What do colleges look for in a student that they would accept at their university?

Question

I have heard many different things and with college steadily nearing Im concerened what requirments I have to make. Lets say for example that you took all honors classes and you got 1 B in one of them. Would they rather have you take the easy class and get an A or do they highly intelligent students who take harder courses? In addition Ive heard that colleges are taking class rank less and less into consideration. How do the SAT's and ACT's play a role in this. Whats a typical GPA that is required for a good college? Also how many extra-cirruculars are required in order to get in.

Answer 1

All of this varies by college, which is why you are hearing so many different things. First of all, it depends on the selectivity of the college. Those which can afford to be very selective usually prefer a rigorous class schedule and will forgive one B, rather than looking at a 4.0 in an obviously easy schedule. However, having said that, I should tell you that the most selective schools do require BOTH a rigorous schedule and top grades within that. They figure if you can't do well in high school classes, why would you do well in college?

Secondly, I don't think it is true that class rank is being taken less into consideration. It tells them something about what the grades mean. For example, if you have a 3.99, but you are ranked #158 in your class, it says that the school gives out easy grades. It isn't an absolute, because the #1 student at a standard public high school, for example, might not be as good as the #10 student at a prestigious prep school, known for getting a large number of its graduates into prestige colleges.

The SATs and ACTs tell the college something about aptitude for handling college work. While the tests are far from perfect, they are the only common measure that most colleges have for all of their applicants. You would expect the person who took a rigorous schedule but got a B to do better than the person who took an easy schedule in order to get all As. They also play somewhat of a confirmation role, in that if a person has good grades AND good scores, it confirms that a person is a strong student. If a person has strong scores but poor grades, it says that the person is an underachiever. If the person has poor scores but strong grades, it can say one of two things; either the person got easy grades, or the person is a bad test-taker.

On GPA, this depends on what you mean by "good". You might want to look at the profiles for specific colleges on the College Board's website (www.collegeboard.com). Many schools list the percentage of their admitted student who had grades above a certain level (above 3.75, above 3.5, above 3.25, etc.). Generally, to get into a decent state university (not the research schools, but the secondary schools), assume you will need a 3.0 or better (this may be different in a few states or if you had really good test scores). For a good private or public research university, assume a 3.5 or better (unweighted). For highly selective schools, it can be much higher than that.

In terms of extracurriculars, I notice that some of the students who post their records here have way too many of these. You want to show that you were active, but schools also want to see that you played a strong role in the things you were involved with. When you show 30 clubs and activities, it is obvious that you couldn't possibly have done much with each. Better to have 3-5 activities over the course fo your high school career and have them be meaningful ones than to have 30 and have them obviously be padding for your application!

Answer 2

Usually colleges like when you take higher classes, even if you get a worse grade (although not if its a C or D)--it shows that you like to challenge yourself, which every college likes to see.
Sometimes you don't have to send in your class ranking.
To get into top-tier colleges, you need a 3.5+ (but a 3.5 is iffy--usually a 3.7+ is better).
You don't want too many extra-curriculars, because then colleges will think you're joining them just to get into college. Its better to have maybe 2-4 and have important positions on them (like captain or on the board of a club or something.) They also like volunteering, so you need to do that.
"Good" SAT scores are usually considered over 650 (out of 800), but if you have a 600 on one section and a 700 on another you might be okay.
You should take AP classes--as many as possible. Its good if you get a 4 or 5 on the AP tests, because colleges often give you credit for that.

Answer 3

That's a very broad question considering many universities look for many different qualities in their students. I know that all schools look for diversity and a good GPA is generally a 3.0 or higher..(aim for higher always) however they love well rounded students. If you are active in your community that is always a plus. Some schools will choose well rounded over a 4.0 student who does nothing else.I don't believe that there is a specific number of extracurriculars required but what schools are u looking to get in to?

Answer 4

Well 3.5 is a good gpa and if you take honors classes they will be more likely to accept you. My older sister got mostly Bs but in hard classes and she got a really good SAT score and she got into a really good college.

Answer 5

All significant universities enable you to flow, as long as your GPA is extreme. some universities have "feeder colleges" the place the college excepts a great style of scholars from a undeniable community college. locate out in the journey that your college has this. sturdy luck, california has a great style of great colleges