Hi! I am looking to either apply to Midd, Vassar, or Tufts for the ED2 round. My intended major is either going to be Geography of Art History. At VC, my major will probably be Urban Studies and same at Tufts. I’m super worried…these 3 schools are my favorites for each and I can’t decide…AHH I just want to get into one…
Um I also go to a competitive art school in SoCal which I got accepted into through audition (idk if that helps we send a lot of kids to ivies) and I take 10 classes a semester.
Stats:
GPA: 4.1 W, 3.85 UW (Really BIG upward trend) I started with a 3.2 freshman year and got a 4.8 junior year.
ACT: 31 C (34,25,34,29)
SAT: 1320 (not sending)
SAT 2: I took 4 and 3 were below 600 so we aren’t sending those…
AP: 5 Art History, 5 APUSH, 3 Lang, 3 World History
Senior year: AP Gov, AP Macro, AP Lit, AP Stats, APES, Philosophy + all my extra classes of which there are 4 so I’m taking 9 total
Awards: None except for the AP Scholar one… well actually, I have some honor roll awards (again hard to get because of insane grade inflation bc of my 10 classes of which half are unweighted)
No Ranking
EC:
After school art program for technical theatre: Since 8th grade, 15 hours a week, 15+ school productions with intensive rehearsal schedules, stage manager, multiple design positions, etc…
Board member for Veteran Volunteer c Lub (10-12) Help funding and was a founding member
Board member for Hospital donation club (11-12) also help funding and communication with school admin
Inetern at my City Hall planning department (11th grade summer)
Intern at local homelessness nonprofit (11th grade summer) to help plan carnival for homeless kids
Run an online blog about mapping and geography (10-12) I know kinda weird but the community there is great!
Help family and friends look for homes (pretty much my whole life) I found my current home and many others, paid, done in Boston and CA
NHS member since 11th grade
CSF member since 10th grade
Paid job at this Christmas railroad at a park near me (10th grade)
Essay: I’m a pretty good writer (at least I’ve been told) and Midd does’t have an essay so…
Common App: About coming to terms with my sexuality and alludes to my gender nonconformity (I’m debating what label to put on my app, I may say that I’m bigender because that’s the closest to how I identify at school): 8-9 made my teacher and family cry…
Rec Letters:
French teacher since 8th grade 8/10
AP Lang teacher: 5/10 I was not very active and she dropped off the face of the Earth and didn’t come to school until LITERALLY OCTOBER 31. Haven’t seen her since but she liked me when she wrote it last June I think…
Counselor: 7/10 I’d say she knows me well only had her for 2 years but she’s my fourth counselor my school keeps changing
But yeah??? I really like these schools are would really like to go… I don’t know how much my sexuality plays into it but I think my essays were strong even if my test scores aren’t. I don’t know of anyone else who identifies as bigender so maybe that will help but again these schools have a lot of gay kids. My GPA shows growth and everyone I’ve talked to said it’s nice idk…
I really really want the LAC Community. I visited Mid a few years back and LOVED IT! The language program there is really compelling and I would love to study abroad with that program. Tufts and VC offer similar programs in urban studies where I can really explore my major in NYC and Boston respectively. I know my ACT and GPA are low but I was hoping to see that my EC and Essays were helpful…maybe not?
My ACT is pretty much the 25th percentile for all the schools and I didn’t know if this is the absolute breaking point because technically it’s in the range (at least my counselor says so) and I was hoping other parts of my app stood out??
Hey, ArtKid, just for context, I’m not a Vassar student (my GF is), but I spend a fair amount of time around campus and in one of the dorms. Your GPA is fine and you’ve taken rigorous classes. Your ACT, according to Vassar’s common data, is in the 25th percentile, which isn’t great, but in no way a deal-breaker. So it will likely come down to how you present your ECs and the quality of your essays. In your brief post, the one thing that stands out for commitment and possible passion is your mapping/geo blog. That seems dripping with possibilities for a supplemental.
Everyone is a volunteer. Everyone is in NHS. Everyone is an AP Scholar. Schools like Vassar don’t give merit scholarships because they expect an applicant to be an outstanding student. They are looking to admit intelligent, positive, passionate human beings who will add to their community. Let them know what unique qualities you have that will make Vassar a better, more interesting place.
Bottom line is that you don’t have any glaring disqualifiers, so it’s in your hands as to how well you present yourself and your passion. But I mostly decided to respond because of your mention of whether your sexuality plays into the admission process. Apologies if I’ve misinterpreted, but I’m pretty sure Vassar admissions simply doesn’t care about your sexuality. I would say it plays zero importance in the process. And the kids at Vassar, in my experience, also don’t care about anyone’s sexuality. Don’t get me wrong - Vassar is 5x more gay than my school, or any other campus I’ve visited. A good way to have a miserable college experience would be to go to Vassar as a guy in hopes of scoring sorority girls. Kind of gross, but you get my meaning. I nearly applied ED1 last year, but my folks were legacies at a different school, so … Oh, well. I still love everything about Vassar, and every person I meet is cooler and sweeter than the last. And my GF is the most amazing person on the planet who’s found home and family in her first semester.
Tufts seems to be very aware of test scores. (Do they no longer require SAT2?) It might be a less wise use of the ED card. I agree that of those 3, Vassar sounds like the best fit. Fwiw, you might want to look at Bryn Mawr (in the RD round).
Coming from an art school might be concerning due to their reputation of not having strong academics (which Vassar wants). In your application lead with theater tech and your blog (only if it is successful) because all the other activities dont really stand out. Also elite liberal art colleges dont really find a job for a season or on off summer plans that important. They want to see that you have been following a passion and commitment that extends over time. Lead with your blog and theater tech because those are by far more unique. Your ACT score is not horrible but not great either. Being bigender is very common for students applying to liberal arts college so make sure your essay has a different spin to it. Vassar might find it a bit concerning that your freshman year GPA was a 3.2 (because freshman grades count too). Also I would not use the yourspace for an essay about flint water unless your are writing something that truly no NYT article have said. If art is something your passionate about I would 100% put it in yourspace. It appears that for you that Vassar would either be a reach or not depending on how you write your essay and applicaton in general. Also have you thought about putting a link to your blog on yourspace?
You’ve indicated why you want them. Do you have an idea what these colleges want to find in you? You have a little time to recheck what these schools look for and fine tune your app, if needed.
For the highly compeitive colleges you’ve noted, on various threads, you say urban studies or architectural history or art history and then geog. The common app will let you pick two. But for geog, is a blog the only experience? For urban studies, you’ve been an intern at City Hall, good. But it’s not quite the same to plan a carnival.
I’m surprised you chose a French teacher and an AP lang you estimate will write you a 5/10. I’d have thought history, for urban or geog.
I think it’'s wise to ensure you have safeties. In case.
Best wishes.
I think Vassar would be a great fit for you! Also, do you go to OCSA? I had some friends who went there! Anyway, I think Vassar is the most progressive of the 3 schools you mentioned and also more diverse than Middlebury and Tufts. Also, it has an open curriculum, beautiful campus, and close proximity to NYC with the benefits of being tucked away in a student environment.