Chance a Boston College Hopeful please

Colleges and Universities A-Z Boston College
1

<p>Well, now that my senior year is coming very soon, I feel that it is worth making a chance me thread. I appreciate your ability to take the time and chance me.
State: New York
White Male
Intended Major: Economics or Computer Science
ACT: Composite: 30 English: 33 Math: 30 Reading: 30 Science: 27 Combined English/Writing: 28(6 essay…ouchhh)</p>

<p>SAT CR: 600 Math: 650 Writing: 710 (10 essay(twice))
1250/1600, 1960/2400</p>

<p>GPA: 101.5(Weighted)
Class Rank: Most likely top 5
Class size is roughly 600 students</p>

<p>AP Classes: AP Physics, AP Calculus BC, AP Chemistry
All other classes are honors or college credit</p>

<p>Extracurriculars: Student Gov’t(Treasurer(9) Vice President(10,11,12))
Newspaper: Sports Writer(9, 10) Sports Editor(11,12)
Baseball(9,10)
Winter and Spring Track(11,12) I lettered in winter and spring and was a county and section champion in the spring
National Honor Society(11-12)
Science Honor Society(11-12)
Math Honor Society( Mu Alpha Theta) (11-12)</p>

<p>Awards/Distinctions: Male Student of the Year(only recipient of my grade)
Served as a delegate for New York State’s Boys State Program</p>

<p>Also, my ACT essay was rather low. However my SAT essay was relatively high. Will colleges acknowledge that I am still a strong writer. The ACT prompt was about using GPS tracking on children. It was not very “writer-friendly” in my perspective. Do colleges focus heavily upon the ACT essay score? Also, should I submit both tests or just one of them? Thank you</p>

2

<p>Ill rate you on the BC thread too…haha…you stand a good chance but your scores are relatively low for Boston college and Villanova…get them up to around 31 and youll stand a pretty good shot.</p>

3

<p>As a whole, your profile is somewhat bland. The grades are great. You’re taking difficult APs next year. You’re a leader in your school and active participant in sports. You’ve had your fill of memberships in honor societies. As others have said, your SAT/ACT scores are low. I would recommend sending both as I had some inconsistencies on my scores as well (ACT Science-29, SAT 2’s in Chem and Bio-770). However, I think that most assumptions of writing skill will come through in your personal statement as the standardized tests are better indicators of understanding grammatical/literary structures. So worry more about writing an awesome essay. Which brings me back to my main point which is you need to really utilize the personal statement to distinguish yourself from a pool of over-achieving smart people. There are plenty of people in student government or on a sports team or in a bunch of honors societies, but what makes you different is your passions and perspective on the world. You really need to shine in this aspect to catch the adcom’s attention. With greater consideration to the standardized testing, I’d say you’re a low match.</p>

4

<p>Thank you for the advice. It is very helpful. Just curious, do you attend or did you apply to BC?</p>

5

<p>I’m going in this year as a freshman at BC.</p>

6

<p>Congratulations! Did you have an interview? Do you have any helpful hints? Also, how is BC with Merit aid and/or Financial Aid?</p>

7

<p>Thank you! No, there’s no interview for BC as a policy, which just adds more weight to that personal statement. As for financial aid, BC is somewhat stingy and expects the family/student to take out loans to pay for college. The only merit aid available is this elite group of 15 people who get a full ride called the Presidential Scholars. The kid who got it at my school turned it down for Harvard. That’s how tough it is to snag that prize.</p>

8

<p>Wow, that’s tough competition for a Merit scholarship. I’ll talk to two students who were accepted and attended Boston College from my school to see if they received any Financial aid. They have similar credentials as myself. Thanks again for all of the help.</p>

9

<p>Well, for perspective, BC gave me about 25k in aid, but I’m still taking out 12k in loans.</p>

10

<p>25k a year or overall?</p>

11

<p>25k a year, but technically financial aid changes every year if the income changes.</p>

12

<p>NovaNation, haven’t you gone through this in other threads?</p>

<p>What is your UW GPA? For now I’ll assume it’s around a 93 ~= 3.7.
SAT1s ~ 25th% - 33rd%-tile
ACT ~ 40th%-tile
Rank Top 5%
ECs:
Student Govt 4 years projected
Newspaper: 4 years projected
Baseball 2 years
Track 1 year actual
Honor Societies 1 year actual</p>

<p>Your GPA is BC average but your standardized test scores are below the mid-point. You’ve shown commitment to Student Government and the Newspaper. You have some awards/honor societies. No community service work mentioned. As a white male from New York state you’ll have a lot of competition. </p>

<p>As thecake puts it, your profile is somewhat bland. You’re going to need exceptional essays and recommendations. Without more “oomph” in your profile, right now BC feels like a high match/low reach, IMO.</p>

13

<p>Vinceh, I have posted this in other threads. But only the colleges I am highly interested in. I had one solid chance me thread but it was not nearly as successful as these recent threads have been. As for community service, I volunteer annually for Donate Life-A Transplant foundation Awareness walk. I also volunteer at a local Senior Citizen’s breakfast each year and at a hospital run annually. I work as a lifeguard.</p>

14

<p>The best way to improve your application at this point is to retake either the ACT or SAT (whichever you feel you have a better chance at increasing scores) and write a mind-blowingly good essay.</p>

<p>Also, as a side note and potentially a good essay topic, why do you want to pursue economics or computer science when your background indicates more so an interest in the traditional sciences (bio, chem, physics)?</p>

15

<p>@Thecakelisalie9, do you happen to go to school in New York? I know a kid who got the Presidential Scholarship but is going to Harvard instead also…</p>

<p>Anyway NovaNation, as you may or may not know, most of your competition for BC is against other white kids, so you need something that sets you apart. When you say class rank, do you mean top 5 or top 5%? EIther way, out of 600 kids, that’s great. However, you’ve only got 3 AP classes, even if the other classes are honors, so I’m not exactly sure how challenging your schedule is. Are you taking more APs next year or is that all of them you will have taken all 4 years? As far as your SAT goes, it won’t keep you out, but it won’t help you get it either. Your EC leadership stuff it pretty good though, definitely stick to that stuff and continue to do well in track, you’ve got a shot at BC.</p>

16

<p>Nope, I’m from Massachusetts. Most of the people who get the presidential scholarship are HYP-bound anyways.</p>

17

<p>Hey,</p>

<p>I would say you have a fairly decent shot at getting in if you can raise your SAT scores. You kind of don’t have a really competitive schedule, which doesn’t bode well, but you have good EC’s.</p>

<p>Could you chance me for B.C</p>

<p>Location; Ohio
Sex: M
Ethnicity: Indian</p>

<p>GPA:4.1 (W), 3.7 or 3.8 (UW) (School has 4.0 starting from 95)
SAT: 2230 (770 CR, 720 M, 740 W, Essay: 12)
ACT: 33 (Eng: 30, Math: 34, Reading: 33, Science; 34, Writing: 9)
SAT II: Chem: 800 Math II: 710 Bio: 700
AP (Score/ Year Took): Euro (5/10), Chem(?/11), Stats (?/11), Bio (?/11), Calc A/B (?/11), English Language (?/11)
Next Year AP’s: Physics, Calc B/C (First year school is offering), English Lit, Gov
I also have taken 2 Spanish Classes at OSU</p>

<p>Extracurriculars/ Awards/ Etc. :</p>

<p>Volunteer at Hospital (By time applying will be around 300 hours)
Historian of National Honors Society
In the Know ( Similar to Quiz Bowl) for 4 years
OMUN for 1 year
Water Polo for 3 years
Co-President of Debate Club
House Leader at school (First Year School is doing this)
Research at Ohio State Medical Center (Probably like 200 hours)
Shadowing Doctor in Summer
Most likely commended National Merit Scholar
CSLC Forum on Medicine
US Academy of Achievement for Math</p>

<p>Class Schedules:</p>

<p>Freshman Year:
Introduction to Humanities (2 Classes/ English and History) : A-
Honors Geometry: A-
Honors Algebra 2: A +
Chamber Orchestra: A
Biology: A +
Spanish 2: A-</p>

<p>Sophomore Year:
Honors English 10: A-
AP European History: A-
Honors Pre- Calc: A-
Honors Chemistry: A-
Accounting: A+
Spanish 3: A
Physics: A+</p>

<p>Junior Year:</p>

<p>AP English Language: A+
AP Calc (A/B) : A-
AP Chem: B
AP Bio: A-
Honors Spanish 4 (Mix of Spanish at School and Ohio State): A-
AP Stats: A
U.S History: A</p>

<p>Senior Year Schedule:</p>

<p>AP English Literature
AP Gov and Politics
AP Physics
AP Calc B/C (First Year Being Offered)
Anatomy
Senior Seminar (Basically, a Senior Project)
Psychology</p>

18

<p>rijudasgupta- you stand a very good chance. I think you will get in, but sometimes BC can be tricky…you may be waitlisted. </p>

<p>You have pretty much the same application as I.
SAT 2230
SAT 2 math 1c 740 SAT chem 790
I took college classes too.</p>

19

<p>BEfore, the question was asked about top 5 and whether or not I meant a percentile. I meant I fall within the Top 5 as in exact rank. 5/600. I am possibly in the top 3.
Also, I probably won’t submit my SATs if people think it’ll hurt my cause. Instead I’ll rely on my ACTs. What do you all think?</p>

20

<p>@rijudasgupta- I think you have a very good chance of getting into BC- grades, standardized testing, and EC’s are all excellent. The only thing, to be nitpicking, is that you aren’t planning on taking a foreign language your senior year. In the grand scheme of things, that’s not a HUGE deal, but I do know a close friend who went to a pretty prestigious math/science school (they basically take courses at WPI their senior year) who dropped Spanish the last year and got waitlisted at BC. There were, of course, other considerations that weakened her application such as the fact that her “english” classes were technical writing courses. What I think BC is looking for is well-rounded individuals and as long as you’re taking plenty of history/english courses, you should be fine. Just be weary that BC does recommend 4 years of language, and that is a slight weakness in your application. However, as a whole, I feel pretty strongly that your chances of acceptance are good.</p>