<p>GPA: ~3.6 (3.3 frosh year / 3.85 soph year / junior year 3.7ish</p>
<p>Classes</p>
<p>Sophomore Year: 1 AP (Euro: 5)
Junior Year: 3 APs (Stat: 5, US: 5, Bio: 5)
Senior Year: i will be taking 6 APs</p>
<p>I’ve always done the toughest classes with the exception of Spanish (and i’ve never taken AP Eng Lang or Calc BC even though theyve been offered)</p>
<p>SAT2s</p>
<p>Bio: 800
US: 800
Math IC: 730</p>
<p>SATs</p>
<p>SATs (I plan to retake them in Oct to boost my Crit Reading)
Cr Reading: 720
Math: 720
Writing: 800</p>
<p>Extracurriculars</p>
<p>1 of 5 National Finalists in Kennedy Library Profile in Courage Essay Contest
Volunteer for Clinton Senate Campaign Summer 2006
Spanish Immersion Program Summer 2007
Intern at Senator Shumer’s Office Summer 2008
All seasons Track and Cross Country - JV
Play Cello in Orchestra (since forth grade…some low level awards)
Member of National Honor Society (Grades 11 and 12)
Member of National Music Honor Society (Grades 10, 11, 12)
Member of Forensics Student Congress- grades 10/11 and prez in grade 12
Member of Model Congress (grades 9-12) (on the governing board for grade 12 → rotating presidency)
Member of Global Awarness Club (grade 10)
Editor of News Letter for Global Awareness Club (grade 11)
President of Global Awareness Club (grade 12)
Member of Anti-Bias Club (grade 10)
Editor of News Letter for School’s Chapter of Anti-Bias Club (grade 11)
VP of Anti-Bias Club (grade 12)
Board of Education Reporter for School Newspaper (grade 10)
Assistant Section Editor of School Newspaper (Grade 11)
Production Editor of School Newspaper (grade 12)</p>
<p>Do you guys think I could get in? My grades are weak and I could use more awards…but I think i show that I’m really into current events and politics…any current Bowdoin students have any comments?</p>
<p>great standardized test scores. grades a little weak. dunno. it's strange, because they don't prioritize SATs even when submitted, so i think a lot of it will come down to your essay and your desire to attend. it's a great school, but they want to know that you'll take full advantage of it. i know for a fact that they consider gpa seriously. what's your rank?</p>
<p>i think you have a good shot, but your gpa is lower than what they normally admit, which gives me pause.</p>
<p>but it there any chance that they might, if not ignore, give less weight to my frosh year? And if so - if they only look at soph/junior/senior years - would average grades of about 3.7 and change give me a (significantly) better shot?</p>
<p>there are two ways to interpret your gpa relative to your testing. the first, and the preferred way, is that your high school is grade deflated and your 3.6 would be a 3.9 or something anywhere else. the second, and what you want to avoid, is that your ability is far greater than the effort you put in. </p>
<p>does your high school provide colleges with an average gpa or some sort of high school profile in the absence of rank? </p>
<p>i think you'll be okay, i don't think it's worth fretting about, but just be sure to come across as someone with deep and abiding interests, (which it seems you have in government and politics). your passions will offset your slightly lower gpa more than anything else. indeed, they would even if you didn't have your stellar test scores. focus on the essay, on conveying your interest in politics, maybe, or something else you care about immensely, and hope for the best. i suspect if you come across as a passionate person you'll get in easily.</p>
<p>up to this point (the school is changing it for next year) A's were recorded as 3.5 into your GPA and A+s as 4. i heard that at other schools they record A's as 3.75? is that true?</p>
<p>oh and to answer your question, yes my school sends a school report that shows what classes are offered/average grades and SATs and all that kinda thing</p>
<p>yes, most 4.0 scales record As as 4.0, and Bs as 3.0, so the A-/B+ would be a 3.5. so your gpa looks artificially lower than elsewhere. they'll see the explanation of your grades and accommodate for that. </p>
<p>i don't think you should have a problem, other than that it's just generally a tough place to get into. good luck!</p>
<p>I heard that Bowdoin's admit rate for guys is much higher than for girls, if that helps this whole chancing thing. </p>
<p>As for the whole GPA scale stuff (my school's weird too--my guidance counselor says I have a 4.3 UW, but I'm not entirely sure how that can happen), I always write down my GPA out of 100 when I get asked, since it's universally understood. I'm a prospective student, though, so I don't know if there's some point in the app process that you have to give your GPA on a 4.0 or 5.0 scale.</p>
<p>Ooops, I forgot to actually chance you! Sorry. Clearly I was too busy pontificating about GPA scales. :( </p>
<p>Everything looks solid. GPA looks fairly solid, and it's definitely backed up by more spectacular standardized testing scores. I'd even go so far as to say you probably don't need to boost your SAT I that much at all, esp. for Bowdoin with their whole not-so-testing-oriented application process (truth is, I'm impressed that you'd decide to take them again when you got excellent scores the first time!). Your ECs are awesome, too, so no worries there--especially with the gov't/political interest, when I visited campus they said that's one of their strongest departments. I think you have a good chance at Bowdoin. </p>
<p>Side note: why on Earth didn't you take AP Lang/Comp? Best class I've ever taken. :) Just kidding, you clearly have plenty of APs.</p>
<p>IBfootballer- I just realized that my figures are not from last year, so you're probably right about the 2008-2009 school year. I don't dispute that approximately the same number of women as men get accepted at Bowdoin each year, I'm just saying that the admit rates differ, since more women apply but equal numbers of men and women (like you said) actually get in. </p>
<p>I know this is a little out of date, but I'd assume that 2008-2009 wasn't drastically different: </p>
<p>Common Data Set for 2007-2008:
2659 men applied and 591 got in ---> 22% admit rate
3302 women applied and 539 got in ---> 16% admit rate </p>
<p>Sorry if my last post was confusing. I guess Bowdoin's just tough to get into no matter who you are.</p>
<p>I have a spelling issue (im dyslexic) so i have trouble when there's no spell check</p>
<p>the english teacher failed me for the first essay because of my spelling and since there are only about 3 grades a quarter in that class i had to drop</p>
<p>but what you going to do? i went on to be a finalist in a national essay contest and to get an 800 on the writing section of the SATs</p>
<p>"I heard that Bowdoin's admit rate for guys is much higher than for girls, if that helps this whole chancing thing. "</p>
<p>This makes the assumption that the gender pools are even in their qualifications (the average male applicant is as qualified as the average female). I see no evidence proving this point.</p>
<p>why would you assume a difference? both boys and girls are applying to the same school; why wouldnt it attract the same level of competence in both genders? The only difference is that MORE girls apply. if you look at the numbers something like a 700 more girls apply each year than do guys. put that together with the desire of most colleges to keep a 1:1 ratio and its pretty obvious that they are going to accept a larger percentage of guys.</p>
<p>I think the assumption is that there is no difference. =P </p>
<p>I'm not trying to be misogynist here; I just don't necessarily see that desire for a 1:1 ratio. Males have a higher acceptance rate than females into Princeton (for example, I happened to have literature handy), but nevertheless the school takes more males than females (52 to 48). How can you explain that if colleges are giving a bump to men? To actually tip the scales in favor of men would just be unreasonable.</p>
<p>Obviously, overall, there are more women in college nationwide and men have an edge getting into most schools. But at the top, both genders seem to be pretty equal when top spots are doled out. Maybe girls tend to reach higher, I don't know. </p>
<p>The point is, I'm not sure that gender is much of an issue. It might be. I don't know.</p>