reading/Writing score is well within the middle 50%, but the math score is below the bottom 25% range. The composite is also below the bottom 25% for Georgetown School of Foreign Service. This would weigh AGAINST early admission.
The student also has several AP courses, but most of their scores are 4s, not 5s, on their AP exams. This also weighs AGAINST early admission.
In our experience, strong Early Action applicants are competitive in ALL areas a university deems “Very Important.” Since this applicant is weaker on the standardized test scores (especially when also considering the AP course scores), our view is that they are not strong for EA purposes. Remember that with early application programs, admissions officers can always defer a candidate to the general pool, and usually, EA is reserved for the strongest applicants. Anyone that raises questions with the admissions officer can be accepted in the regular decision program.
For those reasons, we would suggest this applicant is NOT LIKELY to be accepted EA.
For regular decision, we would suggest this applicant is LIKELY to be accepted to Georgetown School of Foreign Service.
Although the SAT score is weaker than the stated range, there are still other factors that support the applicant receiving an admissions officer:
Extremely strong extracurriculars - state recognition for multiple sports in a state like California is extremely impressive, in addition to the variety of other extra curriculars the applicant has. This will greatly weigh in her favor as a way to distinguish her from other applicants
Other factors (geographic, volunteer, work experience) all support the applicant, and no other factor negatively impacts her
Assumption is a positive interview letters of recommendation, etc.
The lack of a clear weakness in the application supports our view that this student is LIKELY to be accepted Regular Decision.
UPDATE: This student was confirmed deferred from the Early Action Program and is now being considered for Regular Decision.
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