Why Prep? Part 4: Demonstrate Academic Growth
During the admissions process, colleges are looking at your academic history and asking themselves if there’s enough information on the paper to confidently declare you will be a successful student at their school. If your GPA alone doesn’t put you in the upper 50th percentile of applicants, particularly at test-optional colleges, you may be left wondering if you’ve shown enough rigor or extracurricular achievement to be considered over applicants with a higher GPA.
Qualitative measures of success, like a well-written essay or a track record of leadership roles, are important to the admissions process. However, they don’t fall into the same category of personal academic excellence or growth, meaning that they’re usually viewed as “plusses” instead of measures that can mediate for proof of knowledge. A score on the ACT or SAT will give admissions more (positive) information on your academic performance.
Even though the weight given to each category will vary by college, the main pieces of your application colleges are looking, based on the 2019 NACAC Survey, are:
Grades in all courses (GPA)
Grades in college prep courses (AP)
Curriculum Strength
Admissions test scores (ACT/SAT)
Unfortunately, by the time you get to senior year of high school, your GPA is much less movable and may no longer reflect your current academic ability. Receiving an above-average score on the SAT or ACT is one way to tangibly demonstrate on your application that you have the foundational skills to perform at a college level now - even if your past grades or course rigor will be below the average applicant.
If you anticipate that your GPA will be a weakness on your application, what you want to avoid is getting to application time with no additional test dates available. As this school year has brought on nuanced concerns about test site cancellations, we would recommend registering for the two test dates prior to when you will need to submit your applications.
