<p>SAT: 2050 (CR: 630 M: 710 W: 710)
ACT: Will take in Sept.
SAT subject tests: USH (750), WH (760), Math 2 (Will take in Oct)
GPA: 3.98 weighted; school does NOT rank (in top 12-15%)
Class size: about 250 to 270
AP's: USH (4); WH and Lang (IDK yet); Lit, Psych, Calc AB, Spanish, Gov (all next year)
Extracurriculars: MUN (secretary in jr year; president in sr year); Debate; Key Club; Student Newspaper (thinking about joining next year; genuinely interested); Student Council (9-10); Frosh Volleyball; NHS; Mentor Program; NHSHS; 400+ hours of community service as of now - may volunteer for the regional Dem. Party.
Race/gender: Asian female
HS rep: pretty bad in the area; a handful go to top 20's; a handful go to cc's; a handful do not go at all :/
FA needed?: YES YES YES DESPERATELY
Rec's: stellar -- no doubt</p>
<p>According to my guidance counselor, only 1 or 2 students applied to Mac, Oberlin, and Kenyon. One got in to Mac but did not go. No one yet has gotten into Oberlin & Kenyon. GWU--a handful of alum attend. American--everyone applies, gets in, but does not go.</p>
<p>I also plan to ED as a hopeful IR/Poli Sci major; I am scared of not getting in and having to go to schools this area, which I REFUSE to do! However, my parents keep insisting that I shouldn't b/c of financial burdens.</p>
<p>Great SAT IIs, Sats a tad low, rank good and GPA I think is good - could use more info on rigor.</p>
<p>American - High match - Low Reach
Macalaster - Same
Oberlin - Looks like a low reach to mid reach
GW - Looks like a high match also, the CR is what I think is messing with you.</p>
<p>Yeah you have a good-great schedule, which helps validate/improve your GPA. I maintain my last positions, but chances silghtly increased in my book for each (but I’m a senior too, what do I know )</p>
<p>American: match 70+%
Oberlin: low reach 50%
GWU: high match 60%
Macalester, Kenyon: don’t know, sorry.
Improving your SAT would help you a lot; unfortunately, your class rank and weighted GPA won’t make you stand out. However, for many of your schools being Asian will either not hurt you or even help you, as most Asians aren’t interested in Midwestern liberal arts colleges.</p>
<p>Take a look at Grinnell. Excellent financial and merit aid unlike many of the schools you’ve listed and being Asian make you a URM. The problem for you will be that Grinnell doesn’t look at writing scores and your CR is rather low for them. Call and talk to them - they were very open with S about what grades and test scores they wanted to see to be eligible for their merit awards.</p>
<p>Be aware, however, that Grinnell is emphatically a rural LAC. If you are not interested in that kind of environment, you won’t be happy. It’s a very self-selected group in that respect.</p>
<p>I’ve actually thought about Grinnell, but I am not sure if they have an IR program–which I am interested in the most as of now. And considering that there is pretty much no Asian from the Tri-State area (NJ, NY, CT) going to those Midwestern LAC’s, I guess I have a good chance of getting in if the adcoms are interested in not only international diversity, but also domestic diversity…? haha if that makes sense :D</p>
<p>@M’s mom, May I ask you what your S is majoring in?</p>
<p>in response to what you asked on my chance thread: i will of course be considering other schools, i said that at the bottom of my post, i just didn’t want to waste people’s time with match and safety schools that I know I’ll get into, and i also did a previous chance thread with yale, so im not only considering columbia (also considering in addition to those mainly uchicago, penn, USC, emory, northwestern and UNC (in-state))</p>
<p>if you can get above a 31 or a 2100, I’d say all of those schools are high matches/low reaches, except american which is most definitely a match</p>
<p>Grinnell has a concentration, not a major, in Global Development, as well as the usual Political Science major. And check out Grinnell-in-Washington, which includes an internship in DC.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the input! I just wanted to update on my stat.</p>
<p>APWH (4) - Ugh. Expected better.
AP Lang (5) - WHAT?! I PASSED?! </p>
<p>And also, it’d be great if you guys can tell me if it is better for me to study IR at DC or at Midwestern LAC’s. I mean, although the LACs claim to offer tremendous internships/ job offers to their students, I don’t really think the advantageous location of GW and American can be beaten…</p>
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