<p>This is my first chance me thread, but i figured since I got my SAT scores I would give it a try! So I am looking at : Colby, Bates, Middlebury, Macalester, Carleton, Wesleyan, Connecticut College Hamilton and Colgate. I have only visited Colby, Bates and Middlebury so far but I plan to visit all of them!
male from pennsylvania
SAT I: 2080 - 750 CR, 660 M, 670 W
GPA: 3.77 UW 4.0 W
AP's: USH: 4 took this year but don't know score: BIO/GOV/LANG/ NEXT YEAR: AB CALC/LIT
-taking all APs offered except euro since it wouldn't fit in my schedule next year
Class Rank: Not calculated only 60 people in grade.
EC's: I have played piano for 11 years and i have lessons every week. I love playing but I'm not sure if i would pursue this in college.
Varsity Lacrosse-10/11
Swimming 10
Cross Country 10/11
NHS secretary
French Honor Society
Ski Club
Newspaper
International Club President
Job at ski resort
*I lived in Cairo, Egypt for my freshman year. It was an amazing experience and I am hoping to tie this into my essay in my application. There were not many opportunities for extracurriculars at my school there( If this explains why i didnt do anything in 9th grade)
Thanks so much!</p>
<p>Very good list might also look at Bowdoin and Holy Cross. HC has nice campus 1 hour from Boston. Holy Cross is similar to Colgate.</p>
<p>Thank you! I visited both Holy Cross and Bowdoin but I ruled them off my list for various reasons. Do you think any of these schools are a match or are they all reaches?</p>
<p>does anyone know which schools on my list should be considered matches as opposed to reaches?</p>
<p>SAT score is too low. Want a ~2200+.</p>
<p>^ Oh please. These are small liberal arts colleges. For the most part if your test scores fall within the range you’re fine. A jump from 2080 to 2200 won’t make the difference between accepted/rejected.</p>
<p>OP, you have a chance at all the schools you’ve listed. Your biggest reaches are Middlebury and Wesleyan. With Midd being test-optional it’s going to take a much more well rounded application to get in than at some of the others. I wouldn’t bet on Midd, but you never know. Macalester loves the whole international thing. I think you have a good chance there. Mac gives you an opportunity to write a ‘Why Mac’ essay. Make it good and it will really help you. Carleton is harder than Mac and their supplement is tiny so make a good impression through your essays/recommendations. I don’t know anything about the other schools. Not well acquainted with the New England area. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thank you for the detailed reply! I am choosing to visit Macalester because I think it would be a really good fit for me. I love traveling, and learning new languages and experiencing other cultures. I got the feeling that they really emphasized multiculturalism which intrigued me. They also seem to be a very liberal school which would fit me perfectly. I also like that they are one of the only liberal arts schools in a city. Lastly they seem to be a school where if I put my best foot forward, I might stand a decent chance. I am going to visit and interview in June! Also in terms of the new england schools even though I love Middlebury, I have my sights set on Colby and Bates because I liked them just as much if not more and I think I stand a better chance in the admissions process. Also in terms of the SAT scores: I have worked extremely hard for the recent score. I studied a ton and increased my score dramatically. However I know I can do much better in writing because I am stronger in verbal subject areas, and because it was the section that I studied the least for. In terms of math, I might be able to score higher, but in this situation and the previous situation I got nervous and did not do as well as possible. With this being said a 660 for me is a fairly good score- the highest I could get realistically would be a 700. I was extremely pleased with my scores because my hard work finally paid off for the most part. However I started thinking that maybe I should retake it to bring the writing score up. Thoughts?</p>
<p>Raising your SAT score (or at least trying to) can’t hurt, obviously. And if you do raise it you will be a more competitive applicant. Just don’t get too caught up over the scores. They matter, but there’s a lot more to your application.</p>
<p>You do sound like a great fit for Mac. I was accepted, but the financial aid package just wasn’t there so I never visited. However one of my close friends did and said that the part of St. Paul it’s located in is amazing and that the students just seemed overly happy.</p>
<p>I don’t want to get caught up over scores seeing as I have already worked very hard and worried alot about them, it might be healthier to just be content with the score I have. We will see. Oh really? Im definitely going to need a lot of financial aid if I end up going to Macalester. Thanks again!</p>
<p>Try the ACT; you could increase your chances with a relatively higher ACT score.</p>
<p>I am taking the ACT in 2 weeks, however, I have not prepared nearly as much for it compared to the SAT. It seems like I might do better on it but with little preparation this may not be the case.</p>
<p>Really? Colgate and Carleton and middlebury reject applicants with solid 2200 sats. That being said, a 2080 sat is really low for those 3 schools. What you don’t understand jph is that applicants at highly competitive schools with stats in the lower range of the school get in if they have a hook generally. OP has no hooks and thus needs to be in the ~75th percentile to be competitive.</p>
<p>Is it better to be in the 75th percentile for reading and the 40th percentile for math and writing or the 50-60th percentile for everything? Also I’m planning on interviewing at all the schools I apply. Hopefully showing substantial interest might help. Thanks again!</p>
<p>I disagree cortana. Not to go through this again. However, a hook is not essential. Good essays and recs can win an applicant in. In fact, the dean of admissions at Columbia has said it takes one thing, and it can be anything, that gets the applicant in. One just has to really focus on making the application very strong. Because you never know. I think the sats, while they could be better are fine for all three. They are not everything, and if he gets denied it will not be from them. However, If you wish it doesn’t hurt to increase them.</p>
<p>Yes, I’m completely aware that Carleton and Midd reject applicants with 2200+. However, they accept applicants with SAT scores lower than 2200 also. I got accepted to Carleton this year along with another friend. We both had SAT scores under 2050. A girl in my class got in to Midd with a SAT of under 2100. We’re all unhooked, white, and we go to a generic public high school. You put way too much emphasis in the scores, ‘cortana431’. Obviously higher SAT scores help but a 2080 is not “too low” (as you stated).</p>
<p>OP, if you really are worried about your test scores google the college name followed by “common data set.” You should get an excel spreadsheet with a bunch of info. You can see the test scores and their distributions. Here’s Middleburys:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.middlebury.edu/media/view/292348/original/middlebury_cds_2011-2012.pdf[/url]”>http://www.middlebury.edu/media/view/292348/original/middlebury_cds_2011-2012.pdf</a></p>
<p>Scroll down to page 8. You’re above the 75 percentile in CR, below the 25th in M, and a bit above the 25th in W.</p>
<p>Congrats to you and your friend! I’m not as worried as I sound but since various users brought it up I decided to address it. And on that subject how am I below the 25th in math if it says on page 8 its 640? I’m a little confused maybe Ive been reading these wrong. Also my personal opinion is that a college would be much more likely to accept someone with a 2000 who gets great recs, is an interesting applicant who has some type of passion and a good worth ethic then someone who is apathetic but scored a 2250. I’m not saying this is a common occurrence it just shows how test scores dont make or break an application. Who the person is should be more important than their test scores.</p>
<p>The 25th percentile in math is 650, not 640. </p>
<p>Oh, sorry, I read your M score as a 640 for some reason.</p>
<p>Sorry, I must have misread it for a different section. Sorry for the confusion and okay that’s what I thought. Also mac’s common data set shows the 25th percentile to be significantly lower than middlebury(CR 610-730 M 630-710 Wr 620-720) [Macalester</a> Common Data Set](<a href=“http://www.macalester.edu/ir/cds/cds.htm]Macalester”>http://www.macalester.edu/ir/cds/cds.htm)</p>
<p>Where do you think you rank though in your class? 1st or 2nd? or top 1%, 5%, etc.</p>
<p>Our school doesn’t rank since we are so small. Probably like 5th in the class but I honestly don’t know. All I know for sure is that 2 people have 4.0 uw while taking lots of honors and ap classes(as opposed to 3.77) although I don’t think this will go on my application.</p>