What do colleges look for?

Question

I'm about to register for my junior year and I really don't want to have a repeat of this year; I don't want to take classes that will overly stress me out. But the main reason I want to take more challenging classes is because I want to get into a really good private collage and I know it will look very impressive to have collage level classes in high school. Then there's the rumor I heard that collages look mainly at GPA instead. Because I'm taking higher level classes my GPA is a little lower than I would like.
Does anyone have advise on what collages look for?

Answer 1

I used to work in an admissions office for a top private university. If you want to get into the top tier of private (or public) schools, they will be looking for the total package. You are right that GPA is very important - probably the most important part. They will want to see that you've taken challenging classes AND gotten A's in all of them. B's would not necessarily raise a red flag, but they wouldn't help. C's would certainly prompt questions. It does count for something that you've taken challenging classes, but remember that you're most likely competing against an applicant pool where the best have aced the most difficult classes offered.

If your GPA isn't so high, it's still possible to "wow" the committee with another aspect of your application. The SAT is probably not the best way to do this. A perfect SAT score would certainly get attention and wouldn't hurt anything, but it would not completely compensate for a low GPA. The best way to get the committee's attention is through essays and extracurriculars. A well written essay (and I mean grammatically perfect, innovative, and interesting) counts for a lot. Significant dedication to ECs also counts.

All in all, admissions committees at top schools are looking for students who are intellectually capable of succeeding, even excelling, in the academic environment of the university. They are also looking for students who will add a new dimension to the university. Harvard could probably accept their entire class from applicants from Andover, Exeter, Choate, Deerfield, etc. but that would limit the experience of their students. They are looking for students who are smart, hard working, and who have a unique perspective to add to the community.

Good luck with the whole process! I know this may sound trite, but don't stress out over this too much. Higher education is important, but there are plenty of top notch schools out there that don't make it into the top 10 of the US News lists. I don't know what you're looking for in terms of geography/departmental strengths, etc., but here are some schools that have slightly higher admit rates than the most selective, and that are still well regarded (generally speaking).

*Note - my experience is limited to the east coast for the most part. This is not a comprehensive list by any means, and I'm sure you will get many suggestions from many people. I just thought this might be helpful as a starting point for looking at more schools than just Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, etc. which are all extremely difficult to get into.


Liberal arts colleges - Davidson, Washington and Lee, Furman, Bucknell, Haverford

Research Universities - Rice, Chicago (believe it or not, around 30% last time I checked which is very high for such a prestigious university. You might want to verify this...), George Washington, Notre Dame, Rochester, Wake Forest, Boston U

Answer 2

It depends on the college.

Large, public universities (which are generally less expensive) 1/2 look at your GPA, 1/4 at your test scores, and 1/4 at who you are.

Small, private universities (which are generally more expensive) look at 1/3 of each your GPA, test scores, and who you are.

AP classes are important because they show that you're willing to work, but don't overload yourself. They are challenging and if you take so many that you do poorly on the tests, that's no good either.

Also, AP classes can save you money for college credits, if money is an issue, take some, but like I said, don't overwhelm yourself.

What I did is took 2 AP classes my Junior year and then 2 my Senior (1 was 1/2 a semester though).

There are a lot of factors going into college application process. Also, princetonreview.com is pretty good if you want to know what GPA to shoot for.

Answer 3

Many colleges, especially private ones, are getting away from reliance on standardized test scores and moving towards a combination of gpa, entrance essay, extracurricular activities, etc. If you want to get into a more exclusive private college, you will probably want to have a broad range of interests appearing on your application. Take a look at the entrance requirements of various private colleges (try Bennington, Rice, and Baylor to start) to get an idea of what you'll need to prepare.

Answer 4

there are many things that collages look for like:
1. quality students-good standing in class, in terms of grades, active participation's in the campus activities, responsible students, etc...

2. Student records- are you well-behaved inside and outside the school?...have you violated some certain school rules?...your answer to this questions must be "i haven't"....

3. Drive to be enrolled in a good university...are you really doing the best that you can for you to be in college....

4. Financial support...do you have enough financial aid whenever you'd be in college...

5. but these factors are not hindrances for you to be in college as long as you really wanted then you can..but for some especially for famous universities it really do requires a lot of qualifications for you to be enrolled to their university.....

Answer 5

sat scores.. gpa. if u take act, it's good.. colleges like that..
subject tests' scores.