Indigenous adopted Guatemalan
*US Citizen Virginia
Small public high school - required essay, interview, and application*:
*Linguistics, or Native American Studies,
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
UW 3.94
*4.953 W
6/48
Test optional
Coursework
AP Seminar, AP Biology, AP Calculus AB, Economics and Personal Finance, AP Literature and Composition
All honors, will graduate having taken 12 AP classes. All 4/5’s on AP Bio, Euro, Gov, Stats, Lang, HUG, and Spanish Language and Culture.
Awards : Nothing major, did get AP scholar with distinction and hispanic recognition. Awarded William and Mary Alumni Award for Oustanding Juniors. Posse Foundation scholar finalist. Extracurriculars : Worked 7+ political campaigns. 3 jobs in junior year, including a job as a paid lobbyist with a major non-profit. Interned with a state government office in freshman year. Led major social justice protests, worked in a leadership position at a youth-led organization. Worked with cultural groups as an intern. Featured in several articles about my work and quoted in many articles. School doesn’t have many clubs: did speech and debate, led an Indigenous studies club. Also participated in student government and played violin for 12 years. Accepted into Pomona fly-in, Amherst fly in, and Dartmouth Indigenous fly in.
Essays/LORs/Other
*Strong LOR because I go to a small school where teachers really get to know you. Common App was strong, and essays varied.
Schools
Brown - REACH
Dartmouth - REACH
University of Richmond - Match
William and Mary - Likely letter received
University of Mary Washington - Accepted and honors program
Middlebury - Reach
Pomona - Reach
Smith - Reach
Amherst - Reach
Congratulations on the success you’ve already had this admissions season! There are many promising signs in your information (Posse, fly-ins, etc), but most of the schools you’ve listed are reaches for everyone, no matter how strong an applicant they are. As hard as it is, you just have to wait until the decisions come out.
If your username reflects your real name, I would urge you to change it. If you need assistance on how to do so, here is additional information: How Do I Change My Username?
It is always hard to chance people for the most competitive schools, which includes your reaches. I think that you do have a realistic chance of admissions for any of them.
I do not know the University of Richmond at all, and cannot guess whether or not it is a safety. Otherwise I do not see a safety on your list. However, I think that you do have a good chance to get accepted to one or more schools from your list.
Let us know how it goes, and best wishes. Until you hear back, try to not worry about it and keep yourself busy with other stuff (such as keeping up in your class work).
One more thing that I might add: If you get a rejection or two, do not worry about it. Wait until you have heard back from other schools also. Years ago I was turned down by my “dream school”, and was somewhat dejected. Two weeks later I got accepted to my second choice, went there, loved it, and eventually realized that it had always been a better fit. Admissions at both schools had figured this out way before I did. In a similar way the schools on your list will be looking for a good fit for you and them. They are pretty good at getting this right most of the time.
Edit: OOps, I missed that OP has already gotten a likely letter from W&M, and been accepted to Mary Washington. Sorry about that. Congratulations!
I have a friend who is involved and it seems like the work they do is really interesting and valuable, and it combines your interests of linguistics & indigenous people, and it is based in Guatemala.
That is also helpful, since it means that you’re on the Posse Access, which gives you a boost at Middlebury, Pomona, and W&M. Since you have a likely letter from W&M, you don’t really need any more of boost.
Your chances are as you have them - your reaches are reaches. I understand that Richmond is a match, rather than reach, because your high school has connections to the college, otherwise it has the same acceptance rate as Smith.
In general, I would not be at all surprised if you have a number of acceptances, but I would also not be shocked if you didn’t. Luckily, you already have two amazing choices, so any other acceptance would just be
More than that. From
Affordability:
CoA for W&M would be around $45,000, and, from their website:
The OP is in-state. So W&M is most likely affordable.
Update! I was officially accepted by W&M tonight as a William and Mary Scholar, meaning my tuition and fees are covered all four years. I was also accepted by Virginia Tech with horrible aid (30k to pay) and Mary Washington with 24k to pay. So excited about W&M.
I think you will probably get in everywhere except Brown. I think that you will get into Dartmouth, which seems to give a big boost to indigenous students.
More update!: Last night i was rejected from Pomona (kinda sad but i wasn’t going to move to LA anyways) and got in to my dream school Amherst! I also was accepted into Middlebury College and University of Richmond on a Presidential Scholarship.
Final Update!: After a brutal waiting period for RD decisions, I was accepted to Dartmouth College and Smith College. Rejected by Brown. Unsure where I will commit but Dartmouth and Amherst are at the top. Final count: Accepted: Amherst, Dartmouth, Middlebury, Smith, University of Richmond (Presidential Scholar), University of Mary Washington, William and Mary (W&M Scholar), and Virginia Tech Waitlisted: 0 Rejected: Brown, Pomona
It’s been a crazy year and I’m so grateful to have so many options.