Chance me, please? I'm worried :(

Colleges and Universities A-Z Kenyon College
1

<p>I'm a junior, and I visited Kenyon today... LOVED it. However, after reading some of these threads, I'm worried about my chances...</p>

<p>Here's a profile of me! I know it's long, but I wanted to be thorough :)</p>

<p>Female, white
From central Ohio, a suburb of Columbus
Intended major: Drama with a music minor or double-major in drama and music
I'm going to apply early decision.</p>

<p>Top 10% (Large, competitive 2,000+ student high school in suburbia, but diverse)
PSAT: 96... I don't know about National Merit yet.
SAT: 2060 (730 reading and writing, 600 math. Should I retake?)
I will probably take the Literature and French SAT subject tests next year.
ACT: Haven't taken yet. Shooting for 28-31.
GPA: 4.1 weighted, 3.9 unweighted.</p>

<p>Academic courses taken:
Honors Science 9, Honors Biology, Honors Chemistry
Honors English 9 and 10, American Literature, Research and Exposition
Algebra 1 and 2, Geometry
3 years of highest level choir, Music Theory 1
AP American History, AP European History
4 years of French, 1 year of German</p>

<p>Academic courses I will take next year:
Probability and Statistics
Music Theory 2 (I will take the AP test) and another year of highest level choir
German 2
AP French 5 (I am taking this through Kenyon, actually!)
AP Liberal Democracy in America (Taking this through Kenyon, too.)
AP English Language and Composition</p>

<p>EXTRACURRICULARS!</p>

<p>I have been doing theatre since I was 5 years old. I've done many MANY community productions, regional and professional productions, school productions and even professional and college operas. I have had many leading roles including Alice in Wonderland (twice!) and will definitely attach my (long) resume to my application. I have also taken voice and piano lessons since I was about 7.</p>

<p>I am very involved in my church, specifically in the drama department. I do a monthly drama, dance and song program for Sunday schoolers, lead worship and learning at our summer program, and have volunteered for the children's choir for two years. I played a main part in an evangelistic musical that we toured around Ohio and the Carolinas, and will probably do so again next year. This summer I am helping to develop a daily worship and praise service for families and children at our church's free lunch program, which I am really excited about!</p>

<p>I am part of my school's drama club, and the International Thespian Society. I am pretty active in it, and participated in our annual Halloween food drive this year. I represented my school at our area Thespian Conference as Alice in Wonderland earlier this year... we took a scene from the play :)</p>

<p>I am going to be entering my third year of our school's Senior Choir, as well as our out-of-school honors ensemble called Madrigals, which is a huge honor to be in. We do MANY performances throughout the year, especially around Christmas. We do a lot of volunteer performances, and when we do get paid all of the money goes to our school's music boosters program.</p>

<p>Other Important Stuff:</p>

<p>I was inducted into the National Honor Society a couple of days ago, thanks to my grades, extracurriculars and community service :) It's a big deal at my school, we're pretty selective about it.</p>

<p>Next year my GPA will be considerably higher due to all of my AP courses, but unweighted it will only go up a little bit.</p>

<p>I will continue ALL of my extracurriculars and my academic rigor next year.</p>

<p>My recommendations should be really good. My teachers are AWESOME about writing rec letters for anything, and they love me.</p>

<p>I am a pretty good writer. My essays are high-quality, and I have an amazing English teacher who would be happy to proofread my application essay and give suggestions, but by NO means will she "write it for me". I got an A on my Research and Exposition essay portfolio, which is hard to do.</p>

<p>In addition to my application, rec letters, extracurricular resume, vocal repertoire list and theatrical resume, I plan on including rec letters from my voice teacher and a couple of my past directors (one from school, one or two from professional theatre) and a cassette of my singing. Probably an Italian aria, a French art song, an uptempo musical theatre piece and a classical English art song. I spoke to my Kenyon area representative about this and she thought it was a fantastic idea.</p>

<p>My experiences with Kenyon:</p>

<p>I requested information a while back. I had a scheduled visit today.
On the tour, I fell in LOVE with the school.</p>

<p>I had an interview with a senior in Visual Arts. I didn't KNOW it was an interview at the time! However, I think that worked to my advantage, because I was completely being myself, and I got a lot of good information out of the interview. The interviewer seemed to be really impressed with me, most especially when I told her that my main goal was (and has been for several years) to open a youth and family theatre in an area where the arts are lacking, because I know how much theatre can change someone's life, give families support in times of need, keep children on the right track, and create a safe community for families and youth.
She also gave me a card with her information.
One really exciting thing about the interview was that she promised to have two of her friends e-mail me, a drama major and a vocal performance major, about the performing arts programs.</p>

<p>I plan on having another interview next fall, when I am a senior.
I also plan on scheduling an overnight visit next fall. I am very interested in sitting in on arts classes and possibly theatre rehearsals, and DEFINITELY talking to theatre and music professors.</p>

<p>I asked some really informative questions in the information session, and paid a lot of attention. Afterwards, I spoke to the woman leading the session (fortunately, she was my area's representative!), introduced myself, told her how interested I am in Kenyon and told her that I am planning on setting up an overnight visit next fall. She gave me her card.</p>

<p>So I've probably included enough information :)</p>

<p>WHAT DO YOU ALL THINK?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>hi, i was recently accepted, and we have very similar profiles (at least number wise) although my SAT was a little more balanced. </p>

<p>alottttt of people got waitlisted/regected becasue they didn't show interest. you CLEARLY don't need to worry about this, it is awesome that you've found a place that you know you can love. </p>

<p>I think you'll get in esp because you have the ED thing going. </p>

<p>BUT you should take the SATs again, because while your reading and writing scores a super fine, math could def be higher.</p>

<p>Skip the sat ii unless you know for certain that you a) will study for them b) score well on them. </p>

<p>After i took the SAT I in october i lost alllllllll motivation to study for the subjects, and it showed, miserably. haha luckily i sent my other scores in before. woot!</p>

<p>I love Kenyon too, the adcoms really do a nice job of looking at you as a person, and your stats are well in range. </p>

<p>Pearls of wisdom: (that i know are much easier for me to give because i'm almost done with the crap of applying to school) Get excited about Kenyon, but remember to fall in love with other schools too! </p>

<p>Good luck!!</p>

3

<p>Thanks WooHoo!</p>

<p>Anyone else have any opinions??</p>

<p>I forgot to mention on my original post that I'm in my second year of National French Honor Society. But that hardly matters. :)</p>

4

<p>Don't know how you fall in love with a school when it's 40 degrees, cloudy and windy, but your stats definitely give you a decent shot.</p>

5

<p>I was recently accepted RD and I had a lower uw GPA than you did.
so you definitely have a decent shot at Kenyon especially with ED, you'll have a good shot. :)</p>

6

<p>metaphor17 - the best advice I could give you is to stop worrying about what someone else (even a college) wants and a)be yourself and b)select colleges that will work well for the kind of student/person you are. Ultimately, if you can communicate your interest in a school and show how well you fit and what you can bring to that school's community, they are much more likely to accept you. If you focus on what you think they want, you may miss entirely. Kenyon (like most small LACs) wants students who want to go there, and they want to know who you are before they accept you. Be genuine. Be sincere. Be the best "you" you can.
One more thing-- if a school really appeals to you, apply to it even if you think your chances aren't good. You don't get anything if you don't try.</p>

7

<p>I agree tremendously with fatladysings---I actually thought I couldn't go to Kenyon because my SATs were "too low." But my EC's were extraordinary, my essays were very original, funny, fresh and genuine, my recs showed how I love to learn for the sake of learning, and I showed LOTS of interest. I knew I deserved to attend Kenyon, but thought the SATs would hinder me from being admitted. But I was!!! You have to make sure every part of your application is great---just having good stats won't do you anything. Everyone else has that. Be yourself and give everything you've got.</p>

8

<p>I definitely agree with what woohoo said about staying open minded about other schools. I loved Kenyon and showed as much interest as was possible (given my schedule and the fact that I live 8 hours away): I visited my junior year and took a tour, I stayed over night this fall during an event for parents and prospective students, sent a few emails to my host and the admissions office asking questions, and went to a reception for prospective students in my area. I had good credentials (extracurriculars, volunteering, SAT in the 2200s, etc.) and made sure that my application really expressed who I am.</p>

<p>But I was still waitlisted! You just never know what is going to happen in that admissions office, and you can't assume you will or won't get in until you get a letter saying so.</p>

<p>You should definitely apply to Kenyon if you really like it. From what you've written, you have a good shot of getting in (especially because you are clearly very passionate about theater; your activism and determination in this will help make you stand out!). Just go for it and see what happens, but have a back up plan. Keep looking at other schools! It sounds like you'll do great wherever you go!</p>