<p>Hi, I’m a Junior, and while I haven’t taken the SATs yet, I was wondering whether my other things (grades, ECs) were in the right direction to have a reasonable chance at Barnard (yes, in short, I’m asking for a chancing. But this sounded less repetitive then the other posts on the board :-))</p>
<p>GPA: 4.04 (on the 4.3 scale. All honors and one A.P class)
Rank: 9/192
APs: U.S History (test not 'till May. Current average is in the A range. This, and chemistry, are the only APs my school offers for Juniors).
ECs: Features Editor of my School Newspaper, Head editor of school literary magazine, Spanish Club, Karate Lessons (4 years), Prozdor (a religious school thing outside of regular school. Has its own separate transcript), Piano lessons (nine years), NHS, Spanish NHS. I am a staff member on Mugglenet.com, one of the top Harry Potter fansites on the internet. I also do a lot of writing (Two National Novel Writing Month wins), and am currently in the process of writing a novel to be published. I have also self published one book currently on sale at Amazon.com.
Volunteer Work: I shelve books at my town’s public library for about two hours a week.
Jobs: This summer will be my third working as a counselor at a day camp a few towns away from me.
Awards: Century Club (Award given to top twenty members of class).
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Hook: My published work? I’ve sold a few copies of the one I published myself. Hopefully, I’ll be able to publish my current project the traditional way.
Strengths: passionate about my favorite subjects (English, History), writing, and my ECs in general, which I feel (or hope) are a little off the beaten path.
Weaknesses: My grades are good, but I’m not a super genius. My math grade freshman year is something I desperately wish I could white-out. Plus, while I haven’t taken the SATs, yet, my scores from my home practice ones aren’t quite up where I want them to be (not terrible though. My writing is falling in the 700s, Critical reading getting better. Math is my main issue).</p>
<p>Other schools considering: Brown, Yale, Brandeis, Middlebury College, Boston University, NYU, among others…</p>
<p>I know you probably understand that nobody here is really qualified to tell you anything really meaningful re your “chances”. However, it seems to me you are definitely “on track” to be a good candidate for admission. Have you visited Barnard? If not, I strongly suggest you try to do so some time this year. That way, if you still think it’s a good fit, you will be able to truly understand why it’s the place you want to be (if it is). With Barnard’s truly excellent emphasis on writing (even science majors have great writing experiences!!), I think you would blossom there!</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply! I can’t visit Barnard until the summertime, but I’ve scoured the website for information, and have drilled current students I’m friendly with for “what life is like.” I love a lot of what I’ve heard about the school: the whole “small college feel, but with the big college resources, and city opportunity” thing, the fact that though it is a women’s college, social opportunities are abound based on location, and the fact that its in NYC.</p>
<p>Yes, you are “on track”. Keep up your grades and focus on your writing for the joy of it (not to impress Barnard) – its obvious that you have a passion and Barnard certainly welcomes writers – so you are fortunate that pursuing your personal passion coincides nicely with the type of thing that will be respected by Barnard admissions. Finishing the novel before you do your college applications will be a definite plus. </p>
<p>“On track” is not a guarantee, of course – its just that looking at what you’ve written about yourself I wouldn’t change a thing. (I’m speaking of Barnard only – I have no clue about the other colleges you listed, but you clearly are a good fit for Barnard) Barnard is a reach school for just about anyone, but I’d say your chances of admission are excellent.</p>
<p>Don’t fret about the math grade. My d. sucks at math too. It didn’t seem to stand in the way of admission.</p>
<p>Knowing as many Barnard women as I do, it seems like admissions doesn’t seem to be bothered by people having a ‘weakness’ as long as they have an outstanding strength too. It is fairly common that students at liberal arts colleges aren’t that great in mathematics. As for my science/math-inclined friends, they were generally not the best students in English or History. You seem like you’re on a good track, although as everyone above me said, that’s not a guarantee. </p>
<p>My only concern would be that you basically sound like most of the English majors I know and English is Barnard’s most popular major (correct me if I’m wrong). This may mean you’re a good fit or that you fit into the same category as an incredibly large amount of applicants and will face stiff competition. Try to study well for the SATs and do some thinking about what you offer a college that other students do not so that you’ll be prepared to do a bit of marketing in your essays.</p>
<p>As for the other colleges, your religious training will probably be a plus for Brandeis. NYU appears to take SATs very seriously (it’s a big college), so study. My friend goes to Brown and describes the school as having “oddball appeal,” as in, they like people who have a quirkyness to them. Your list features many very different schools and I would suggest visiting them to understand whether they have the feel you want.</p>
<p>Heehee, I was thinking about the randomness of the schools I’m most interested in. There are specific reasons I like each, but its hard to find the single, uniting element of them all, other than the fact that they all have good English programs.</p>
<p>And the fact that I don’t need to be a math whiz to get into a Liberal Arts College does fill me with hope… :-)</p>