<p>Im not the strongest of students but I would not call myself a weak one either, but I was just wondering about my chances of getting into Wellesley.</p>
<p>(End of Junior Year)
My GPA is 3.6 unweighted and 3.9 weighted in a ridiculously competitive high school (over 4,000 kids with 70 percent asians...everything is a competition)
My SAT scores are
CR - 660
Math - 690
Writing - 650
composite - 2000
I retook the SAT and i felt a WHOLE LOT better about it this time around and is expecting a much better score but as of right now, don't know yet.</p>
<p>my extracurriculars include:
4 years of colorguard (we compete at a national level and placed 3rd, 13th and 7th so far) and I'm also a squad leader for 2 years.
2 years of student newspaper, currently an editor
Peer tutor
Big brother/Big sister program
Interact Club
Leader position in my church
over 150 hours of community service at the local hospital
Allies club at school (christian club)
women's volleyball team at church</p>
<p>I have taken geometry honors, algebra II honors, chemistry honors, precalc/calc A honors, english honors, AP English, AP Physics, History honors, and is expecting to take AP Goverment, AP Calc BC, and AP English 12.</p>
<p>I know my gpa is a little bit lower than most but how good of a chance do you guys think i have of getting in? I am currently doing a college search project for school and is looking at the different schools I will apply to next year. Wellesley is on my list of reach schools...should I attempt it?</p>
<p>apply early if they have it.
also, work hard on your essay.
other than that, you’ll get in:)</p>
<p>I know a lot of girls who have had fabulous GPAs, and girls who have had not-so-fabulous GPAs. Both were accepted to Wellesley because they were interesting applicants. Don’t worry about a lower GPA, as long as you know you can make it up with different ways. Don’t let it stop you from applying, definitely give it a try.</p>
<p>I’m not really sure I see a theme to your stats. I’m not saying I know everything about the application process, but perhaps you should think about how Wellesley would help you reach your goals (or how any other college you are applying to would help you, for that matter). The college process is a perfect opportunity to do some identity-searching. What are your academic interests? What classes interest you at Wellesley? It’s okay to be uncertain about what you want to major in, but take some time to figure some interests/goals out, and try to bring that out during the application process (ie paper application, interviews).</p>
<p>You’re so right. There is a lack of theme to my high school ECs. I guess it was because when I started high school, I was all about variety. I wanted to try ramdom things that were all of a sudden available to me and I didn’t really know what I was passionate about. But as of right now, I really do want to do something with communications and maybe anthropology. I guess I am the type of the person that want a broad liberal education and that is what draws me to Wellesley in the first place.</p>
<p>I love English and creative writing, but I’m actually a little bit unsure about Wellesley English department because there seems to be a whole lot of emphasis on science whenever I visit their sites. Do they have a good English department?</p>
<p>Also when I apply, do you think I should explain about the whole lack of theme in my application?</p>
<p>The English dept at Wellesley is very strong and English is one of the most popular majors here. Definitely check out the dept website and the course catalog to see what types of courses are offered. </p>
<p>You can explain the lack of a “theme” in your application if you want to. Wellesley is a liberal arts college so most students come in with a variety of interests that they want to pursue. Try to express your interest in what you want to pursue or achieve in college through your application so that the adcom gets to know who you are as a person, beyond your gpa and test scores.</p>
<p>My daughter is keen to fence at Wellesley College. She left home (rural midwest) and went to live with a stranger in Houston, Texas to train more seriously. At the same time she left a rural junior high school and landed in Bellaire HS, which is the top HS in Houston. It was like scrambled eggs to a wall trying to fence 8 hours a week and compete in this environment, all without any family support. Her grades really dropped but her fencing did improve. Along this journey she found new talents with a first place trophy in novice debate, and a bronze medal in Russian.</p>
<p>Her first round SATs just came back: 680 writing; 650 reading; 610 math. She’s pretty upset by these scores, and that by moving and doing all this she may have destroyed her opportunity to attend Wellesley. But she made a ‘5’ on the world history AP last year and is waiting on results of two APs from this spring. That may help her and she can retake the standardized exams.</p>
<p>Changes in family finances dictate that she will come back home for her senior year, finish up a couple courses at HS, while doing the bulk of next years courses at the local University. She’ll have Russian History, band and practical art at HS. Russian I, II, advanced history, govt, econ, and advanced literature at University. Plus maybe AP statistics. </p>
<p>I am wondering how all of these changes will look to Wellesley - not to mention the issue with grades. It seems like most of the rejections on this site are students who were in top 25% - not top 10%. </p>
<p>But she’s also a graduate of Culver Academies summer program, which is where she learned to fence. She has tremendous breadth, creativity and determination. Other activities included track, band (clarinet and saxophone), piano, and Russian club.</p>
<p>We will visit Wellesley and interview. Any tips on interviewing?</p>
<p>caolila:</p>
<p>Your daughter is a fencer! That’s awesome! I have lots of friends on the fencing team and they’re a great bunch. Is she thinking about playing in college? You could get in contact with the coach – I believe there’s also a recruiting form you can fill out on the athletics department website to get more information. </p>
<p>Also, your daughter seems really involved despite moving around a lot in high school, which can definitely be difficult. Also, Bellaire High is a great high school; Wellesley has lots of girls who went there (I’m not from Texas and now I know all sorts about this high school just from all the people I’ve met at Wellesley). While she should definitely try to retake the SATs and take heart that pretty much everyone improves a lot by taking them again(!), she should communicate in her essays why she wants to attend Wellesley and what she is interested in. </p>
<p>Definitely visit! The campus is gorgeous!! I have that interviews at Wellesley are pretty relaxed; most occur with someone in admissions or a staff member (my first year roommate interviewed with one of the residential directors). In general for interviews, I would say try to relax, know the school and why you want to attend that school (what opportunities there are, what you can take advantage of), and play your strengths. </p>
<p>Good luck to your daughter!</p>
<p>welles10,</p>
<p>Yes she has been in contact with Dr. Nabil (I can’t recall his last name) who is the fencing coach. And yes she very much wants to fence in college. It’s such a neat sport. </p>
<p>When she learned to fence at Culver Summer Camps she won a silver regimental medal the first summer so they said ‘keep her fencing’. So we drove 250 miles round trip one night a week just to fence with a club in STL. She did get better by hairs - ultimately taking all three regimental gold medals in her final year at Culver (womens epee, foil, saber). But it was obvious that to really go further something would have to change. So she left home at the ripe age of 15. </p>
<p>Bellaire is a great HS !! Just VERY VERY crowded and competitive. There is essentially NO parking there. My daughter had to get there at 6.30 am to get a parking space every day. It was exhausting for her on top of training, and really wore her down over time. But they definitely prepare their kids well - that ‘5’ in the world AP History exam had a lot to do with being at Bellaire. It’s too bad she can’t finish at Bellaire, but next year will be fun since she can take advanced classes at Missouri S&T.</p>
<p>We’ll visit Wellesley campus in mid Augustand try to relax. Thanks again for your comments. My daughter is really a great gal who has a lot to give to Wellesley.</p>
<p>Your daughter definitely has an interesting story to tell, one that she can bring out in her essays and in the interview. Best of luck!</p>
<p>caolila, your D sounds very interesting and accomplished. I blush to admit that I was on the Wellesley fencing team decades ago as a “beginner.” Most of us were English majors who were heavily into the literary fantasy aspect of the sport! :D</p>
<p>I would think that she would have a good chance, especially if she can bring her SATs up. But getting 5s on AP exams while pursuing a sport at that level is no mean accomplishment, and I think her background in Russian is also very interesting and sets her apart.</p>
<p>I’m assuming that she is also pursuing the possibility of be a recruited athlete elsewhere?</p>
<p>Hi Consolation. Its nice to meet a fellow fencer! What weapon did you fence? She is epee. She’d probably love to talk with you about literature, that’s for sure! I don’t know about the fantasy literature aspect (!!) but she absolutely loves books. </p>
<p>Russian IS an interesting language and Welleley has some incredible courses in that language/culture. And my D. will have an award winning Russian instructor at University level next year. I am so excited for her. She should be well prepared in that area. Plus Russian History at HS level.</p>
<p>I’ve been thinking that a better testing strategy would be to switch to the ACT since she hasn’t done her SAT II’s yet. She could take the ACT in September, before she starts the nationtional competitions (October) and then she would have at least two more times to retake that before Jan 1. Wellesley accepts the ACT in place SAT I + 2 SAT II’s. Being an engineerng it seems a lot more efficient to just take the one exam.</p>
<p>Only the top 8 -10 fencers in the nation (A level who compete at world level, too) really get “recruited” and she’s not at that level (she’s a C level). The only other place she is considering is Penn State. They have an opening for one womens epee-ist in 2010 and yes, that coach is looking at my D. Her SAT scores are definitely in their range or better. Penn State is Division I fencing and Wellesley is Division III. </p>
<p>I’d FAR prefer that she go to Wellesley. I think she’d be a much better fit for Wellesley and it would be a place where people would care about her. Plus she rowed wherries at Culver, and would enjoy rowing recreationally in college. I don’t think she could to that at Penn State.</p>
<p>Her stepdad works at Washington University Med School in St. Louis. If accepted she could go there for free. She DEFINITELY prefers Wellesley over that option ($$$ sigh).</p>
<p>It’s amazing that you Wellesley ladies are willing to chat and answer all these questions. Thanks for your time. It’s greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Your D has some great options!! (And if I could go to college for free, I would gladly take that right now…sigh). </p>
<p>If she can visit during the school year, she could potentially stay with a current fencer and have a chance to get to know the girls on the team and what life is like at Wellesley!</p>
<p>Yes, free is good…! But no NCAA fencing at Wash U. I guess it costs a lot to have an NCAA fencing team.</p>
<p>welles10 - I forgot to add that we already have our airline tickets to visit in August but thank you for the suggestion. Honestly it would have been fun to meet one of them. It’s just that we have a really strict attendance policy in the HS (8 misses max or your lose your credit) and she’ll have to miss almost that for fencing competitions in the fall. So I wanted to do the visits in August to minimize school misses. </p>
<p>I suspect that when she sees the quality of Wellesley she’ll be totally hooked. I am - just from talking on the phone/email to them. The admissions people were just so genuine and sincere. And then look at what you are doing for me here. These are hallmarks of an institution that cares about its students!</p>
<p>When in August are you planning on visiting? Depending on when you visit, there may be a good number of people around.</p>
<p>Explo, the summer program for middle school students, ends in early August.
Wellesley summer school and summer research positions ends August 14. <– if you come when school is still in session you might even be able to sit in on a class for a bit.
And student training for First Year Orientation is the last week of August. </p>
<p>Granted it is summer so the campus will be a lot quieter than it typically is during the school year, but at least you get to see the campus when it’s (hopefully) nice and sunny out!</p>
<p>We are going to be arriving Sunday August 8th, then campus tour early on the 9th, followed by an interview. I appreciate the advice and can ask admissions if there would be any classes we might be able to sit in on. That would be ideal! Thanks so much for the tips.</p>