A Rising Senior Worried SICK. Will Chance Back!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I’m a rising senior and not gonna lie, I slacked off the last three years. Junior year I got my acts together but still.. I did try to involve myself in a lot of activities afterschool, but still I’m worried sick as to if I’ll be able to go to a decent college.</p>

<p>Here are some places I really like (just the vibe or the strong programs):</p>

<p>*Boston University – reach?
*Clark University
*Beloit College
*Eckerd College
*Hendrix College
*University of Vermont
*Marquette University
*St. Mary’s College of Maryland
*Saint Louis University
*St. Olaf College
*University of Delaware
*University of Minnesota – Twin Cities – reach?
*Ursinus College</p>

<p>Thing is, I go to a catholic all-boys school in Maryland so we have a harsh grading scale, 92-100 is A, 84-91 is B, and 77-83 is C, so that affected my GPA a bit.</p>

<p>GPA: Freshman 3.5, Sophomore 3.68, Junior 4.1 (all weighted) – combined 3.76, Unweighted is probably 3.2 or 3.3
SAT (taken twice so far): 560 reading 620 math 560 writing essay-8
SAT II: Biology 600, US History 620</p>

<p>Top 50% of Class</p>

<p>Rigor of Second School Record
*All honors classes except for chemistry (honors is the highest level in my school)
*5 APs in total.</p>

<p>Notable Extra Curricular Activities:
*Historical Movie Club Founder/President
*Asian American Club Officer
*National Honors Society
*National Spanish Honors Society
*Varsity Swimming Manager
*Student Council Representative – 2 years
*Class of 2010 Graduation Usher
*Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center Volunteer – 100 hours</p>

<p>Awards
*Second Honors
*Silver in National Spanish Exam</p>

<p>Money probably won’t be an issue as far as I know for college tuition</p>

<p>Should I be looking to other colleges than the ones that I listed? Any suggestions, comments would be GREATLY appreciated!</p>

2

<p>bump10char</p>

3

<p>Or, you are worrying about the wrong things :-)</p>

<p>Hi,
Don’t worry about getting in to a good school, with your grades, etc. there are lots of schools that will accept you. What you do need to seriously think about NOW, is what kind of school do you want? Borrow a copy of Loren Pope’s book “Looking beyond the Ivy League”, this might help you clarify your thoughts on this. Also, do you want a pre-professional program or a strong liberal arts degree? Big school or small? sports? greek system? Large class size or small, lecture style or discussion based, Rigid course selection for major, or create your own, self-directed? City, suburb or rural? These are the questions you should be answering first. </p>

<p>My oldest wanted big city, self directed, and chose Sarah Lawrence. D2 started at big City, Big state school, after 1 year of 300+ kids in her classes, is moving to small, suburb school. </p>

<p>On your list you have an excellent chance to be accepted to Eckerd, Hendrix, St. Mary’s, a good chance at Ursinus, and Clark, and I’m not sure of the others. </p>

<p>I see a lot of schools from Loren Pope’s other book, “Colleges that change lives” on your list. I mostly like his picks, but they are VERY different from one another, far more than the book would lead you to believe. From that book we have visited: Goucher (right in your neighborhood), Clark, Eckerd, Millsaps, Birmingham-Southern, Hendrix, Centre, Rhodes, and briefly (just a drive through), Ursinus, McDaniels.
Also visited in the last 3 years: Manhattan College, Columbia, Barnard, Sarah Lawrence, New College of Florida, Johns Hopkins, UMBC, Worcester Polytechnic, College of the Holy Cross, USC, Universities of Florida, South Florida and Florida State, UCLA, and Boston University.If you have questions about one of these, write back.</p>