Barnard, Macaulay Honors, SUNY chances?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey! It's a very stressful time for us seniors and everyone's freaking out a bit about whether or not they're going to get accepted to their dream schools. I initially planned on ED'ing to Barnard College and applying regular to Macaulay Honors College, SUNY Binghamton, Geneseo, and New Paltz (along with various safeties). But, I'm only going to ED to Barnard if it'll improve my chances (will it? Haha). I'd really appreciate being chanced for those schools. </p>

<p>First of all, I live in NYC, and go to The Bronx High School of Science. If you've never heard of it, it's a rather prestigious school, so I'm hoping that'll boost my application some.</p>

<p>My GPA is kind of poor - 88 (which I believe is a 3.5). I think my senior year grades will boost it a bit, but not too significantly, of course.</p>

<p>I took AP US History last year (with a 4 on the exam, if that matters), and this year I'm in AP US Government & Politics as well as AP Psychology and Honors Creative Writing. </p>

<p>SAT - I took it in March and got a 1960. 710W, 600CR, 650M. I retook it last week and I'm sure I improved, but not sure if it was enough... My SAT II scores are not exactly up to par, so I don't plan on sending them to any college.</p>

<p>ACT - I did pretty well on my ACT. I got a 32 composite. 32 English, 30 Math, 34 Reading, 31 Science, and 29 Combined English/Writing. </p>

<p>ECs - My ECs are poor as well... never had any leadership positions or anything of that sort. I've had jobs the past two summers. The first was administrative assistance at a community center, and the second was editing and publishing e-books for a professional blogger. The main reason I never was a big part of any club is because I have a big responsibility at home, taking care of my younger sister, who was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes eight years ago. I plan on mentioning this factor somewhere in my essay or supplements to try to explain my lack of ECs! :/</p>

<p>Lastly, my essay and supplements should be pretty strong. I'm having my essay edited by my English teacher and my mom is a college English teacher, so she'll help me edit too. </p>

<p>Alright, if anyone has more questions I'm happy to answer! Thank you so, so much for helping me.</p>

2

<p>Good evening CC!</p>

3

<p>Which CUNY are you ED’ing for Macaulay honors? I think you have a great shot at all the schools you mentioned except Barnard. I know you go to a specialized HS, but think of the amount of students from Stuy, BK Tech, and your school applying to Barnard with higher averages. It will be tough for barnard, but do good senior year in case they request for a midterm report. Otherwise, you got it cover for the SUNYs and Macualay (not sure about Hunter since that school is very competitive for Macaulay)</p>

4

<p>Macaulay doesn’t offer ED anymore, unfortunately. But I’m applying to Hunter, Baruch, City, and Brooklyn. Hunter will be my number one, but I do know it’s most difficult and will be happy to be accepted to any!
And yeah, I know Barnard is a pretty big reach for me. I will apply though, and hope for the best. Thank you so much for your input!</p>

5

<p>Okay, First Off: Barnard requires SAT IIs.
Don’t apply ED unless you have them. You may get REJECTED. And I don’t mean DEFERRED, I mean rejected. I suggest you take your SAT IIs, study for them tons, and then apply with all of your required materials. You want A chance, don’t you? With no SAT IIs, I can’t say that youll even be deferred. </p>

<p>SECOND OFF: Your SAT scores are pretty low. In particular, your CR score is below 600. Believe it or not, this might actually be good news. You can apply for the HEOP program, which gives alot of financial aid to students. </p>

<p>I don’t go to a specialized High School, but I do go to a very competitive high school in queens, which I’m sure you know the name of… to give you a hint, Macaulay Honors at CUNY is a TOTAL safety school for me. </p>

<p>However, my old sister went to BxSci (administration problem ftw), and lol feel better about your average. Sometimes, I think it totally sucks to go to prestigious high schools because our averages would be MUCH better at any other old inner-city high school.</p>

6

<p>Thanks for all the info, I really appreciate it. Just a couple things:</p>

<p>Barnard asks for either SAT I + two SAT IIs or just the ACT. Since my ACT is higher than my SAT and my SAT II scores aren’t great, I was planning on just sending the ACT. But yeah, I believe it’s no problem to not have SAT IIs. </p>

<p>And about HEOP… First of all, like I already said, I wanted to send my ACT scores, which is too high for HEOP. I’m sure on the SAT I just took (with results coming in a week) I did better on CR. But even if it did end up being low enough for HEOP, I don’t want to send it in because my ACT is stronger. Ahhh, I think this is sounding really redundant, but yeah, haha.</p>

<p>And yeah, I’m pretty sure I know your school! I almost went there, lol… But yeah, hopefully the fact that admissions officers know our schools are really reputable will give us an extra boost. (And 'grats on having Macaulay as a safety! Most BS kids can’t say that :P)</p>

7

<p>Hey, just wanted to chime in that Barnard specifically has a cut-off for HEOP which is a limit of 620 on CR.
Tho income guidelines for HEOP are the same throughout the state, each school defines academic disadvantage differently. Not sure what the rest of Barnard’s criteria are but I do remember the 620 cut-off.</p>

8

<p>PS - If my D’s were grades were better and if she were stronger academically I would say GO FOR BARNARD. It is a fantastic school, great financial aid (even without HEOP) and being at a women’s college will prepare you for the rest of your life. I went to Smith and never regretted it, it was one of the best decisions I ever made. We visited Barnard last year and I couldn’t get over the way so much support is structured for the students, esp first years. Give it a shot!</p>

9

<p>I don’t know what SAT score is now, but the average Cr+M score for the Macaulay’s Class of 2015 is 1405. So I would suggesting submitting your ACT scores only. Apart from that you seem to be good for Macaulay’s. Remember that Macaulay’s only look at the CR+M section of the SAT.</p>

<p>I’m not an expert on Barnard, but I would believe they require a much higher SAT score and maybe if you could get your composite ACT score to at least 33 then you’d have a decent shot.</p>