Chance me for Williams College?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Heeeeeeello! I'm a high school junior who'll be just finishing up his second semester on Friday (exciting!) </p>

<p>I know Williams College is definitely a reach school for me, but after a rigorous search and fun visit it popped up to be my first choice. I'm almost certain I'll be applying Early Decision (I am quite aware of the caveat that applying early will not necessarily boost an applicant's chances); I'm just curious as to how <em>much</em> of a reach school Williams is for me. I'm also aware that I do not have much time left before college applications in the fall, but I'd still love to be able to gauge my chance and have a sense of what I can do to improve before then.</p>

<p>The admission rate for Williams College for 2013 was approximately 18% for regular decision and 43% for early decision, though the early decision pool probably has plenty of athletes and hooked applicants.</p>

<p>The Particulars:</p>

<p>I'm an Asian male from California. I attend a medium sized (~2,000) Catholic school. Probably will apply for financial aid and a job on campus. I've been blessed with a family that's pretty well-off, but I have two siblings and don't want to be too much of a burden with a $48,000 yearly tuition. Thankfully, Williams is need-blind and my family can still afford it if I am not granted aid.</p>

<p>I plan to major in English and perhaps a foreign language. Writing and language are both near and dear to my heart and sanity. But more importantly, my sanity. </p>

<p>I have an SAT of 2160 (690/710/760). I went in semi-cold and will be retaking it on Saturday with a lot of independent preparation (exciting!)</p>

<p>I have an ACT composite score of 32 and ACT English/writing subscore of 33. I went in completely cold and will be retaking it next Saturday with a lot of independent preparation (exciting!)</p>

<p>SAT subject tests: 740 in Chemistry and 680 in Literature (sort-of yikes!). Will be taking Math level 2, retaking Literature, and maybe taking Spanish in the fall (exciting!)</p>

<p>Simply put, my grades freshman and sophomore year could have been way better. I know for a fact that I was simply unfocused and lazy, but I'm also an optimist and enjoy consoling myself in the upward trend.</p>

<p>My school does not rank.</p>

<p>Pluses and minuses in grades are not computed in my school's GPA any differently than each other. Honors and AP (but not "Advanced") classes are weighted by one point. My school uses a four point scale.</p>

<p>Total GPA: 3.7 W/3.4 UW Yikes!</p>

<p>Sophomore and Junior GPA: 4.2 W/3.6 UW</p>

<p>Course (First semester grade/Second semester grade)</p>

<p>Freshman Year:
English 1 Advanced (B/B)
Biology (B/A)
Spanish 1 (B/B)
Geometry Advanced (B/C) Yikes!
Speech & P.E. <a href="B/B">semester courses</a>
Religion 1 (B/B)</p>

<p>Sophomore Year:
English 2 Honors (B/B)
Chemistry (A/A)
Spanish 2 (B/B)
Algebra 2/Trigonometry Honors (C/B) Yikes!
AP World History (A/A) *Got a 4 on the AP test
Religion 2 (A/A)</p>

<p>Junior Year:
AP Language and Composition (A/A) <em>Projected 5 on AP test
AP Chemistry (A/A) Projected 5 on AP test
Spanish 3 (A/A)
Pre-Calculus Honors (A/A)
AP U.S. History</em> (B/B) *Projected 5 on AP test
Religion 3 (A/A)
Journalism (A) -- A year long, independent course that has weekly meetings. Counts as a one semester grade.</p>

<p>**Quite possibly the most challenging class of my high school career (I remember pre-algebra honors in 7th grade being more of a nightmare). Under all the pressure, it was actually a lot of fun. My APUSH teacher will be writing a letter of rec along with my AP Lang teacher.</p>

<p>Senior Year Course Load:
AP Literature and Composition
AP Physics 1
AP Spanish
AP Calculus BC
AP American Government/AP Macroeconomics [Semester courses]
Church History/Interreligious Topics [Semester courses]
Drawing and Painting</p>

<p>Extra Curricular:
- Swim team (JV) for 10th and 11th grade. Plan to do it next year.
- Cross Country team (JV) for 11th grade. I enjoy going for a run, but not racing. Don't plan to do it next year.
- Fencing team (Varsity) for 11th grade. Contrary to unpopular belief, I did not build fences. Plan to do it next year.
- Selected and served on the Principal's Student Advisory Council my junior year, where a committee of roughly fifteen students offer advice to the principal when he needs to make decisions regarding student life.
- Founded and lead the school book club through 11th grade. Plan to run it again next year!
- I am an organizer (but not leader) for the Internationals Club, which sells (mostly delicious) food and runs fun activities in order to raise money to welcome foreign student visitors to our school.
- I have volunteered fifty hours to a soup kitchen.
- The summer of my sophomore year, I went on a missions trip with five others from my Church to Asia for one and a half weeks. I will be going again this summer.
- The summer of my sophomore year, I got an internship editing, revising, and ghost writing documents among other tasks for a manager at a small, local biotech company in order to pay for a plane ticket to Asia. It was a pretty interesting experience that blended interdisciplinary skills. I will be working there again this summer.
- The summer of my sophomore year, I had an amazing opportunity to teach English at a Chinese university as part of a program to provide a more immersed environment for the college students. It included facilitating an English camp and serving as a small group leader. I will be going again this summer.
- I am a columnist for the school newspaper.
- I have short stories I publish for fun (one got selected for publication in a literary magazine! I was pretty stoked) and plan to finish and publish a novel over the summer.
- I am a writing tutor.
- I know English, Chinese, Spanish, and Russian. I was inspired to learn Russian after reading works by Leo Tolstoy, my personal hero and the master of amazing books that take a huge attention span to finish.</p>

<p>Honors/Awards:
- Quite certain I'll get one or more of the AP awards, but I'm not sure how much it counts for.
- Service Award/President's Student Service Award: Both are awarded for over one hundred hours of community service in a year. The former is from the school, and the latter is from the government and honorable chairman Obama.</p>

<p>My essays are, in my opinion, pretty fantastical! I feel as if this is going to be the deal maker/breaker in admissions for me.</p>

<p>Thanks y'all a TON for chancing me! Advice, suggestions, and general comments are not only welcome, but super appreciated!</p>

2

<p>Your statistics are a bit lower than the average admit. Your essays and letters of recommendation will likely make or break your application. I would say William’s is a low-reach college for you. Definitely possible, though. </p>

3

<p>Your stats are low…it’s a very high reach for you. </p>

4

<p>your gpa is kind of a letdown. williams is a very vigorous college, they’re not going to be pleased to admit a B/C student, even if you do have a lot of APs. Very high reach.</p>

5

<p>You have an upward trend. That’s great, and that’s what matters. Ignore all these comments about GPA. Contrary to public opinion, liberal arts colleges like Williams focus on the TRANSCRIPT – not on the GPA. They want the full story. That said, if you write compelling essays, you have a shot. But I suspect you would be deferred if you apply ED to see if this upward trend holds.</p>

6

<p>The totally of this applicant as presented is just not up to snuff for Williams.</p>

<p>Low GPA? maybe he’s really off the charts brilliant and the program at his HS was not a good fit for him? The “meh” SAT score does not support this.</p>

<p>Wants to major in English, but got a 680 in Lit and <em>never</em> above a B in HS English? Big red flag.</p>

<p>ECs are “fine” but just that, nothing awe-inspiring.</p>

<p>Sorry, but this is not a description of a successful Williams applicant.</p>

7

<p>Yeah, I definitely slacked off a lot freshman and sophomore year… hopefully the upward trend coupled with the subjective portion of the application will pull me through. I just finished retaking the SAT after I studied and I’m retaking the literature test in the fall after some fun preparation! God, I love Collegeboard.</p>

<p>Although I realize that Williams is a high reach, would it behoove me to apply ED, especially if it’s suspected that, in the best case realistic scenario, I get deferred to regular decision?</p>

8

<p>Please be careful not to “waste” your early decision shot. It looks unlikely to get into Williams at all. Is there another school where you have more like a 50-50 chance early, but much lower chance regular?</p>