Chance for some selective liberal arts colleges...

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>So here's my hodgepodge info:</p>

<p>I'm a junior at a tiny rural Christian high school of two hundred students. </p>

<p>Right now my class rank is #1 but then again that is not saying much seeing as there are only 57 students in my class.</p>

<p>My GPA after sophomore year is 4.0 unweighted, 4.38 weighted. Hopefully that will go up a bit this semester because I am taking 3 AP classes. My itsy bitsy school only offers 6 APs, all of which I plan on taking before I graduate.</p>

<p>I took the SAT sophomore year and got a 2110 (660 R, 700 M, 750 W) but I am hoping to retake it and do a little better. I think I can at least bring my reading score up a bit, and I have since gotten an 80 on my math PSAT. </p>

<p>I have taken 8 years of piano, 4 years of flute.</p>

<p>I have run cross country for 5 years, track 1 year, tennis 1 year.</p>

<p>I participate regularly in my church by playing music.</p>

<p>I have a few (15-20) lovely hours volunteering by planting trees for CBF, which I loved but which is only available a couple times a year. </p>

<p>This year I am making quilts for disaster relief, 1 hour per week. </p>

<p>I have 25ish hours of gardening mentorship with a very nice old gardener in my neighborhood.</p>

<p>I have 15-20 hours of making infographics for an environmental organization. Enjoyable but didn't really go anywhere.</p>

<p>I recently started making terrariums out of recycled jars and donating them to a local thrift store. (weird, I know, but fun)</p>

<p>I have a couple of national Latin exam awards, and I took Precalculus and an Essay class online with CTY at JHU. </p>

<p>I volunteered/worked with the Youth Conservation Corps for three weeks last summer. Awesome experience. This summer I'm going on a cross country science learning trip with my school. </p>

<p>BUT.
I have NO LEADERSHIP. This is bad, yes, but how bad?</p>

<p>Here are my dream colleges that are probably unrealistic but fun to fantasize about:</p>

<p>Pomona College
Bowdoin College
Dartmouth College
Middlebury College</p>

<p>Here are my slightly more realistic colleges:</p>

<p>College of William and Mary
University of Virginia</p>

<p>And I'm still working out safety schools... so thank you so much for your time and input. Any advice would be great!</p>

2

<p>Hi! I go to Pomona and I had absolutely no leadership either. My application strengths were essays, test scores, and background, so if I can do it, so can you!</p>

<p>I think your SAT is a bit too low for Pomona and Dartmouth- 2200 should be a good starting point to where it won’t hurt you among other students. You said you got an 80 in Math though so I’m sure you can raise it up!</p>

<p>It’s fine for Middlebury and Bowdoin however, just about average for both schools. And also above average for William and Mary and UVA.</p>

<p>You have very genuine and unique extracurriculars. They aren’t exceptional, but they’re interesting. I think a school like Pomona will like them. </p>

<p>Really work on the essays! They are usually the deciding factor for most, if not all, of these schools.</p>

3

<p>Hey thanks so much! It’s nice to get some thoughtful advice rather than just a ‘reach-match-safety’ listing.</p>

4

<p>I would say not having leadership is pretty bad. To be frank, your ECs don’t show much commitment, with the exception of music and XC. You have a lot of scattered volunteer projects, which are respectable, but nothing really unique. You definitely need something else that’ll help you stand out. For these schools, you’ll need a higher SAT, as you already know, but your GPA/rank is very good.</p>

<p>Possible matches:
Bates
Colby
Pitzer (since you seem to like volunteering, but this school has gotten pretty competitive)
Scripps (if you’re a girl)
Richmond</p>

<p>What state do you live in?
And don’t neglect the Midwest. There are some very good LACs there.</p>

5

<p>There is plenty of time to improve your SAT scores and/or try the ACT. Middlebury and Pomona superscore the ACT.</p>

<p>I think with slightly higher scores you will have very good chance of getting into one of your top schools (particularly one of the 3 SLACs) IF you apply ED1 and if you package yourself well. This means focusing on your long-term commitment to music, writing your common app short activity essay on what you have learned from your musical endeavors, and indicating exactly how you will specifically contribute to the musical community at the school of your choice. It also means a very very good essay in which the readers will clearly hear your voice and get a sense of who you are.</p>

<p>If you think you might run track well enough to be considered as a NESCAC recruit, contact the coaches. If that is a possibility, you will be asked by the coach to apply ED1 as well.</p>

<p>Regular decision is a totally different story. You will need much higher scores and have a much harder time standing out. You will also have to be sure to demonstrate interest by visiting/ interviewing, especially (once again) at the SLACs. If you can, try to avoid “swimming” in the regular decision pool by applying early to the LAC that you like the best. It will greatly increase your chances.</p>

6

<p>Thanks guys, I will try your advice! One thing though - the flute and the piano were sort of side deals, I’m not actually very good at or very interested in music (despite taking so many years of it, I know :)) My biggest interests are actually in gardening/environmental science and in writing. Apparently I’m not doing a very good job at expressing these interests… :)</p>

7

<p>that’s fine, develop those gardening interests further throughout your junior year and through the summer, and focus on that for your #1 on the activity list and on the short activity essay. Be sure to check the box on the common app activity list that says you wish to continue this activity in college and then look up the name of the gardening group at your college of choice and mention it by name! Highlight the music as #2, your long commitment is valued.</p>

8

<p>Thanks everybody!</p>