Chance a Moldovan

Colleges and Universities A-Z Bowdoin College
1

<p>Intended major: Animal Science, Biology</p>

<p>If you could chance me for Bates, Bowdoin, UCONN, UNH and UVM (vermont resident) that would be great!</p>

<p>Mom is a special Ed teacher, don’t have a dad. Adopted from Moldova, and have dual citizenship </p>

<p>Income is only about 51k</p>

<p>Unique situation during my junior year…</p>

<p>90 gpa in 9th grade, 1 B in math and a B in art</p>

<p>92.59 gpa (sophomore year) B in math, B in env science</p>

<p>Junior year - had a severe case of mono, combined with hypothyroidism caused me to miss 3 months of school (could hardly watch TV, it was a nightmare), as a result, I was forced to drop some of my classes and catch up as quickly as possible so I wouldnt have to retake the 11th grade. 87 in AP english and comp, 89 in chemistry, and 72 in geometry honors <em>cringe</em> but I made it. Will mention this in my essay so they don’t think i just screwed off junior year.</p>

<p>Senior year schedule will be AP bio, lit, human geography and stats, and spanish III</p>

<p>SAT of 1600 (not submitting to Bates and Bowdoin for obvious reasons)</p>

<p>Volunteer work: (shows determination and focus) </p>

<p>Global impact apprenticeship: co captain freshman year. Worked with several schools overseas to improve water quality, wildlife and other things, all while documenting and presenting a video to broadcast with te other schools participating. This got lots of press, was in the news paper just about every month in my town, and when I search my name, half the results are from the GIA program</p>

<p>Ambassadors group member</p>

<p>Ran XC fresh year </p>

<p>Shadowed/assisted a horse vet over the summer: ~30 hrs</p>

<p>Worked on a dairy farm feeding calves twice a week : ~ 20 hrs</p>

<p>Green Mt Horse Association jumping crew, vet assistant/scribe and other various jobs: ~15 hrs </p>

<p>Shadowing/ assisting various vets every Saturday morning 9-12: 15 hrs </p>

<p>Volunteer at The Vermont Institute of Natural Sciences, orphan baby bird feeder</p>

<p>Attending Cornell Summer College Course in Captive Raptor Management junior year</p>

<p>Job as a dog sitter on an as needed basis</p>

<p>Strong essay writing skills. </p>

<p>Attended Adventures in Veterinary Medicine sophomore year.</p>

<p>Any feedback will be greatly appreciated, thanks.</p>

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<p>Bump…</p>

3

<p>Chances at which schools?</p>

4

<p>“If you could chance me for Bates, Bowdoin, UCONN, UNH and UVM (vermont resident) that would be great!”</p>

<p>all of them haha but i guess only the ones out of that list that you know well enough. i wont be sending my scores to bates and bowdoin…for obvious reasons</p>

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<p>What did you get on each section of SAT 1 (if you don’t mind me asking)?</p>

6

<p>math 450, reading 600, writing 550. could someone just chance me? please lol</p>

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<p>Bowdoin is a huge reach for you. Bates also is a reach, but slightly less so. You may get into some of the state schools, but it’s unlikely that you’ll get the aid you need. Sorry, but you asked…</p>

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<p>not sending my scores… like i said in the post. so do not go by my scores please. also they meet 100% of aid so i’m not sure why you think i wouldnt get the aid i need.</p>

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<p>dont know why you wanted to know my SAT 1 breakdown since i said i wouldnt send them since they were so low. but it’s alright</p>

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<p>Your best shot is UVM since you are a state resident, then UNH.</p>

<p>For Bates and Bowdoin, they will be looking for demonstrated success in a rigorous courseload, especially since you are not sending scores. You mentioned an 87 in AP English junior year and a 72 in Geometry Honors. That Geometry grade will not be helpful. You mentioned that you will be taking one AP course senior year. If your school offers a more rigorous courseload, your record probably will not make the cut at the Bates/Bowdoin level. </p>

<p>Take a look at the Decisions threads for Bates and Bowdoin for the past few years, you will see what your competition looks like.</p>

<p>You might want to take a look at St Lawrence and/or other LACs that are not quite as selective as Bates and Bowdoin. Regardless, you will need a few safeties. I think you will do fine but you will need to be a bit strategic, perhaps not reach quite as high and consider ED if you are able to. You also might want to retake the SAT and/or try the ACT. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

11

<p>I’m taking the most rigorous courseload my school offers. I was out of school for 3 months with mono, and i worked my butt off to get those grades to save me from retaking junior year. hopefully they’ll take that into consideration.
Do my extracurriculars not count for anything? My entire high school career has revolved around my passion to work with animals/vets, so that has to count for something. I thought these schools were more than just transcripts… :/</p>

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<p>also that score is with a fair amount of practice and hard work. ive taken the act before and gotten the same score equivalent. I have a learning disability in math which explains my seriously low score in math.</p>

<p>Im working on my reading/writing scores because there is no reason they should be low.</p>

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<p>Of course your extracurriculars, especially your clear passion for and dedication to working with animals, counts for ALOT! In fact, I’d say that part of your application is very very strong!!!</p>

<p>But the academic portion of your application will simply not be as spectacular as much of your competition. The fact that you are in fact taking the most rigorous courseload available to you is very important. Your senior fall grades will be critical. If you can achieve a solid A average in the fall, it will demonstrate that your performance junior year was clearly attributable to your bad fortune in being ill. It would be a good idea to have a guidance counselor address 1) your illness junior year and explain how you worked very very hard to catch up and 2) your learning disability in math.</p>

<p>But the bottom line is that the adcoms will want to know that you can do the work. Since you won’t be submitting scores, they have nowhere to go for this information but to your courseload and your grades. It would definitely be great if you could get those scores up!</p>

<p>FYI, when I visited Bates with my D about a a year ago, we were told that if your SATs were higher than the average, they would recommend submitting them. They indicated that anything above the mid 600s per section would add to the application.</p>

<p>Bowdoin is very very selective…most admitted students have SATs above 2100.</p>

<p>The idea behind score optional is that these colleges recognize that some students’ scores simply do not reflect their academic ability. So if you don’t submit scores, they assume they are below the average. So, they turn to the high school transcript to find evidence of academic achievement.</p>

<p>The whole package is important - academics (ie. rigor and grades), scores, character, extracurriculars. Your competition will be very tough at Bowdoin and only slightly less so at Bates. There are many LACs where your experience would be very similiar, however, that are not quite as selective and where you might be just as happy. You might want to put a few of those on your list, too.</p>

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<p>Like which ones? I’m curious. I’m only looking in New England though and New York State. Thanks!</p>

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<p>In New York - St. Lawrence [Test</a> Optional | St. Lawrence University](<a href=“http://www.stlawu.edu/admissions/test-optional]Test”>http://www.stlawu.edu/admissions/test-optional)</p>

<pre><code> Hobart & William Smith HWS: Apply

            a bit bigger - Ithaca College, Marist

</code></pre>

<p>In Massachusetts - Wheaton [Freshman</a> Applicants ? Admission | Wheaton College](<a href=“http://wheatoncollege.edu/admission/apply/freshman/]Freshman”>http://wheatoncollege.edu/admission/apply/freshman/)</p>

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<p>There are lots of LACs out there that would be a solid match or low reach for you, but with that academic record, I don’t think Maine is in your future. Like others have said, test optional schools offer that “option” because they know that standardized testing doesn’t do well in demonstrating potential for every candidate…so if you’re not sending scores, you need the transcript to say that you have what they’re looking for, and yours doesn’t, at least not for the Maine schools. Lots of others suggested tho!</p>