Chance A Junior: Match or Reach?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Wesleyan University
1

<p>Hey! I'm currently a junior and really interested in applying to Wesleyan next year. I'm just hoping to get some idea of where I stand admissions wise. Kindly chance me, and give your opinion of whether Wesleyan is a match, high match, reach, or whatever other ranking you want to give! Thank you!</p>

<p>I'm going to post this same post on some other forums, so if you see me cross-posting, don't be surprised!</p>

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<p>Female, not URM or first-generation
Competitive public high school (So. CA)
Junior year abroad in France (well-respected and competitive program)
Will probably be applying RD to all schools to compare FA packages</p>

<p>GPA W: 4.15
GPA UW: 3.7
Taken all honors possible each year
School doesn't rank, probably in at least the top 20%, but not sure
My graduating class is around 990 students</p>

<p>I've taking one class at my local CC, a full credit Beginning German course. I earned an A. I'm hoping to take Creative Writing, Philosophy, or a history course this summer there as well.</p>

<p>Projected Senior Year:
AP Calculus AB, AP US History, AP Government (Comparative), Economics, Chemistry, Women's Literature, AP Art History, Advanced French Conversation and Intro To Physics(?) at local CC. (Due to my year abroad, I will only have two years of lab science if I don't take physics either this summer or in the fall. However, I'm planning to take it if possible.)</p>

<p>SAT - 2140 (one sitting)
CR - 730
M - 670
W - 740 (10 on essay)
Subject test to be taken in May/June: Literature, Math 2, French
AP tests to be taken in May: French Language, English Literature(?)</p>

<p>Awards:
- Le Grand Concours French Contest - 5th in CA / 6th in the nation
- National Honor Society
- California Scholarship Federation
- French Honor Society
- Haha, random but cool...pending Guinness World Record for largest collection of panda items</p>

<p>Main ECs:
- Speech & Debate - since sophomore year, various speech events and Parliamentary Debate (in which I have trophied)
- Volunteer at local hospital - two hours a week, around 50 hours earned so far, probably around 100 or more hours by application time
- Writing Editor for yearbook - junior year
- School newspaper staff - junior year
- Horseback riding - two hours a week for over two years, have also attended horseback riding camp
- Applying for a job as a counselor at a day camp this summer</p>

<p>Passion / Study Abroad:
My passion is the French language and culture, well-expressed in my application through my year abroad in France this year. I am with a well-respected program that places Americans in host families and a French-speaking school. All of my classes are in French with the exception of English and Math, and am performing well with an upward trend. I'm hoping that my international experience will set me apart from other applicants.</p>

<p>I plan to integrate my passion for France, language, and writing into my essay, which should be excellent since I am a good writer.</p>

<p>I will also most likely visit this summer.</p>

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<p>Chance me please? Am I on the right track to be accepted to Wesleyan? What could I do to improve my chances?</p>

2

<p>Wesleyan is a probably more of a Reach for you. Try retaking the SAT to raise all of your scores, and work hard in school.</p>

3

<p>Hard to say at this point. Try to raise your math score on the SATs (especially if you're taking Math II for the SATIIs) and get some leadership in your ECs during your senior year.
You look like you're well on your way to having Wes be a match/high-match next year, I'd say.</p>

4

<p>Welseyan is not Harvard. Aceeptances run about 27% and your SAT scores are right in their zone.. (see College Board profile: College</a> Search - Wesleyan University - SAT®, AP®, CLEP® </p>

<p>Coming from CA will also be in your favor. LACs on the east coast are always looking for geographic diversity since they traditionally get heavy applicant pools from New England and the NY/DC areas....</p>

<p>I would say to work on the essays hard and do something about standing out in the leadership area of your ECs.</p>

5

<p>I agree that Wesleyan is not Harvard, but I just want to say that I don't think acceptance rate is a very good judge of the selectivity of the school. Lots of totally unqualified applicants apply to Harvard (and other Ivies) because they know the name, whereas only the college-savvy have heard of Wesleyan. Harvard's huge, but not always qualified, applicant pool gives it a lower acceptance rate than Wesleyan's small group of LAC applicants.
I also think Wesleyan, from what I've heard at least, has plenty of applicants from California. If it were some other Western state like Arizona, Wyoming, Idaho, etc., that might give the applicant an edge, but I don't think CA does much, if anything.
I'd still advise the applicant to raise the math SAT score and UW GPA, but think she's definitely on track!!</p>

6

<p>^ Yeah. I spent the night for the open house this past November, and almost 1/2 of the prospectives were from Los Angeles, as well as my host, her roommate, and a bunch of other people.</p>

7

<p>Another consideration is that Wesleyan experienced a huge 20 percent increase in apps this year. If that's any kind of a precedent or trend, the acceptance rate is obviously going to decrease not just this year.</p>

8

<p>You could try taking the ACT, or try to get your math score above 700 on the SAT. The rest of your profile sounds great. Good luck.</p>

9

<p>you look like a match, especially if you apply ED.</p>

10

<p>wesleyan is most emphatically not harvard. to my mind these stats look very competitive.</p>

11

<p>"I don't think acceptance rate is a very good judge of the selectivity of the school. "</p>

<p>agreed, but harvard is more prestigious than wesleyan could ever possibly hope to be, and rightfully so</p>

12

<p>Bear in mind that the applicant rate for Wesleyan increased by 22% this year, hence making it more competitive. I would try and retake your SAT's to try and raise the score. Your scores at this point are just a bit low to be a sure acceptance.
Good luck</p>

13

<p>I think her scores look perfectly fine and are "within-range." Just write stellar essays and ask teachers who know you well to write you very personal recs. Convey something that you are passionate about throughout much of your applicantion and I would say you stand a very good chance of getting in. Good luck! (Please, don't stress about test scores. They're not as important as you may think. I learned the stressful way...)</p>

14

<p>AmbitiousMind07, I still think she should raise her scores, just to be sure. I took my SATs twice just to make sure everything was up-to-par.</p>

15

<p>^I suppose that could never hurt, but scoring over a 2100 on the first sitting is quite an accomplishment. I only recommend that if she has other more important things to take care that she addresses those things first rather than prepping for another SAT. But either way, I'm certain that she could probably raise that score even higher, which would only make her a more competitive applicant!</p>

16

<p>Thanks for the advice about SATs. I'm actually already planning on retaking them in June, after taking Math Level 2 (and other subject tests) in May. I'm mostly just hoping to increase my math score.</p>

<p>Wesleyan rocks. Peace out.</p>

17

<p>I haven't looked at the exact numbers, but every single one of my friends who have taken the SATs twice have had their math scores go up the second time (mine included). It's only one or two more questions that you have to get right!</p>

18

<p>That's good news penser. I really hope my math score can go up a bit.</p>

<p>BTW, what is your username a reference to? It's not French, or something?</p>

19

<p>With your SAT scores I might recommend using Kaplan's SAT 2400 or a similar higher-end prep book. I too wanted to raise my math scores after taking the SAT the first time, and after doing most of the math problems in that book I ended up raising it 50 points to a 760.</p>