Alright, since nobody responds at the "what are my chances" board

Colleges and Universities A-Z Bowdoin College
1

<p>…I thought I’d ask here what my chances are:</p>

<p>Well I’m only a junior, haven’t taken SATs, but here goes:</p>

<p>Age: 16
State: New Jersey
Demographic: Nothing great - Upper class Jewish suburban boy from Short Hills, New Jersey.</p>

<p>Academic:
G.P.A.- 3.9 Weighted (Equivalent of an A in normal classes, A- in honors, B+ in AP), max G.P.A. is 4.5. I’m definitely improving though, I’ll be around a 4.1 by the time I apply. No idea where I rank in my class (my school doesn’t tell us rank), but I go to Millburn High School, ranked 63rd in the nation by U.S.A Today in 2003.
PSAT- 223 (66 CR, 80 M, 77 W). Possible Semifinal.
Currently taking 4 APs: American History, Stat, Government and Politics, Spanish Language
Took the AMC 12 last year (A nationwide math test), and advanced to the second round, one round short of going on to the National Math Olympic team.</p>

<p>EC:
Baseball, varsity 1 or 2 years, depending on this year, plus AAU. My AAU team came in 3rd in the region last May.
I’ve had a job for 6 months now, will hold it through the rest of High School.
Habitat for Humanity, I get about 10-12 hours of CS per month.
I write for the school newspaper, and cofounded the spanish newspaper at our school.
Will most likely be a certified Gyrotonic teacher (it’s a type of personal trainer) by this summer.
I’m joining Debate, should have one year of varsity.
I’ve volunteered for my synagogue, maybe 10-15 hours total…not major though.
I play guitar, but not for school.
I tutor at my school.</p>

<p>Special Connection: Well, my friend’s dad is a Bowdoin alumnus and apparently still has real good ties to the board of trustees. He would be my local interviewer if I didn’t go to the school to interview. I would probably get a rec from him if I don’t go for an interview there.</p>

<p>So…any chance at Bowdoin? If not, what can I do to improve?</p>

2

<p>I think your chances look really good as a whole. I don't know that much specifically about Bowdoin, but you definitely have a chance. I guess all I can say is that you would want to unify your ECs. Nothing comes off as your passion, but that may just be how you posted -- if your job or guitar or your newspaper basketball really takes up your time and yoru interest then you should be able to focus your app. around it, which would help you center your well-roundedness, for lack of a better word. Like you said you would want to work on your average in classes, but you're still not that far off. Also, I know from experience that advancing in the AMC is really difficult; how come no calc? If your school doesn't offer it, maybe you can look outside your school (local college, etc) and show initiative. That's pretty much it. You're definitely a solid candidate for Bowdoin. What major would you go for?</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the response.
Baseball is actually my real hobby, I've had stretches where I play for about 14 months straight, indoors etc. I'm going to a showcase this summer and the Bowdoin coach will be there, so I hope to talk to him. With regard to the AMC 12, I was the only sophomore their that hadn't taken pre-calc that advanced. I'm in pre-calc this year, and hope to take AP Calc B/C next year. I could probably teach myself AP Calc A on my own, so I'll do that over the summer. I'm also going to start volunteering at my local animal shelter, because I absolutely love animals and getting volunteer hours for chilling/helping animals would be amazing. You are right, my average needs improvement, but my courseload is ridiculously hard. I'll try to get it up though. I really want to eventually become a personal trainer or a lawyer, but I don't know if Bowdoin offers a Kinesiology major. If not I'll major in something else and go on to grad-school or law-school, not sure yet. Thanks again!</p>

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<p>looks great, out of curiosity, how'd you do on the usamo?</p>

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<p>wow dude chill please, you're a junior, and you know that you're good. don't stress. you'll get in somewhere good.</p>

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<p>Haha sorry if I came off stressed, I'm actually pretty laid back. My unweighted GPA is a 3.6, that's why I'm kindve not sure about Bowdoin. We had a kid from the 5th decile go there a couple years back, so I dunno.</p>

<p>I took the AMC 12, got a 105, and took the AIME got 3 right. I didn't take the USAMO. We have a kid whos third ranked in the nation in physics, was finished with AP Physics in 6th grade, finished college level courses in physics (taken at Princeton) by freshman year, and is now somewhat teaching courses at local colleges. He didn't even qualify for the Math Olympics...it's insanely hard.</p>

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<p>Where are you showcasing this summer? Are you planning to play baseball in
college and are you interested in any other schools?</p>

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<p>I want to play baseball in school, and I'm planning on showcasing at College Select Baseball. The organizer says the Bowdoin coach is there every year, it's in the summer. I'm not sure though, i need to talk to him about it though. He usually goes the the one in Norwich CT, but I might be going to the Phillips exeter summer academy during that date. There another one in NY run by the same people later in August, so I want to know if he'll be there at that time as well. It's <a href="http://www.collegeselect.org%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.collegeselect.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>