There are certain questions that we hear all the time regarding the admission review process: What is your average GPA for admitted students? Should I submit my SAT scores? Who should I get to write my teacher recommendations? What should I write my essay about?

But a question we hear a lot at this time of the year is this: Why didn't I get in to PC?

Honestly, there are a lot of different reasons, as each student's application is considered individually and thoroughly in the context of our entire applicant pool and our freshman class size. For some students, their academic performance at the high school level (measured by the combination of strength of curriculum and GPA) has not prepared them to succeed in our classrooms at Providence College. When we see a student who hasn't achieved strong grades in a challenging high school schedule, we do not feel confident in their ability to then achieve in our academic environment. But many other students are more borderline, and there are certain areas that stand out time and time again that lead us to deny a student from PC. The list below highlights some of the major things that hurt a student's opportunity for admission to Providence College:

1. GPA Digression - This is a big one. A downward trend in academic performance is a major red flag for us. The student who has an A-minus GPA freshman year... and then a B-average sophomore year... and then a B-minus GPA junior year... It's incredibly difficult for a student with this type of GPA trend to gain admission to PC... because so many other students consistently perform at a high level (in a challenging curriculum) throughout all four years of high school. Digression in GPA is one reason that not every student who meets our average invited student GPA is accepted to PC. And it's also why we don't simply look at a cumulative GPA by itself. How a student gets to that GPA is incredibly important in our review. Simply stated, a student who has his or her best year as a freshman and digresses significantly from there is not likely to be a competitive candidate for admission.

2. Weak Senior Curriculum - This is also a big factor... Senior year performance is critically important because we want students to be doing their best work and continuing to challenge themselves as they get ready to transition to the college level. A soft senior schedule is an easy way to stand out negatively in the applicant pool. More often than not, if a student is borderline in our EA pool based on previous academic performance (i.e. they are not strong enough to invite so they could be a defer or a deny) AND they have a weak senior schedule, they are going to receive the deny decision. Why? Because when we defer a student at Early Action, we do so in order to see how they compare with the students who apply at Regular Decision AND to see how the student performs in that first semester of senior year. But if the student has a weak senior curriculum, those first semester grades aren't going to tell us much... and since we don't see the student as admissable academically and won't have any additional information during the Regular Decision review (due to the weak curriculum) that will improve his or her academics, generally this type of student will receive that deny decision.

3. Inadequate Preparation for Major - This occurs most often for students who are declared science majors. Weak science/math course selection and/or performance during high school means that these students are not prepared to succeed in our rigorous science courses at PC. A declared Biology major who has only reached Algebra 2 or a Chemistry major who decided not to take Physics during high school will find it hard to gain much support from the committee on admission.

4. Lack of Meaningful Involvement - I say it over and over on this blog, we say it all over the website, at campus information sessions, and at college fairs and high school visits: Academic performance during high school is the most important part of the review process. But it's not the only part of the review, and the non-academic pieces of the application can (and do) sway the decision - both positively and negatively. As we build a strong academic freshman class, we are also building a community, and inviting students who will bring their interests and talents to campus outside of the classroom as well. And again, in a deep and competitive applicant pool, students who are borderline academically and haven't shown involvement in and commitment to high school activities, internships, or part-time jobs simply do not measure up to the many, many students who do make the most of their time outside of the classroom.

5. Negative Attitude in the Application - We don't see this too often, but it does come up a couple of times each year. As one of our counselors puts it, "I wouldn't want this student to be my sister's roommate." A student who puts down others or makes hurtful or inappropriate comments in his or her essay is not someone we want as part of our freshman class at PC.

6. Poor Effort/Presentation of Application - Lots of misspelled words... a one paragraph essay... no PC Supplemental statement... In a competitive pool, a student who clearly hasn't put a lot of effort into the application is not going to be very attractive to us. If a student isn't interested in making a strong presentation in the application, it's hard for us to be interested in having that student on our campus.

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Updates:

Liberal Arts Honors Program invitations were mailed on December 23. Need-based financial aid packages for Early Action students will be released on or around February 1.

Still to come on this blog in the next couple of weeks: the profile for the students invited Early Action and a look at the Liberal Arts Honors Program.