Chance me at W&M, JMU, PSU, GWU, etc.?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi! I'm a senior girl from Pennsylvania and the senior year "holy crap I'm about to apply to college" anxiety is kicking in. It would be great if you could chance me at these schools:
College of William & Mary (ED)
George Washington University
Wake Forest University
Christopher Newport University
Penn State University Park
James Madison University
And just for kicks: Georgetown, Vanderbilt (probably wont even apply to these 2, just curious.)
I go to an average public high school. I'm white, I'm a female, and I don't have legacy at any of these schools except JMU, where my uncle attended and is currently an active member on one of the boards.
Class rank: 7 of 212, so top 3%
Weighted GPA: 4.95 unweighted: 4.0
All honors & AP classes throughout HS.
I took AP Chemistry, AP Government, and AP Language and Comp this year and had A averages in all 3 classes. I got 4's on gov & english, but a 1 on chem (chemistry and I just didn't get along) so I don't plan on sending my scores.
Next year I'm taking AP lit, AP calc, and APUSH, along with honors physics, honors pyschology, honors sociology, and honors European History I & II.</p>

<p>SATs after 2 tries are at a 1250/1900 and I just retook them in October. 650 WR, 610 M, and 640 CR. I think my math will probably go up to a 640, my writing to a 670-700, and reading to 660-670. Hopefully.</p>

<p>My EC's are strong. I've done theater for 10 years and have been involved in my high school's drama program every year. I'm an active member of Future Business Leaders of America, Interact Club, Chichester Students for Civil Involvement (basically a political and community activism group), KISS Army (Kids In School Spirit: Basically a pep group but a huge deal at my school), Student Council, Homecoming committee, Rho Kappa Social Studies Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, National Honor Society, and Math and Science Honor Society.</p>

<p>I volunteer every summer at a Christian dance camp for children and I've also done 150+ hours of other various volunteer activities in my community or through my school. I actually really enjoy volunteer work and hope to do more my senior year.</p>

<p>As for leadership, I'm Student Body Treasurer and Student Council Historian. I'm also a manager at my part-time job at an ice cream store. My teacher rec's also say a lot about how I'm a leader in the class room (I haven't seen them, it's just what I've been told)</p>

<p>Writing is my strongest area and I've always been able to churn out good essays, so I would say good essay.
Great and unique teacher recommendations.</p>

<p>I interviewed at W&M this summer: it went so well from my perspective! It was relaxed, simple, and a lot of fun. I'm an outgoing person so talking to a stranger wasn't hard. William and Mary is my top school and i know it's a big reach, so I took the initiative to interview.</p>

<p>So what do you think? ESPECIALLY for William & Mary. I'm applying ED at W&M and EA at all the others that offer it and RD if they don't. Thanks!</p>

2

<p>bump, thanks!</p>

3

<p>W&M - you definitely have a chance ED. Your scores are a bit low, though. If you could break 1300 (cr + m), that sure would help. Vanderbilt and G’town, I think you would need to break 1400. The rest - no problem.</p>

4

<p>W&M ED: Low Reach.
GW: Match.
Wake Forest: High Match / Low Reach.
Penn State: Low Match.
CNU: Safety.
JMU: Safety.
GTown: Reach.
Vanderbilt: High Reach.</p>

<p>A 1300 CR+M is not satisfactory for W&M. That is very close to their bottom 25th score. Aim for closer to 1400 or 30+ on the ACT.</p>

<p>[Chance</a> back?](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1561112-w-m-ed-emory-etc-will-chance-back.html]Chance”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1561112-w-m-ed-emory-etc-will-chance-back.html)</p>

5

<p>Top 3% of class + ED + break 1300 = decent chance for WM, IMO. Of course, the higher the better.</p>

6

<p>Thanks to everyone who has answered. Bump!</p>

7

<p>bump please!</p>

8

<p>I can address the VA schools, both as an alum of one and a parent of a current student at one and having gone through looking at all of the schools you’ve listed and watching my son and his friends apply to them. I’m an active W&M alum and have been involved in the past in regional admissions interviews, so I can really address that one well. As an out of state student, W&M is a reach for you, mostly because of your SAT scores. Even for in-state students, the benchmark is generally 2000 (although the school says it doesn’t have any cut offs). Your grades and EC’s are strong, and they will pay attention to your recommendations – so choose wisely who will write them. Most people don’t realize it, but getting into W&M from out of state is Ivy League hard in every sense. Even in-state students face pretty stiff competition to be admitted. However, the good news is that they take a very holistic approach to admissions and consider the whole student (in contrast to their main in-state competitor, UVA, which is much more numbers driven). They really do read the essays (twice!) and recommendations, so you definitely should put a lot of effort into both of those. Think about having not only a teacher but also an adult who supervised your camp counselor work or your ice cream store work write one. You can “invite” them to submit via the Common App form. W&M values strong writing and students who are not afraid of challenging themselves academically. It is one of the most intellectual schools in the country, so they value academic curiosity and rigor. The more you can demonstrate that in your application, the better chance you will have. It’s great that you have had an interview, because that will help you. Demonstrated interest can have an impact at W&M. For JMU and CNU, you have a very strong chance, especially at JMU with your connection. CNU also has interviews, and they say that they give extra consideration to candidates who have one. For both of those schools, I would recommend applying Early Action (EA), while applying to W&M ED at the same time. This is fine to do. If you happen to get into W&M ED, then you would have to remove your name from the pools at JMU and CNU immediately after hearing from W&M. You just can’t apply to more than one school ED at a time, since it is binding if you are accepted. My son is a junior at JMU and loves it. He’s found it plenty academically challenging and is thrilled with the wide choices of activities to get involved in there. It’s also an extremely friendly, down-to-earth campus. W&M, JMU, and CNU are all great schools with an undergraduate focus and strong advising programs – you can’t go wrong with any of them. My son has only had full professors teaching his classes at JMU, as did I at W&M. W&M and JMU both have excellent orientation programs for freshmen, as well, and work really hard to help students have a smooth transition into college life. Good luck to you however it turns out.</p>

9

<p>College of William & Mary (ED) - out of reach if you can’t get above 1900, even with ED, within reach if you break 2000
George Washington University - within reach
Wake Forest University - match
Christopher Newport University -safety
Penn State University Park - match
James Madison University -safety
And just for kicks: Georgetown, Vanderbilt - probably out of reach so apply “just to see”.</p>

<p>Now, the question: what about finances? How much can your family afford?
The only in state option here is PSU - even if you get in, can your parents pay? Have you run the Net Price Calculators with your parents, and discussed the results with them?</p>

10

<p>Thank you to both of the most recent replies for the detailed answers! I appreciate it a lot. Yes, my family and I have thoroughly gone through the costs and with scholarships, grants, and loans, I am fine for all of these schools.</p>