Bowdoin

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm hoping that someone will chance me. I've read the forums for about three months, but never joined because I did not feel I had anything to say. I've been looking at colleges for a while, but I just fell in love with Bowdoin. Unfortunately, I have no idea if I have any chance of getting in. So... here are my scores, grades, etc.</p>

<p>I'm a Caucasian female, lower middle class. I go to a rigorous public high school (consistently in the top 10 or 20 of my state.) I'm going to be a junior next year. I'm number 2 out of about 230 students. My weighted GPA is 4.28. I have only every gotten A's and A+'s as my final grade. I called in and got my AP results last week, and I got a 5 in AP european history and a 5 in AP Statistics. I'd like to be a history professor and I'm really passionate about history. I'm taking all the hardest courses at my school, and during the summer I have taken Honors Writing from Case and Honors US history from Northwestern. Also, I think the following will be a plus. My junior year, I'm doing and independent study/research project at one of the top historical societies in the country. I'm looking through documents from the late colonial period and assessing the social and domestic roles of settler women. A 30-50 page paper will be written and I'll present the society with some sort of program for them to use.</p>

<p>Freshman year I took as my main courses
Bio, Earth Sci, Honors Math II, Honors Math III, English, History II, French III (skipped a two levels)</p>

<p>Sophomore year I took
French IV, AP Statistics, AP European History, Drawing I, Honors Physics, Honors Chemistry, English</p>

<p>I plan to take three APs next year: US history, Chemistry, and French. I predict I'll get a 5 on the first two and a 3 or 4 on French. Senior year I'll take five APs: Art History, US Gov, Physics C, Calculus, and Literature. I think I'll get fives in the first two, and fours on the rest.</p>

<p>I don't participate in a TON at my school. I'm a member of the science club for one year (we one a huge multistate competition). I'm an officer of SADD and an active member of key club. I'm the head of our small literary magazine and a very active member of Model United Nations. Next year, I'll be in NHS.
I took the PSATs sophomore year, but didn't do so hot. I got a 199, but with practice, I'm at about a 208 at the moment. I took the ACTs freshman year and got a 29. I took the SATs in eighth grade and got 2060. </p>

<p>I'd really appreciate it if you would chance me at Bowdoin. I know my biggest problem is that I don't do a ton of extracurriculars.</p>

2

<p>It’s hard to tell as you are only now a junior, but you look to be on the right track. If you can get 700+ on math and CR you’ll look like a competitive applicant.</p>

3

<p>I can definitely get those scores up. I’m listed as G&T, so they let me take the SAT I in 8th grade. Those are my 8th grade scores, so I’ll do better.</p>

<p>Thanks! Do you have any ideas for good saftey schools on the east coast - similar to Bowdoin?</p>

4

<p>I think your chances are good. Scoring a 2060 on the SAT as an 8th-grader, and a 199 PSAT in 10th grade, is impressive, IMO.<br>
Your extracurriculars aren’t stellar, but they’re solid. </p>

<p>Other schools to look at which may be easier to get into: Colby, Bates, Hamilton, Colgate</p>

5

<p>By the way, Congratulations on falling in love with Bowdoin!!! It’s my second-favorite school in the country :)</p>

6

<p>Thanks! I’m looking into Colby already, but Bowdoin takes top spot because of financial aid. </p>

<p>Do you think that I should join more extracurriculars or just leave it how it is? I haven’t done a ton of volunteer work, and I don’t know if my hours the the Animal Protective League will count, since they were in middle school.</p>

7

<p>It’s best to have one or two ECs that you are really passionate about and have those interests shine through in your app. That being said, you should be genuinely passionate about these things, so don’t do anything just because “it will look good for college.”</p>

8

<p>I’m really passionate about volunteering/working at the historical society. Does that count as an EC, you think? I’m big in Model UN, but nothing else.
Thanks for the advice!</p>

9

<p>If the volunteering/working at the historical society is outside of your school’s curriculum, I think that that makes it, by definition, an EC (and an interesting one at that; at least IMO). Model UN is also a decent EC. I would try to find maybe one more thing. Not one that takes up a lot of time like a major EC; more of a mid-level EC (i.e. one that is moderately impressive and that you enjoy, but one that doesn’t take up much time.) Something with a weekly or bi-weekly commitment would fit the bill.</p>

10

<p>Thanks. I’m going to try to join something else this year. The problem is, at least in my school, all the clubs meet on either Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday. So being in more than three clubs (which I am) is hard. But I was thinking of starting a French club, so I could decide when that met.</p>

<p>Thanks for all your advice. I’m very much looking into Bowdoin.</p>