Chance me, folks!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Williams College
1

<p>Howdy. I'm applying to a host of schools, but Williams is probably the one that I'm the most interested in. I've sent off my app, but just to ease my mind, I wouldn't mind if you fine chaps could gauge my chances in the admissions process.</p>

<p>Basic Info:
-Gender: Male
-Ethnicity: Caucasian
-School: Large public school in Iowa, roughly 1,800 students.
-Academic Interest: English. I'm hoping that the fact that I'm a male applying in the humanities helps me a little bit; from what I can tell I'm the only solid student in my year that's interested in something other than sciency things.</p>

<p>Academics:
-Rank is unavailable
-GPA: 4.0! Only male of my year with a perfect GPA :)
-Rigor: Have taken every honors course that I could along with 9 APs. The school offers 2 other APs (APUSH, Chem) that I could have reasonably taken, and 3 others that would not have made sense for me (Comp Sci, Stats (it's a joke here), and French).
-My mid-year report is probably going to show my lowest grade being a 97 in AP English. That's nice :)</p>

<p>Scores:
-ACT: 35 (36 Math, 35 Reading and Writing, 33 Science, 10 Writing) :)
-SAT: 2240 (800 Math, 680 Writing, 760 Reading)
-SAT 2s: Math II: 800; Evolutionary Biology: 760; Literature: 720
-AP Tests: 5 on Macro and Microeconomics, European History and American Government, 4 on Spanish Language and Biology</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
-School Paper: Humor Editor as a Junior, Managing Editor as a senior. The paper itself has won numerous awards.
-Debate: Varsity debater in the Public Forum and Lincoln-Douglas categories and the Public Forum team captain. Various tournament awards; degree of distinction in the National Forensics League
-Tennis: #1 Doubles JV player as a Junior; perfect season.
-Speech: Participated in Freshman and Junior year, won a few awards.
-Academic Decathlon: Participated in Junior year, team got 3rd in regionals.
-Chess: Played a lot in 9-10 years; was the 2nd best 9th grader in Iowa and won some other awards. Went to a rigorous summer chess camp; won the camp-wide tournament as a sophomore.
-Senate: Entered as a senior, have created some new activities and whatnot
-Mowing Lawns: Have for my entire high school career, and reliably. </p>

<p>Summer Extracurriculers
-Junior Year: Volunteer Summer Intern at the University of Iowa's International Writing Program; worked 12 hours/week for 8 weeks.
-Sophomore year: Did a 3-week overnight leader-in-training course at the YMCA Camp Wapsie</p>

<p>Awards/Recognitions
-Writing Awards:
o Honorable Mention in the Science Fiction Category in the Regional Scholastic
Writing Competition (12-state wide writing contest) (11)
o Writing featured in the University of Iowa’s Gallery of Writing (12)
-AP Scholar with Distinction
-Member of the National Honor Society
-National Merit Semifinalist (PSAT of 225)
-Hills Bank Youth Salute Program Nominee
-Nominated as one of 3 students in the school's homecoming court's "done most" category. (didn't win :( )</p>

<p>Recommendations:
-Counselor: Great. He likes me; we're on a first-name basis, and I did the interview and everything. Should be good.
-English Teacher: Amazing. I've had her for 2 years, and she loved me. Awesome teacher, and I was consistently one of the best students in the class.
-Government teacher: I did well in his class, but he and I do a lot of stuff outside of class, which makes it even better. We're neighbors, and we do Yoga and stuff. Recs overall should be really good.</p>

<p>Essays:
-Main essay: Funny story here. When I visited campus, an admissions person told our group that the best essay that she had read was by a guy describing his first date, and mine (I had already written it) was THE EXACT SAME THING. My essay is where I really hope to stand out; it's funny, full of voice, and well-written. I love it :) A guy that used to read applications for Grinnell College said that the essay was awesome.</p>

<p>-Supplement: Awesome as well. My environment is a drab room with a blank piece of paper lying on top of a table, and I talk about my affinity for English. This was the best supplement essay I wrote for any college, and the former admissions guy also loved it. As I said, my essays are where I really hope to shine in the whole process.</p>

2

<p>You seem fairly intelligent enough however I would like to know where Iowa goes about offering an Evolutionary Biology Sat 2…</p>

3

<p>680 writing, and you edit your school paper?</p>

4

<p>You guys are harsh. Dude, you have an excellent shot.</p>

5

<p>Hi there. Based on what you’ve said here, it seems like you have a really good chance at Williams. I was just accepted ED to Williams, and in comparing your test scores and other stuff to what I’ve done, you seem to have just as strong an application as I did. If you want to compare, here is an outline of my application:</p>

<p>Gender: Female
Ethnicity: Caucasian
School : Pretty small public school in Washington state (I live in a rural area)
Academic Interest: Undecided</p>

<p>GPA (unweighted): 4.0
Rank (unweighted): 1 of 150
Rigor: I’ve taken all the honors and AP classes offered at my school. But it is a small school, so there really aren’t that many offered :stuck_out_tongue: Here’s a list of all I’ve taken: AP English Literature, AP English Language and Composition, Honors English (9th and 10th grades), AP U.S. History, Calculus, Honors Statistics, Honors Algebra II, Honors Chemistry, Physics, Biology, French (4 years), Orchestra (3 years), Psychology, World History, Advanced Mechanical and Computer Drafting (9th and 10th), Information Technology</p>

<p>Scores:
ACT: 34 (Math 36, English 35, Reading 34, Science 32, Writing 10)
SAT: 2120 (I only took this once because I was told by an admissions liaison that my ACT score was pretty good the first time I took it (got a 33) and to focus on trying and get the ACT science score up (which was a 28 the first time, bleh) instead of doing SAT. Seeing as your ACT is higher than mine, I’d say you’re in good shape there).
SAT 2s: 790 Math II, 750 English Literature, 760 Math I</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Here’s where I might have an advantage over you. My application was supported through admissions by a Williams sports coach because I plan on playing on their team at Williams. I don’t know how much that helped my application, but it’s the one way in which your application will very different than mine. You have a lot of other extracurriculars, particularly leadership-sort stuff, that I don’t have, though, so in a sense your extracurriculars are stronger than mine. Anyway, here goes (sorry, I’ve cut out some stuff and gotten rid of the name of my high school in an attempt to not put too much info about myself on the internet):</p>

<p>Competitive Sport:
• Medalist (1st place) at 2010 Summer Tournament Series District Championships
Medalist (1st place) at 11 high school tournaments thru junior year
• 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006 Summer Tournament Series State Championships Qualifier
• Tied for 6th at 2010 State Championship.
• 2010, 2009, and 2008 State Championship Qualifier
• 2010, and 2009 League MVP
• 2010, 2009, and 2008 XXXXX High School Girls’ MVP (Co-MVP in 2008)
• 2010, 2009, and 2008 League 1st Team All Conference
• 2010, 2009, and 2008 Leauge 1st Team Academic All Conference</p>

<p>Other activities:
Advanced Ballet and Modern Dance (14 years, participated in 4 full-act ballets as a soloist).
Playing cello as a soloist, in chamber groups, and in XXXXXX High School Orchestra.
Karate (Yellow Belt/ Beginner)
French Club Vice President
XXXXXX School District’s Math Team.
• Participated from fourth grade through ninth grade.
XXXXXXX Area Mountain Bike Association volunteer and trail steward
International Travel (France and Switzerland)</p>

<p>As for the other stuff you mentioned, I feel like my essays were both pretty strong, and from what my teachers and counselors said to me, the recommendations were really strong. </p>

<p>Anyway, hope this helps. From what I’ve heard, it seems like you have a pretty good chance. Best of luck to you!</p>