Some simple colleges Questions?

I just have a few questions regarding colleges.





1. What is the minimal GPA for most University's?


2. How many years of a foreign language do they require? I heard 2 but making sure.


3. Do they look at Middle school grades as well?





I am currently a sophomore in highschool. Middle school I got straight A's 4.0 all 7th and 8th grade. I don't know if that would help at all for colleges. Freshman year in highschool was tough for me. For my freshman year I got a GPA of 3.313. This year as a Sophomore I am doing a bit better and focusing more on my grades and really cracking down. I am taking spanish for the 2nd year and man do I hate it. It is really bringing my GPA don't trying to manage just a C in the class. I live in oregon and am plentiful white so speaking a foreign language is hard since pronunciations is difficult, so how many years do most colleges require?





Any other comments or anything please post them, thanks!

Some simple colleges Questions?
Just to warn you up front, there is a huge difference between the way Undergrad acceptance and Graduate acceptance. I will limit my comments to Undergrad only...





1. What is the minimal GPA? Many schools that I have worked with don't have a minimum GPA. Some schools will have a minimum GPA for specific programs. For the most part, any school will be happy to take your $50 application fee and send you a letter of rejection.





Obviously GPA plays a role. At the undergrad level, GPA is mostly a "filter". A person with a 3.8 GPA will have a huge advantage over someone with a 2.1 GPA. However, when the GPAs are closer, the decision is more gray. Will a person with a 3.4 get accepted over someone with a 3.1? Not necessarily. Recruitment committees tend to look at the overall picture (classes taken, activities, civic activities, etc...).





As a rule of thumb, I'd plan on keeping your GPA above a 3.0. Anything above a 3.5 would probably open up more options yet.





2. Foreign Language: I am not aware of any schools that require foreign language in high school (there may be some that do, but I am not aware of them). Foreign language isn't a bad thing to take (especially Spanish) as most businesses are looking to expand their sales across borders. Foreign language might be considered a plus on your application.





3. Middle School grades: I applied to 10 schools for my undergrad and not one asked me anything about middle school. I have never heard of a school that asks about middle school. It sounds like you did well, so you are covered if they ask, but I don't think any school will care.





I would recommend expanding beyond school. Go out for sports. If you are not the type to play sports, volunteer for something. Go talk to the elderly at the hospital. Volunteer for the humane society if you like animals. If you like the outdoors, go volunteer for the local park district. Activities outside of school become important as it shows you care and it shows you can handle multiple tasks.





Whether you are applying to get into college or for a job, you never know what is going to make you stand out. It is best to have a diversity in your application (take a variety of classes and have a variety of activities and hobbies). When I applied to get into grad school to get my MBA (I was an Electrical Engineer as my undergrad), I spent much of my interview with the department head talking about literature because he saw I took a class on Shakespere during undergrad (I was also waived from the GRE requirement based on the interview). In undergrad, a student I knew received a big scholarship and during his final interview, he spoke with the interviewer about duck hunting since it was listed as a hobby and they hunted in the same area.





I used to recruit interns for the company I work for. I seen many students get hired for the summer because the hiring manager made a connection with something they saw on the resume.





IMHO...it is best to be a good student and have a diverse education and activity record than to be a great student who does nothing except study.





Good Luck to you
Reply:Toss out the middle school grades, unfortunately, they do not matter. Minimal GPA depends on the University. You ask around, especially to your guidance counselor about your options after you graduate. If I were to place a number I would say probably a 3.3-3.4 would be minimum, but you would have to couple that with plenty of extracurricular activities and such. A foreign language is nice, but not entirely necessary.

balsam