Bowdoin EDII Chances...

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm only going to apply ED II to Bowdoin if my chances of acceptance are decent to start out with. What are your thoughts?</p>

<p>Class rank - 57/386 (about 15th percentile)
GPA unweighted - 90
GPA weighted - around 105</p>

<p>Sat I - 2160
Math - 740
Reading - 730
Writing - 690</p>

<p>Sat IIs
Biology M - 760
Math IIC - Expecting 750-800
Math IC - Expecting 750-800</p>

<p>ACT - 33
English - 34
Math - 31
Reading - 31
Science - 34
Writing - 33</p>

<p>APs
Biology - 5</p>

<p>EC's (summary)
Wrestling (varsity junior year, not participating this year)
Rock Climbing
Mountain Biking
Math (independent of school, working on getting some of my work published)
Violin (since I was 6)
Guitar (have played for 2 years, taught myself)</p>

<p>Service (the interesting things)
Helped run a rock climbing clinic for rural mexican kids
Did trail work for a MTB race in mexico
Rode 120 miles in one push on a MTB for the Make a Wish Foundation
Helped coach park/rec wrestling</p>

<p>Work Experience
Handyman type stuff
Math tutoring</p>

<p>Rec's
Very good, I think.</p>

<p>Essays
Who knows...haven't started them yet.</p>

<p>Thanks...</p>

2

<p>If your essays are good (you have some interesting extracurriculars, esp. outdoorsy stuff which Bowdoin likes), you have a shot. It's a reach, though. Bowdoin doesn't require SAT/ACT, but if you are choosing between which to send, I'd send the SAT scores; math and verbal are well in range for Bowdoin. Your class rank/GPA may hurt you but I think you could still be a strong applicant. Good luck!</p>

3

<p>Looking at how people make these lists of 'credentials', I realized I missed this:</p>

<p>Awards:
National Honors Society
AMC12 Award
AIME Award
Society of Women Engineers Award
Math Department Special Recognition Award
National Merit Scholarship Commendation
Western Region Orchestra (1st Violin, qualified for All-State audition)
Fairfield Country String Orchestra (Assistant Principal Violin)</p>

<p>Anyways, here's a very rough draft of the suplement:</p>

<p>Write a brief letter to your future roommate describing your personality, values, beliefs, and hopes for your first year.</p>

<p>Dear Future Roommate, </p>

<pre><code>Hopefully this letter will bring me one step closer to actually meeting you, but until then, let me tell you a bit about myself. If you were to walk into my computer room right now, little would seem out of the ordinary. You would see me, in blue jeans and a polo shirt, typing this letter to you. If you stayed a little while and waited for my writer’s block to kick in again, however, you might start noticing things. A few minutes ago, I was playing guitar. In a half hour, I might be working on the math paper I am trying to get published.
Don’t get the wrong idea, though; I am an unusually focused person - some people probably see me as borderline obsessive. The guitar which just I just relinquished to its case has probably has seen an hour of use each day for the past two years. That math paper which might end up distracting me has been a year long project.

Now, before you start imagining me as the crazy guy who writes differential equations in wax pencil all over the dorm windows, just know I also have a ‘conventional’ fun side. I love to mountain bike and rock climb (I’ve climbed and ridden/raced in Mexico and all across the U.S on a bike I built from scratch). I love music (I’ve been playing the violin since I was 6 and have taught myself guitar). Most of all, however, I love my friends. For me, there is nothing better than sitting around a bonfire on a cold night talking to them.
With this in mind, making new friends will be one of my priorities at Bowdoin. Being surrounded by good friends is important if you want to maintain your sanity, inspiration, and tack. Of course, my top priorities will be academic. Aside from maintaining good grades, I see the decision between studying biology and math becoming a big part of my freshman year.

Of course, another big part of my freshman year will be you, my roommate. I’d love to get to meet you outside of the context of school - maybe we can go sailing/biking/climbing sometime. Or, if you’re not into the whole outdoors thing, maybe we can go to the Little Dog and talk over a cup of coffee.

</code></pre>

<p>Looking forward to meeting you in person,</p>

<p>Ben</p>

4

<p>Just got back my december SATII's</p>

<p>Math Level 1 - 800
Math Level 2 - 780</p>

5

<p>Never mind about the early decision part. I just got word from Deep Springs that I have been accepted into the second round of applications, so I can no longer be bound by EDII. Does this detract from my chances at Bowdoin?</p>

6

<p>Wow - congrats on making it to the second round at Deep Springs!</p>

<p>I would send both SAT's and ACT's - both are very strong. My son was wl'd last year with similar stats - I think it could go either way for you. EDII would, I think, have helped, but I guess that won't be. I think that you need to focus on your midyears - they will be considered. Also, be sure to send in an update if you have any new awards/done additional cool stuff since your application.</p>

7

<p>Here's a rought draft of the Common App. Personal Statement:</p>

<p>Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.</p>

<pre><code>A few summers ago, I sat down and drew a picture. Its subject was the bike I had decided to build five minutes previously. If somebody were to have asked me, I would not have been able to explain my sudden need for a nice mountain bike - all I had was a gut feeling.
I taped the picture to the wall opposite my bed. It became the first thing I saw in the morning and the last thing I saw before I fell asleep – a constant reminder of my goal. Below it, on the floor, an ever growing pile of research began to form. It wasn’t long before I knew my future bike from the inside out. I knew the exact size tolerances, cost, weight, and inner workings of every piece I would need to build it.
Of course, having a list of parts is very different than actually having the parts. In the end, building the bike was an eight month project which consumed roughly two thousand dollars and hundreds of hours of free time. Needless to say, the feeling that washed over me when I rode it for the first time was wonderful – here was something that, in conception and creation, was undeniably mine!
The only question that remained was, what do I do with it? Since I took that first ride, this question has been answered in many different ways. My bike has already left its tracks on some of the most beautiful land in the U.S. and Mexico. It has shown me that exhaustion and fifty more miles of hills are not legitimate reasons to give up.
More importantly, however it also has shown me just how lucky I am from a global point of view. This past summer, I spent a month riding and doing trail work in the very beautiful, very poor countryside of Chihuahua, Mexico. For that month, I lived in a town full of the most genuinely and unconditionally friendly people I have ever had the fortune to be around.

My somewhat ignorant first reaction, however, was to pity them. Because of their poverty, I assumed that they were unhappy – merely trying to survive in a world that had dealt them bad cards. Surprisingly, the opposite was true; their lifestyle kept them from being jaded. Unlike many of the people I have known in my life, they were aware of, and very thankful for, their relatively few blessings. This became especially clear as the end of my trip neared. People – young people, old people, strangers, and friends - began walking up to my group and thanking us for the trail work we did.
During the eight hour van ride to the border sans A/C, it was too hot to talk, so, as I sat there in a pool of my own sweat, I thought about what I had seen during the previous month. My thoughts lingered on my bike, which was in tow behind the van, and I realized that the past month had given meaning to a truth I had embraced for my whole life: a great deal of happiness can be found in the knowledge that you have made a difference in the world, no matter how small.
</code></pre>

<p>To any of you who read this - thank you, I really appreciate it.</p>