<p>I've taken all of the advance classes available to me</p>
<p>Fr: Honors English/Honors World Studies/ I also started French 2 as a freshman if that counts as rigor?
Soph: Honors English/AP European History/Advanced College Credit French 3
Junior: Advanced College Credit US History/Advanced College Credit French 4</p>
<p>Next years course load
ACC Lit and Composition
AP Bio
AP Stats
AP Calc
ACC French 5
+ two electives</p>
<p>ACT: 30</p>
<p>Extra curriculars:
Tennis 4 years
French Club 4 years (Club President next year)
JSA (2 years)
Youth in Government (2 years)
Sophomore Class Council Representative
Drama Club/Plays (4 years)
Scholar Bowl Varsity Team (2 years)
Model UN Club President</p>
<p>Volunteering</p>
<p>200 + Volunteer hours at a pediatric hospital and a regular hospita</p>
<p>Your ACT score is fine for Barnard. Barnard probably is a “reach” for everyone-- in part because they are looking at a whole lot of factors beyond test scores – but the middle-score range for Barnard is 28-32. If Barnard is your top choice, there are a lot of better things you could be doing with your time than studying to retake the ACT when your score is solidly within their expectations. </p>
<p>other than my act score which is well within the middle 50, makes Barnard a reach for me?
I’m genuinely wondering to make my application better.
I could see it being a low reach maybe but how far off do you think it is exactly?
What am i doing wrong? </p>
<p>Barnard is not a “match” for anyone --their admit rate is too low. </p>
<p>To find a match school, look for a school with an admit rate of about 40% +</p>
<p>Your chances of getting into Barnard are excellent. So are the chances of many other applicants. Barnard turns away many more qualified applicants than it accepts each year. </p>
<p>You might be confused about what is meant by a “match” school – your stats are fine for Barnard, but the school’s overall admit rate is too low to be a “match”. You might consider it to be borderline match/reach. </p>
<p>Oh I see what you mean. like a kid with a 36 and a 5.0 GPA isn’t a match for Harvard because no one is.
So what about Boston U or Tulane? Those are the other two schools i considered to be match schools for me. Are they too selective to be considered match schools as well? </p>
<p>You are not doing anything wrong, but you haven’t posted anything here that differentiates your application from others. So you need to make sure that your application tells a story that brings you to life for an admissions reader. I just see a list of activities that are probably the same as many other applicants have participated in, and no way to figure out which is important to you. Your URM status might be a positive tip factor, but you can go over to the Barnard thread and look at the stats of the people who have been waitlisted and rejected – so you will need to put some effort into fleshing out your application.</p>
<p>I would say reach too, my stats were probably a little higher than yours (full IB diploma course load, slightly higher test scores), I’m AA too, and I was rejected. I will admit I was very surprised to be rejected, but in truth, it is one of those reach for everyone schools, and there will be people with higher test scores and more rigorous course loads than you, but that is not all Barnard cares about. Your ECs look very solid. Write great essays, you definitely have a shot, but the shot is small for everyone</p>
<p>ahhh you guys are stressing me out. so now i feel like i have no chance of getting into Brown or Rice or Tufts or any other school more selective than Barnard and that I have NO chance of getting into Barnard without applying ED</p>
<p>Why don’t you just do what everyone else does and apply to a range of schools – reach, match, and safeties? </p>
<p>The surest way of getting rejected from a school is to overestimate your likelihood of admission, and mail in an application that looks like you haven’t put any effort into it. </p>
<p>don’t stress admissions can be random between the top applicants. schools you are mentioning aren’t matches for anyone. Maybe do try and raise your test scores a bit if you are applying to all of those schools-Tufts isn’t more selective than Barnard by the way, I’m pretty sure. If you apply to a fair few schools around the Barnard selectivity level, you have a good shot at getting in somewhere. I was rejected at Barnard but accepted at my first choice, more selective school. You can never bank on colleges with <25% admissions rates, but that doesn’t mean you should write yourself off.</p>
<p>Have you taken/do you plan to take the SAT?
Have you taken your subject tests yet?</p>
<p>Your EC’s don’t look very in depth, and it seems like you just joined clubs or sports just for the heck of it. Are you on Varsity tennis? For French Club, student government, or class council have you organized any events or volunteered for it, or are you just a member? While your GPA, URM and ACT scores are fine for Barnard, I would suggest doing something you’re passionate about this summer and really commit to it. What is your intended major? but yes, i would suggest ED to Barnard if it’s your top choice.</p>
<p>How are my ECs not in depth…? I’m president of 2 clubs? Varsity Scholar Bowl is a huge time commitment. We travel every other weekend for tournaments. I am on varsity tennis but if i wasn’t, 4 years of one sport is a huge commitment anyway, 3 hours after school everyday. I joined JSA and Youth in Government which communicates that I like politics which is my intended major or international relations. This is also reinforced by being president and founder of Model UN at my school. I’ve been acting since the 7th grade and play rehearsals are 3 hours a day everyday after school in the spring. i’m going to be the only student in French 5 next year and i skipped french 1 because i wanted to challenge myself in french and have been a French club member for four years as well as president next year. I volunteer at hospitals because I want to become a doctor one day and do doctors without boarders which is why i chose french in the first place. </p>
<p>I mean i haven’t cured cancer but you guys are making me feel really bad about my application and my achievements honestly. i’m not like trying to sound rude but saying that my ECs aren’t in depth is ridiculous…</p>
<p>Is a 30 ACT not a good score? I feel like I got a 20 or something…I wanted a 32 and will probably try again but a 30 is within the middle 50 for all of the schools mentioned. Is middle 50 not good enough? (honest question, no sarcasm or malice) </p>
<p>@calmom
I thought I was applying to a wide range of schools…
My reaches being Rice, UChicago and Brown
Matches being Tufts, Barnard and NYU
Safeties being BU, Depaul and UW</p>
<p>Now i feel like i’m not going to get into any of them…
I mean is the only school i’m going to get into Missouri State?
Maybe i’m being over dramatic because it’s 11pm </p>
<p>Many people have similar qualifications as you, but do not get in. Then again, people with less qualifications also get in. 30 is fine for Barnard, low for top 20 schools. Have you done any thing as President of those clubs? And okay tennis and play rehearsals are good, I didn’t know the commitment you had since you didn’t specify and it didn’t seem very in depth… And you want to major in International Relations and become a doctor?
We are not trying to make you feel bad… this is the point of chance threads. Do not ask for opinions if all you are going to do is act rude. Thank you for explaining more about your EC’s as that gives me a better idea of how to chance you. If it makes you feel better, i’d give you a match/High Match if you ED at Barnard. I’ll bet you’ll get into NYU and Tufts. ED at Rice would also put you at a High Match.</p>
<p>My daughter was accepted to Barnard and waitlisted at Boston U, so you never know. My d had a 27 ACT. She thought BU was a match and Barnard was a reach.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure I know why she was admitted at Barnard and BU passed on her - that’s why I wrote that you might be better off to take every application pretty seriously. You really can’t predict – probably the whole idea of a “match” is somewhat offbase --I think too many students get the idea that “match” means that if their stats are above average for that school, they are sure to be admitted – and that’s just not how it works. </p>
<p>My d was also accepted at Chicago and NYU.</p>
<p>If your attitude is that you are discouraged because admissions are competitive, you might want to rethink your goals.The process of getting into college is highly competitive, and once you get into any of these schools, the academic environment is also competitive. If you find that intimidating, perhaps you would be happier looking for a more supportive environment.</p>
<p>Sorry - but I’ve seen my daughter pretty routinely accomplish all sorts of things I didn’t think possible, and the bottom line is that she’s not easily deterred or daunted. Sometimes she gets what she is aiming for, sometimes she doesn’t – but I’ve never known her to allow fear of rejection to get in the way.</p>
<p>You do come off as if you simply wanted people to tell you, “no problem, you will get in Barnard for sure” … but if you can’t handle honest feedback ,maybe you should rethink your goals. </p>
<p>I’m not trying to be negative… I just feel that Barnard is a school geared to young women who are “majoring in unafraid” – and you seem to have reacted in a very fragile way.</p>
<p>I came into this thread because of the misinformation you were give about the ACT – CC is full of high school students who think that a higher test score is the magic ticket into the school of their dreams, and it just doesn’t work that way. These elite colleges are not making their decisions based on comparing test scores. </p>
<p>You HAVE made a realistic list of reaches/ matches/ safeties… except for Tufts. With a 17% admit rate and your ACT on the low end of their average, I’d have to call it a reach (and it is more selective than Barnard). But your passion for IR, if it is indeed a passion, could be your winning pitch at Tufts or Barnard. ED improves your chances everywhere, but you don’t seem to be leaning this way.</p>
<p>The reason people are noting your ECs, perhaps, is because the preference in admissions these days is for one or two areas of depth of passion/ interest rather than well-roundedness—and your cv is well-rounded. BUT your well-roundedness has depth. In other words, it sounds like you’ve give your all to each of your passions. You simply will have to stress one or two of them (theater/ medicine/ languages) in your app.</p>
<p>As Tufts is a reach, that puts 4 reaches on your list, 2 matches, and 2 safeties. I’d find another match—perhaps GWU or American? U Michgan? Bates? CHC?</p>
<p>Trust that with holistic admissions these days, you can package your strengths to each school based on how they prioritize scores versus essays versus GPA versus course rigor, etc. This info is out there—arm yourself with it! (And both Barnard and Tufts give a lot of weight to their essays, btw.) </p>
<p>Don’t be discouraged! You are a competitive applicant!</p>
<p>Your “majoring in unafraid” tone is frankly condescending—and an overreaction to what you and others here seem to perceive as rudeness on OP’s part. She has expressed understandable concern and not a little stress, but to go on for five paragraphs about “rethinking goals” and “reacting in a fragile way”… A little more care with tone and words would, I think, be appreciated by the OP.</p>
