Chance Me (Clark)

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Maryland - College Park
1

<p>Grade 12
White Male
Average Public High School</p>

<p>I want to major in engineering. (Clark School of Engineering)</p>

<p>Scores:
SAT-Not Submitting
ACT: Comp-31 (not sure, but considering taking again)
34 English
31 Math
31 Reading
29 Science
8 Writing</p>

<p>GPA and Classes:
GPA Unweighted-3.67 (difficult courseload); Weighted-4.853 (top 5% of class of approximately 220)</p>

<p>I have taken the hardest possible courseload my high school offers. Additionally, I am one of two students taking every AP class available.</p>

<p>Classes of Notability:
AP US2
AP Biology
AP Calculus (AB?)
AP Physics (BC)
AP English
AP Chemistry
AP European History
Honors German 5 (only honors is offered)</p>

<p>EC's:
Math and Science Leagues, History Club, school science fair (won 1st one year), HS JV Baseball Team, couny baseball team, volunteer at food bank, volunteer at summer camp, volunteer for Relay for Life, and volunteer for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (writing essay about this). Volunteer work for the entirety of high school is around 350-400 hrs. </p>

<p>Work Experience:
Worked as a bagboy in a supermarket and a camp counselor at a summer camp.</p>

<p>Essay (common app): Overall, I think my essay is well written and unique. It is about how volunteering as a clown in the Macy's Thankgiving Day Parade (well known televised parade in NY) gave me the courage to express myself even though I was an intrinsically quiet and introverted person.</p>

<p>Supplements: My supplements also have a personal and unique twist to them.</p>

<p>URMs: None, middle class</p>

<p>Reccomendations: One will be from my German teacher, who I have had for 5 years. She knows me well and I am confident that the rec will be good. My other rec will be from my physics teacher; I know it will be good, but not as good as the latter.</p>

<p>Please no trolls that say that you can't get into a prestigious college without a 3.9-4.0, 2250-2400/33-36, and participating in a science olympiad, I know that is not true. Please give me your honest oppinion and any additional advice.</p>

<p>Thank you very much.</p>

2

<p>A lot depends on whether you are IS or OOS. I think you are a solid admit either way to the University itself, but the engineering school may be tricky. </p>

<p>I know kids that were admitted into the honors college, but didn’t get into Clark, and other kids were admitted to scholars but didn’t get into Clark. Don’t lose hope if you get admitted to the University but not Clark (your admission letter will say your advising college is Letters and Sciences instead of Clark); you just take basic core classes as you normally would and reapply as an “in-school transfer.” Not a problem. </p>

<p>Having said that, here are the stats of this year’s direct admits to Clark School of Engineering per admitted students’ day:
2012 Freshman Class Profile Quality and Diversity
-Applications 5,000
-Admitted: 1625
-28% women
-15% minority
-enrolled - 769
-SATs (Critical Reading/Math)
-Average SAT: 1381
-75th percentile SAT: 1460
-25th percentile SAT: 1320
-Average HS GPA: 4.2</p>

<p>No, they did not give out ACT stats. While 31 is a solid composite score, your math and science scores are on the low side for engineering. Not sure if they look at entire breakdown of ACT or just composite score or just two sections like they do for SAT. FYI, my freshman engineer had a 36 in math section of ACT and 34 in science. Admissions to Clark, which is a LEP (Limited Enrollment Program) are significantly more competitive than the University in general.</p>

<p>So, you can see why it’s a bit tricky predicting for Clark, even though I think you are a solid admit to the University, and a likely honors or scholars invite. The difference between honors and scholars is that honors leans heavily toward in-class learning whereas scholars are those with stronger ECs and incorporates out-of-class experiences. Both are awesome programs.</p>

<p>The most important thing you can do is apply by the November 1st deadline. </p>

<p>Hope this helps.</p>

3

<p>I think you ACT and GPA are too low for honors and maybe too low scholars. If he is from NY, he may have some stiff competition for a spot. You are in the ball park for a regular admit but not so sure about Clark. I would apply because no one can tell you for sure that you will or will not be admitted. A lot has to do with the pool of applicants each year.</p>

4

<p>Thank you momof3greatgirls for pointing out that I was off when I said likely honors or scholars invite without qualifying if he is IS. </p>

<p>Very true that stats are too low for scholars/honors for OOS, especially for NY, NJ and PA. However, there seems to be more leniency for IS students and given class rank of top 5%, and number of AP classes, that’s why I thought it was a possibility.</p>

<p>Rubi32, this brings up the very salient point that “chances” are just individual opinions, so please bear that in mind. A lot of other admissions considerations that we are not privy to (essays, short answers, letters of recommendation) factor into the school’s decisions. Maryland is one of those schools big on stats/numbers.</p>

5

<p>Sorry, maybe I misunderstood you, but is the deadline for Clark Nov. 1st? I know that is the school’s overall “priority” date–but can I still apply to Clark for RD in Jan.? I am asking this because I have scheduled test dates past the Nov. deadline.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

6

<p>There is NOT a separate application date for Clark. So, the priority deadline is still Nov 1. You cannot apply directly to the Clark School of Engineering. You can only apply to the University - the engineering school is under the umbrella of the University itself. </p>

<p>When you apply (to the University), the application should ask for your top three choices for your major. Of these three, only one can be a LEP (limited enrollment program). So, you cannot list three different disciplines in engineering because they are all the same LEP. Similarly, you cannot choose business as an alternate choice of major if you don’t get engineering, because business is also a LEP. </p>

<p>If you meet general University admission requirements and they decide to offer you admission, only then does your application get sent to the Clark School admissions for review. While you may be granted admission to the University, you could very well be denied admission to the Clark School of Engineering. That is what I was referring to when I said you could end up with Letters and Sciences as your “advising college” (major) and you would have to re-apply to Clark as an “in-school transfer” after you have proven yourself with college coursework. </p>

<p>I listed the Clark School admission stats so you can see that they are more competitive than the University general admission stats. There are many students who are strong academically but still do not get admitted to Clark as a “direct admit” as a freshman. So, when I said your “chance” for Clark is “tricky,” that’s what I meant… </p>

<p>Your current stats are not in the average range for admission to Clark. Yes, you can take the ACT again, but if you don’t apply to the University by Nov 1, you will not be eligible for any merit money or special programs, end of story. </p>

<p>The percentage of the incoming class selected from priority apps is very high - around 80% if I recall (could be off a little, but it was pretty high from what I remember). </p>

<p>It’s a gamble to wait to apply RD based on a later test date. You may or may not do significantly better on the ACT, but if you wait to apply until RD, your chance of admission to the University is different as well, because there are a finite number of admissions offered, and by RD, around 80% of those slots have already been offered to other students (who applied by Nov 1)…</p>