<p>I'm interested in attending Middlebury as well but the only problem is that I don't have all these godly records that most kids do and I've never taken the SAT or ACT. I graduated high school with a 2.8, didn't do sports and the only club I was involved in was the anime club and the only thing we did was watch anime, I wasn't an officer or anything nor did I have an interest in being one. I had attended the Art Institute of Las Vegas and of California-Los Angeles totaling I think to about a little over a year of schooling there. I found that going into that field isn't what I wanted so I left. Later, I went to West Los Angeles which is a community college for Japanese I and went to Santa Monica College for Japanese II (the former wasn't offering it). I passed both classes with A's due in large part to teaching myself Japanese for a while before attending. Since taking language classes, I have a new calling and loved my classes. Currently, I'm scheduled to take GE classes at WLA hoping to transfer to a school with a good language program. I guess I just really want to know how I can make my app look appealing to Midd. I suppose good grades won't be enough? I could do extra curricular things but I also work full time and I CANNOT afford to drop to part time nor can I afford to save money for school. I try but life ALWAYS throws me curve balls causing me to either spend my money or be hungry and homeless. I'm a low income black female in Los Angeles looking for a better life. I posted this same thing in a different area of the forum but I figured I'd give this one a shot too since it's about admissions and some threads get visited more than others. ANY advice would be great.</p>
<p>I'm interested in Midd because of the language program. It's supposed to be really good. I'm also interested in Rice. Since I'm in LA, I know UCLA would be good too but honestly, I don't really want to go to school in Los Angeles. It's just so expensive to live here and I'm already struggling. Having to do school as well as life when I can barely handle life would be horrible. Texas (where my sister lives also) would be better as far as living financially.</p>
<p>Middlebury is famed for its language program...maybe if you emphasized your passion for languages as well as the duress of your situation, it would help you.</p>
<p>Due to your high school grades, your best bet is to accumulate a significant number of community college credits (enough at least for sophomore standing at Middlebury) and apply as a transfer. If you do well in your classes, particularly while working a full time job, you would certainly make an impressive applicant. The main problem here is that it will take a while to earn enough credits to be eligible as a transfer while working full-time.
Don't worry about extracurriculars. They are far less important for transfers than for freshman applicants, and nobody would ever expect you to have them while working full time. Continue to do well at Community College, and with your background, you will have a great shot.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback, guys. After going through message boards and student profiles and seeing so many "I have a 4.5, a truckload of activities and SAT 2200, do I have a chance?" posts, I was beginning to think I'd have no place at Middlebury. Especially since I'm 23, going on 24 in three days!</p>
<p>EmpressLeo,</p>
<p>I have no specific advice relating to Middlebury but your story is heartening and I think you will do great because you have the drive and the heart to go far. I wish you the best of luck wherever you end up going after CC -- be that Middlebury, or some other fine institution that's lucky enough to enroll you!</p>