Chance me at American?

Colleges and Universities A-Z American University
1

<p>What I am looking for is this school a stretch, match, or safety schools for my following stats.</p>

<p>Rising Senior </p>

<p>Intended Major : Political Science
High School : One of the top catholic private college-prep schools on the east coast located in NJ </p>

<p>GPA = 95 out of a 100 scale [do not know the weighted and unweighted conversion]
Class Rank = School does not do this however in the top 20% of the class at least.
Course Rigor : 3 AP Classes and 10 Honors Classes for my 4 years (more honors would have been taken but could not have been due to scheduling conflicts, my guidance cousenlor will be able to let admission officers know of this) </p>

<p>SAT I : 1920
Reading : 610
Math : 660
Writing : 650
Essay : 12<br>
Taken both in March and June and recieved same exact scores in every single section. </p>

<p>Academic Honors : First Honors [Freshmen - Junior & Senior Year]</p>

<p>Co-Curricular Activites :
Spanish Club [9,10,11,12]
Italian Club [9, 10, 12]
F.B.L.A. [11, 12]
Model U.N. [11,12]
J.S.A. [11,12]
National Honors Society [11,12]
S.A.D.D. [9,12]
La Sallian Youth [12]</p>

<p>Sports :
Varsity Cross Country
Varsity Volleyball </p>

<p>Extra Curricular Activites:
-member of Teen Committee in my town government
-part of three different travel baseball teams throughout the state of NJ
-law explorers
-youth group
-altar server in local church
-altar server in school ministry
-member of the teen age republicans
-special olympics regulator/coordinator
-member of NJ Young Republican Federation
-volunteer on the NJ Governor’s Race </p>

<p>Leadership Positions :
-Spanish Club Treasurer
-F.B.L.A. Executive Board
-Head Intern in State Representatives Political Office
-Special Olympics Coordinator </p>

<p>Community Service :
-Over 500 hours of service throughout different things:
-Visits at Local Nursing Home
-Involvement at Township Public School with Autistic Children
-Individual Work with Autistic Children
-Special Olympics Coordinator/Regulator
-Altar Serving
-Helping out at local downtown Soup Kitchen
-Local “Clean-Up” Organization in town park
-Tutoring Peers, Autistic Children, and Underprivileged children
-Autism Volunteer/Ambassador with the NJ Autism Foundation </p>

<p>Employment History

  • Unpaid Counselor in Training (Summer 2007)
  • Cashier at Wegmans Food Market (Summer 2007 - present)
    -Umpire in Local Baseball Little League (Fall 2007 - present)
  • Intern in State Representative’s Office (November 2008 - present)
  • Law Intern Clerk Prestigious NJ Law Firm (Summer 2009 - present) </p>

<p>-Attended Penn State Volleyball Sports Camp for two summers.
-Extremely strong recs and essays.
-Parental Income : Upper Tier (greater than 250k a year)</p>

2

<p>AU looks like a solid match- the average SAT of admitted students this year was 1260ish (math/verbal), gpa 3.9 (weighted), so you are right there.</p>

3

<p>thanks for your input.</p>

<p>i actually have American University as a safety school because my numbers are higher than most of American’s average numbers. </p>

<p>thanks again for your input - greatly appreciated :slight_smile: check out my other chances me. i have nine of them, haha</p>

4

<p>Your SAT scores would put you in the bottom 50% of accepted students, likely lower than that for the school of arts and sciences. Are you planning to do sports? If so, you should have contacted the school at the beginning of the summer. You can still do so - use the form on the website.</p>

5

<p>Actually…</p>

<p>American’s middle 50% is 1210-1370, which means that 25% of students score below 1210 and 25% of students score above 1370, so I would def. not be in the bottom of the 50% of accepted students, more towards the middle. And my GPA is above the highest for American’s middle 50% range.</p>

<p>I do not feel that my SATs are in any means low for American, especially with previous experience of friends who were admitted with much lower SAT scores. </p>

<p>And no I do not plan on playing a sport at American. </p>

<p>Thanks for your input though. :)</p>

6

<p>The new median is 1280 (and ACT 29). For CAS students (which as you describe yourself, you are), it is has traditionally been higher than the median for the rest of the school. </p>

<p>The point is that American for you is quite far from being a safety. You are more likely than not to get in, but safety isn’t even close.</p>

7

<p>wow your ECs and leadership is extremely impressive. You also have been able to maintain a high GPA throughout high school which is good. Your SATs are good but could be a little higher for whatever schools that your applying to.</p>

<p>But taking your entire application as a whole I would tell you American is a safety. So do not sweat it too much about getting into American, its actually fairly easy to get into. Good luck!</p>

8

<p>I think that posters on cc usually define a “safety” as a school where your scores are at or above the 75% (assuming the school is not HPYMS and the ilk). If you are defining AU as a safety, you may also not be realistically assessing other schools.</p>

9

<p>Thanks for your input I do appreciate it. :slight_smile: </p>

<p>My GPA is above the 75% however my SATs are not. I have already interviewed with American and was told that SATs aren’t the only thing they look at. Also, I was told that my SATs are actually higher than a lot of the students accepted during the 2009 range, (told to me by my interviewer). </p>

<p>That is why I define AU as a safety because everything but my SATs would allow me too. Believe me, all of my other schools are realisitic. I know I am not matched to Harvard or Princeton but I am also not matched to a community college. </p>

<p>But thanks for your input, I need all the help I can get before this college application process goes underway!</p>

10

<p>I am certainly not saying that you won’t be admitted to AU–in fact, I am saying you are a probable admit–ie a “match”. </p>

<p>I would caution you NOT to take anything said by the interviewer as anything more than encouragement to apply. Every school will tell you they look at more than SAT’s, that they are “wholistic”, yada, yada, yada… Just the same way that you attempted to convey your enthusiasm for AU during the interview (even though you are applying to multiple schools and may well choose to go elsewhere), the interviewer’s job is to convey enthusiasm to you and to encourage you to apply.</p>

11

<p>Here are the 2009 stats from the AU Facebook fan page.</p>

<p>Admitted freshmen boast:</p>

<p>• average SAT of 1288
• average ACT of 29
• average GPA (weighted and unweighted) of 3.9</p>

<p>So your SATS are slightly below the average and GPA is in the range. I agree, it is a match, very likely, but not a safety.</p>

12

<p>Also keep in mind that though SATs are not the only factors in admissions at AU, from my own experiences and hearing those of others, they are important if you are seeking a scholarship. AU does dish out some hefty scholarships, so you may consider that a good reason to aim for a slightly higher score. Other than that, your credentials seem impressive.</p>

13

<p>I’d rate your application as a match but not a shoo-in. Your application is “average” for AU…no real reason to deny you but no screaming reason to admit you either.</p>

<p>The fact that you interviewed will give you brownie points, which will help.</p>

<p>If you are male, you might get a few brownie points too, which will help tilt the scale towards an admit.</p>

<p>I think that most good schools in urban locations are getting more serious consideration than a few years ago because the odds of finding good employment opportunities seem to be better, so AU and other schools like it are seeing ever more applications. So selectivity is likely to rise.</p>

<p>Another thing to consider…this year AU’s yield was higher than expected as many more students sent in deposits than expected, which has resulted in a lot of students being tripled in rooms meant for only two students. AU might well accept fewer students next year if it predicts a high yield rate once again.</p>

<p>So, while I think you have a good chance of getting in, I would advise you to take the time to hone your application to make it as attractive to AU as possible.</p>