I am a high school senior wanting to go to cmc
I will be applying ED and my dad graduated from there
I have a 3.96 UW and a 4.376 Weighted
Im in the top 10% of my class but I only got a 26 on the ACT which I am taking once more but I don’t know how much ill be able to get it up
I play water polo and i swim
I run my own summer camp in spanish for kids in the immersion program in the local school and i did my middle school education in Spain
I really really want to go here but my test scores are what are worrying me because I know they are very low.
I have taken all the hard classes at my school such as APUSH AP chem Ap english and others and I got pretty good scores on my SAT II
Spanish: 730
US History 600
What do you think I should do to strengthen my application and if i even have a chance
Would you be able to compete on an aquatics team at CMC? They famously like “leadership.” Your score is obviously the weak link in your application. It is well below their range, even with legacy working in your favor. Have you also considered Pitzer? They are test-optional. They have a very different personality, but you could be part of the consortium and have plenty of opportunities for exchanges with CMC.
That ACT score is awfully low for CMC, even for a legacy ED candidate. CMC doesn’t require SAT 2’s. Have you tried the SAT? Some people do better on one than the other.
CMC is known for prizing leadership qualities in applicants, so you need to get LOR’s that emphasize that. Consider using your experience of running your own summer camp in your CA essay as a way to emphasize both your leadership skills and your desire to give back to the community. Also you need to weigh the benefit of ED against the benefit of taking longer to see if you can raise your test score. Last year it didn’t seem like kids were deferred in the ED round. Either accepted or outright rejected. Here’s a link to last year’s ED1 thread, but I have to warn you it’s pretty depressing! http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/claremont-mckenna-college/1701554-ed-1-class-of-2019-thread-p15.html
Truthfully your chances are low. CMC can be your reach but you should have other affordable choices that are safeties or matches for you. You don’t really say why you want to go to CMC other than that your dad went there. If you like the consortium, Pitzer is test optional. If you tell us more about what you’re looking for, I’m sure lots of people can give you helpful suggestions.