chance ftw! darmouth, swarthmore, and chicago?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey guys. I'd appreciate a little chance magic :)</p>

<p>Gender: Male
Race: Caucasian
I go to a public high school in Maryland.
Rank: School doesn't rank, but definitely in top 10%, maybe in top 5% (I don't know when we find out)
GPA (UW): 3.83 GPA (W): 4.53</p>

<p>AP Classes:
AP American Government - 10th (5)
AP English Language - 11th (5)
AP World History - 11th (5)
AP Chemistry - 11th (5)
AP English Literature - 12th
AP Music Theory - 12th
AP Caclulus AB - 12th</p>

<p>Current schedule:
Honors Physics
AP Music Theory
AP Literature
AP Calc AB
Honors Orchestra (been taking since freshman year)
Honors French 5
Computer Programming 1 Advanced (I need a tech credit to graduate)</p>

<p>SAT:
Reading: 750
Math: 760
Writing: 770
Total: 2280</p>

<p>SAT IIs:
Chemistry: 710
Math II: 740
World History: 790</p>

<p>ECs:
Miscellaneous:
Mock Trial 9th-12th
Philosophy Club 12th</p>

<p>Violin:
Violin lessons (since 3rd grade)
Local Youth Orchestra (violin) 9th-10th
Pit Orchestra for musicals (both official school shows and unofficial shows) 9th-12th, deciding between cast and pit for this year</p>

<p>Acting:
School Improv Troupe (co-founded in 10th grade, been a member since then)
School Play 11th-12th (significant roles)
Actor in senior project plays 10th-12th
Various improv classes 10th-11th
Lead in student-run community play 11th
Actor in Traveling Shakespeare Troupe (summers before 11th and 12th grade, will be working there next summer, and I've interned there as well with younger groups)</p>

<p>National Merit Semifinalist
Maryland Distinguished Scholar Honorable Mention</p>

<p>I'll have pretty good recs from my teachers and an amazing rec from the woman who runs the shakespeare troupe.</p>

<p>My interests are chemistry/physics and theatre. I think I want to major in chemistry or physics and either minor or, if that's not possible, double major in theatre.</p>

<p>Applying to:
UChicago EA
Brown
Dartmouth
Colgate (double-legacy for both parents undergrad, brother goes there currently)
Columbia (double-legacy for both parents grad)
Macalester
Swarthmore
Reed
Oberlin
Kenyon
University of Maryland - College Park (in-state)</p>

<p>Maryland is my safety, and Colgate and Kenyon I consider to be pretty solid/low matches. My top three are Reed, Swarthmore, and UChicago... I'm looking for a very academically intense school.</p>

<p>Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!</p>

2

<p>umm....your legacy thing is def. going to get you in, unless you screw up somewhere like on your essay ("I shoudl come to columbia cause my parents did")
good luck
:P</p>

3

<p>yea legacy will help with columbia, and your sat and gpa are solid enough to get in there</p>

4

<p>How much does legacy count with Columbia compared to other schools?</p>

<p>Thanks for the responses, guys! Anyone else?</p>

5

<p>i think legacy is as important at columbia as any other . my friend's mom went and she was accepted and her dad went to harvard, but she was rejected.</p>

<p>just a little tidbit.</p>

<p>I think you have great chances by the way</p>

6

<p>bumpity bump bump</p>

7

<p>UChicago EA: 75% in
Brown: 50% In
Dartmouth: 50% In
Colgate (double-legacy for both parents undergrad, brother goes there currently): 90% In
Columbia (double-legacy for both parents grad): 50% In
Macalester: 90% In
Swarthmore: 60% In
Reed: 85% In
Oberlin: 90% In
Kenyon: 95% In
University of Maryland - College Park (in-state): 100% In</p>

<p>If I were you I would lose some of the safer schools and add a couple more reaches like Amherst and maybe Williams.</p>

8

<p>I looked at Amherst and Williams, and they seem to be a bit too jocky for me, even though they're amazing schools. I'm thinking about Wesleyan in place of Kenyon (Kenyon is like 88% white, it's ridiculous).</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

9

<p>buuuuummmpppp</p>

10

<p>Any other chance opinions?</p>

<p>btw, turns out I'm not legacy at Columbia, since my parents didn't graduate from the College. but Columbia says that having parents that graduated from any institution under the umbrella of the university provides a "slight advantage" in admissions, just less than the advantage of being legacy.</p>

<p>I'd appreciate any help!</p>

11

<p>If u get into Chicago EA, are you going to be applying to the other places RD?</p>

12

<p>Duke is a great school-similar to Dartmouth but with nicer weather and more modern campus. Also Holy Cross -similar to Colgate. HC has a great chemistry program and is building a $60 million addition and its theater department is solid for a LAC. Holy Cross is only 1 hour from Boston.</p>

13

<p>Mondo, yes, I'll still apply everywhere else RD, or at least most places. I love Chicago, but I don't trust myself to make a decision right now... I'd rather have options later on.</p>

<p>And par72, I've looked at Duke, but I've decided not to apply anywhere further south than D.C. for reasons of weather. Personally, I view Dartmouth's freezing temperature as a plus :) Holy Cross, though, I hadn't thought about... I'll definitely take a look, thanks!</p>

<p>I'm particularly curious as to what people think about Swarthmore and Reed, as along with Chicago they're my favorite schools.</p>

14

<p>bump it....</p>

15

<p>I don't know what kind of commentary I can give, other than to say that those three schools are all different from each other, but similar enough that it makes sense to consider them together.</p>

<p>You should visit the schools for yourself, though, if you're still considering them come April.</p>

16

<p>Chicago and Swarthmore will probably be tougher schools to get into than Reed.. with the former two being slight reaches and Reed being a match.
All of them are nice cold Northern schools.. places truly known for a love of ideas.</p>

17

<p>Thanks, guys. I don't think Reed is especially cold, but it's colder than D.C., so that's good enough for me :-).</p>

<p>Any other chances?</p>

18

<p>You thought Amherst was jockier than Dartmouth?</p>

19

<p>The case isn't that Amherst is jockier than Dartmouth.. it is rather that it is harder to avoid the 'sports scene' at Amherst than Dartmouth since it is a smaller school.</p>

20

<p>You seem fine, but of course take EVERYTHING people say here with a grain of salt. We're your competition, remember? =)</p>