Hi! I am currently a Junior in high school, and am seriously considering attending Colgate University if accepted. I would likely apply to Colgate Regular Decision, as I am probably going to apply to another school (Cornell) for Early Decision. If I don’t get into Cornell, Colgate is my 2nd choice. Any insights you have into my chances of getting accepted by Colgate would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
INTENDED MAJOR: Political Science
INCOME LEVEL: Upper Middle Class (will qualify for ~$10K in annual FAFSA benefits)
LOCATION: Pennsylvania
GPA (UNWEIGHTED): 3.8
GPA (WEIGHTED): 4.3 (4.5 in Junior Year)
ACT: 31 (E: 35, M: 30, R: 31, Sci: 26)
AP EXAMS: US History (4), English Language, Psychology, US Government, Environmental Science
EXTRACURRICULARS:
Class President (9-11)
Speech & Debate Team (Top 20 in US-11, PA State Champion-10, Captain-11, 2x National Semifinalist, 4x National Qualifier)
Democratic Club (Founder & President, 10-11)
Bi-Partisan Political Club (9-11, President-11)
Youth Board Member of County’s United Way (9-11, Secretary-11, Chairman-12)
Future Business Leaders of America (9-11, Cabinet Member-11, 2x State Qualifier)
Scholastic Scrimmage Trivia Club (9-11, Vice President-10)
County 1st Place Poet Laureate (10)
Peer Counsellor (10-11)
National Honor Society (10-11)
VOLUNTEERISM:
Intern, County Executive (11)
Volunteer, State Representative (11)
~150 Volunteer Hours with various charities
Again, any advice/feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for your input
Hi. I am currently an admitted Colgate University student for the class of 2024. Firstly, I want to congrats you on the high academic and extracurricular standing you have achieved. I want to remind you that Colgate University offers Early Decision 2 as part of its admission plan, which means if rejected or deferred by Cornell( I hope not), you can apply to Colgate with ED2 if you’re sure that Colgate is your second favorite. Colgate University has an acceptance rate of 38% for Early Decision compared with 21% of Regular Decision. Applying early can significantly increase your chance!
If you can maintain a high standing in GPA, I believe your chance is high. I would personally suggest you retake the ACT as 31 will place you on the lower 25% among admitted students. (Colgate’s ACT middle 50% is 31-34)
Hope you the best of luck! If you have further questions, please feel free to contact me (my email:rli1@colgate.edu)
I was in your exact position 1 year ago! I applied ED to Cornell, was deferred and debated applying ED2 to Colgate. I eventually decided not to, and was waitlisted at Colgate and received transfer option at Cornell. It was somewhat disappointing, but I am excited for what the future holds. My stats were a little higher than yours but your ECs seem stronger than mine were! If you have any more questions feel free to reply. If I were to give any advice, I would say apply ED2 to Colgate if you are deferred or rejected from Cornell! Best of luck!
Your profile is so similar to my son’s, who was accepted to Colgate as an RD applicant (he applied to Cornell ED as a legacy and was rejected outright). His superscored ACT was a 31 (the same E and M scores as you have, just swap the R and S), and he also got a 4 on AP US History. His EC’s are primarily athletics with a few community service activities. I’m sure the on-campus interview helped him, and his essay was very good, as were his recommendations.
Unless you can get that ACT score up quickly, I might recommend using your ED for Colgate rather than Cornell, where your stats might be a bit below their threshhold.
