Chance a poli sci major applying to selective LAC's [MN resident, 3.88 GPA]

Chance Me / Match Me!
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We don’t offer a ton of classes, there are about 350 people here. The most rigorous offered are kind of the most rigorous ones taken. Our school has a rule that you can take one class on the campus of the college that we do DE with. The classes that most people take are what the professors come to our campus to teach. Right now there is Calc I, Calc II has been offered in the past, Biology, American History, Writing, etc. Those are all college and they’re all some of the more challenging courses.

I have a few friends who are going to the DE campus to do Calc III, but that’s never been available on our HS campus.

I hope this makes sense.

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So my assumption is you took Alg 1, Geometry and Alg. 2 and no math senior year? Other kids probably took precalc while others took Calc 1.

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You would be correct. I chose not to take pre calc this year because it’s not a college class and I wanted to take as many as possible.

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But those college classes are not going to transfer to Carleton or other selective LAC’s. I agree with the other poster that if you can get a math class for second semester and a more rigorous science class, it will help your transcript.

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Definitely register for Elementary Statistics (if you want to DM me the name of the college I can tell you which class it’d be) AND very important have your GC correct your Spring schedule so that it appears on CommonApp and have them contact Carleton with your updated schedule BEFORE THANKSGIVING BREAK

What are the other classes you’re thinking of for this Spring ?

All college classes are not “evaluated” the same by adcoms. And most won’t count at highly selective colleges for placement but they do count for admission and evaluating rigor.

DE classes taught at your school count “less” than college classes taken with college students at the college. So if thr DE classes were at the HS then everything goes up 1 level in selectivity (targets become reaches, etc.)

“Competitive” doesn’t refer to the students but to how college adcoms view your school. Odds are, your school isn’t very competitive in that meaning. Did your GC provide a school profile? Did they ask for a “brag sheet” (a sort of cv to help adcoms)?

Are you the first generation in your family who would graduate from a 4-year college?

Being full pay will help you with need aware colleges.

I think your odds at Carleton are not very good: they want 4 years in each subject, you have ASL not a “foreign or classical” language, you don’t have a 1500+ SAT, your school is not a feeder, so you may or may not make 1st cut.
However taking Stats in the Spring + your As in DE classes will help in general (not taking stats will reduce your odds about everywhere save for Beloit/L&C) and you WILL get into good LACs.
Add a few to your list. Some may have Dec1 EA deadlines.
For maximum geographical diversity boost, apply to Wheaton MA (NOT IL), Agned Scott, Willamette, Whitman, Allegheny, Kalamazoo, Muhlenberg, St Lawrence, Sewanee – then add Mount Holyoke, Macalester, Denison, Grinnell, St Olaf.
Your theater background would be especially appealing to Muhlenberg I’m guessing so I’d add that one first.

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To me it doesn’t matter if they transfer because that’s not why I’m doing them. I’m taking those classes because I want to be challenged and to show colleges that I want to grow in my education.

I talked to my counselor today about transferring into the statistics class that’s being offered next semester. She said that it will most likely work.
How would I communicate to Carleton that I transferred into a new class though? Would I just send an email to admissions about it?

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My point was if a precalc class is offered at your high school that would be preferable over an elective class at the college. If I were you I would drop any elective you have for next semester and get precalc, stats and a rigorous science.
For notification purposes, you can send an email to your rep letting him/her know of a change in your second semester courseload. That person will make a note in your file.

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Excellent! :+1::clap:
Your GC could email or call the regional rep at Carleton before Thanksgiving Break, to say you added DE Stats for the Spring. Then they can modify your academic record and upload it.
You can then email your regional rep with your new schedule. Something brief and factual (ppl here can help you with the wording if you wish.)
Then you add it yourself to your CommonApp (Spring semester) so other colleges can know about it. :+1:

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I wouldn’t be a first generation student, and I doubt that my counselors provided a brag sheet of the sort.

I will do my best though to get into the statistics course that’s being offered.
Also, how does the college know that the classes you’re taking were at a HS rather than a college itself?

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Thank you!

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I would be jumping into the second semester of precalc though and I don’t think I want to do that considering I didn’t take it this semester. Stats should work though. I don’t know if we have any more rigorous sciences.

If they like my essay a lot or feel as though I connect to the college’s traits, would that help my application a lot?

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Stick to DE Stats - the ship has sailed for precalc (it definitely isn’t a subject you can jump into) and you wouldn’t need it for poli sci, whereas you’ll need stats. Hopefully you’ll love stats!

I hope your GC and teachers wrote that you love to challenge yourself, have a lot of innate curiosity about lots of subjects. That makes a lot of difference.

…What about College of Wooster and Allegheny? Lots of kids who love to learn there.
Also, re-upping Agnes Scott (women’s college in Atlanta - a key state for US democracy-, great city&campus, dynamic college) and Muhlenberg (their theater program is topnotch and they’ll love an experienced prop person.) Look into both :wink:

Typically something like PSEO/CiS would appear on the HS transcript and the college would provide a college transcript. If it’s designated PSEO and have such a transcript then you’re good.

BTW you’d get into St Thomas, St Kate’s, and Augsburg if you wanted sth else than Hamline in the TC and you definitely would get into UMN-Morris and a few WI smaller colleges (Eau Claire…) if you want a public LAC at instate prices.

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Thanks for all of the advice!

I’ll definitely look into Allegheny, I know that they’ve sent me a lot of emails over the past few months. Not sure about Muhlenberg, I don’t really want theater to be the focus of my higher ed.

I’m getting so nervous for December 15. I just want to know right now if I’m getting in!

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Wrt muhlenberg, I saw that you’d done a lot of theater tech -it’s not a major so it’d be like a club – your major would be, I assume, Poli Sci, and you’d use their access into Philly&DC

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