Chance. I'm sorry.

Colleges and Universities A-Z Williams College
1

<p>I apologize for adding another chance thread to this forum, but I want to emphasize that I write it for the very practical purpose of trying to decide where I should apply Regular Decision and where I might realistically stand a chance of being accepted. So please be honest. </p>

<p>Objective Stats:
Biological: White male
GPA: 96.66, weighted (my school doesn't calculate unweighted averages).
Class Rank: 16/126
Type of school: pretty crappy, relatively uncompetitive public school in upstate New York (just to contextualize my class rank as being even worse than it initially appears).
Course Load: most rigorous in class, including a skipped grade of math and now college math classes at the local LAC.
SAT I: 2370 cum, 800 cr, 800 m, 770 wr
SAT II: 800 math II, 770 ush, 730 lit
ACT: 35 comp
APs: 5s on Euro, US History, Calc AB, Physics B, currently enrolled in AP Eng Lang, Gov, AP French, and AP Chem.</p>

<p>Subjective Info:
Childhood (i guess not entirely subjective but whatever): happy, extremely fortunate, comfortable childhood, no hooks whatsoever.
ECs: Ballet, extensive involvement, have attended 4-week summer intensive for 4 years now. Music, extensive involvement, play cello in several local orchestras, attended 4-week summer intensive this past summer partnered with Philly, compose electronic music. Model UN, vice-president. Lit Mag, staff member. Mathletics, team member. Some community service, I tutor refugees in English at the local refugee center weekly. Finally, I have a music radio show at the local college radio station. I guess it's not an EC in the traditional sense but my love of music in general is such a big part of me in general that I included it in my app.
Honors/Awards: nothing really spectacular, National Merit Semi-finalist, AP Scholar with Honor, NHS.
Recommendations: excellent, i was able to build friendly and intellectually stimulating relationships with both teachers.
Essays: Common App essay is fairly good, details my love of photography and my year spent living abroad, things I didn't include elsewhere on my app. haven't started supplement...nervous laugh. </p>

<p>Sorry if I missed anything, and I genuinely appreciate all of your helpful input, regardless of what it says. Also, sorry for my erratic and inconsistent capitalization.</p>

2

<p>Wow-you might be worthy of the purple-really. Good luck! They have to take some people from public schools in upstate NY, why not you?</p>

3

<p>You are a tough case. Why is your class rank so much lower than your excellent test scores? The Admissions Office will want a good answer to that question.</p>

4

<p>dkane - i guess the pathetic thing is that there isn’t really a good answer, or at least a single good answer. here are the reasons i can think of off the top of my head: my freshman/sophomore math teacher was a joke. she assigned things like creating “personal identity collages” (create a collage of pictures that define you) and a slideshow of how math relates to real life (which usually consisted of pointing out how earrings are circular). she was a miserable teacher and i basically refused to take her assignments seriously. my average in that class suffered accordingly (i scraped by with 82 or so in math both years) which really hurt because, as i hope is apparent, math is one of my strongest subjects. entirely my fault - i should have just smiled and done her assignments. throughout my high school career, my second quarter average has sucked relative to all my others because of nutcracker performances (an incredibly time consuming activity). perhaps most compellingly, the weighting system at my school is minimal relative to the actual, significant difference in difficulty between regular and AP/Honors classes, and almost everyone above me in class rank chose to take an easier schedule for a higher GPA. furthermore, i have always struggled with the blessing/curse of perfectionism: i spend too long on specific assignments, etc. </p>

<p>of course, none of these are good reasons whatsoever - more like lame excuses. i guess i’m generally prone to getting too interested/involved in things unrelated to my school work. in my freshman and sophomore years, for instance, i became completely obsessed with the 2008 presidential election. i spent hours a day reading political articles, blogs, and polls. i campaigned for Obama 3 times in working-class areas in Pennsylvania (i live in upstate New York). i was not as concerned with my grades as i should have been. in retrospect, i would have gladly sacrificed a few more points off my GPA for the opportunity to campaign a few more times. the feeling of being politically involved is totally ineffable. it was the happiest time of my life. i loved the opportunity to talk to people in Pennsylvania about the things i was most passionate about, and i loved the experience of meeting so many fascinating, sometimes amusing and eccentric people. since then i have maintained a very strong sense of political activism and involvement (i was roundly ridiculed by my friends for watching C-SPAN for 10 hours during the final House vote on the Health Care Bill). i do briefly touch on my campaigning in my application essay. </p>

<p>i think the main problem i see with what you say, “The Admissions Office will want a good answer…,” at least in my situation, is that i don’t feel that any of the reasons are compelling enough to write about. i guess i could write about them in the “Additional Information” section (how else would i provide an answer to “that question”), but i would rather deal with the low GPA/rank and hope that the rest of my achievements/virtues shine through than risk sounding like i am making excuses, something i, who have been fortunate and provided with all the opportunities afforded by a college professor parent and a stable, comfortable family life, have absolutely no right to do. </p>

<p>sorry that was a bit long. i hope some of it makes sense.</p>

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<p>“almost everyone above me in class rank chose to take an easier schedule for a higher GPA”</p>

<p>AxelNofz, I think this is a good reason. Something along the lines of “I chose to take the most challenging classes offered.” I think you are a very interesting applicant and you should apply and have a good chance.</p>

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<p>^well, i’d hope that my GC would indicate that in her recommendation…thanks for your input.</p>

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<p>I’d go with the short answer of " I took more challenging classes". Your record is excellent, I don’t think anyone could accuse you of being lazy or an under-achiever.</p>