Chance me please please please

Boston college was the first college I visited and it has been one of my number one schools since then, I am in love…

Here’s my stats

ACT- 31
English- 35
Reading- 34
Math- 29
Science- 25
Combined English/Writing- 33 (10 essay)

4.0 GPA UW (97.4 on 100 point scale) (School doesn’t weight)
Top 5% at a private catholic high school

APUSH, AP Lang, Calc, Physics, Anatomy & Physiology- Junior Year
AP Gov, AP Lit, AP Euro, International Relations/Current Events, and Business Law- Senior Year
*most rigorous course load offered at my school

President NHS (2 years)
President Model UN (3 years)
Varsity soccer 4 years (captain MVP)
Varsity softball 4 years (captain 2 yrs. MVP 2 yrs.)
3 year anti-bullying public service campaign- performed in assemblies in elementary, middle, & high schools throughout NY, NJ, and PA
1 month service trip to Haiti- built houses, ran day-camp, etc.
2 Summer internships with local law firm

Strong essays
Strong letters of Reccomendations

White female

Hope to major in political science - essay reflects how my passion/interest in politics and history derived from dealing with alcoholism in my family

Please be as honest as possible! And also is there anything that stands out that I could do to strengthen my chances (not retaking the ACT) ?

Thank you

Dear ladybug216 : Your ACT composite score (31) is certainly within range of acceptance however that science subscore (25) is a serious flag in the comprehensive view. You will want to see whether an SAT (strong verbal acumen) or an ACT retake might offer a better score.

In terms of your curriculum, we are missing AP Science and AP Math/Calculus (although Calc is listed in your profile) which shows strong English/Social Studies/Social Sciences skills, but weaker STEM skills.

Love to see the multiple sports and captaincy. You will want to expand on the anti-bullying issue - do not jsut discuss what you were involved, but discuss the IMPACT that your efforts had on the community and children. Always think how you changed lives, consistent with the “Men and Women for Others” theme that you will find in a Boston College (Jesuit) education.

Stress the internships - what did you achieve in these roles? Did you mark time for ten weeks over the summer or did you do something that augments your college presentation?

In what state do you reside? That might also help shape some addtional suggestions.

Here we have the start - please let us know some of these answers and we can take the discussion to the next level. Good luck with your selection process!

ladybug:

normally, I don’t do chances threads, since I have no idea, but Scott has provided you with excellent advice.

Be careful about writing about family issues, not that they are a poor topic, but usually students make the essay too much about the family member, and not about themselves. (The adcoms are not admitting your family member, regardless of how wonderful they may be.) So, make sure you ask your GC to read over the essay.

fwiw: I don’t see the connection to poli sci…

Can you drop one of those ‘soft’ electives and pickup a science, even AP Enviro? (sure, you are not planning on being a STEM major, but the class would fulfill one of BC’s core requirements.)

Sorry, but not retaking is foolish, IMO. With three more questions correct – which is easily doable – you are up to a 32, which will not only help with admission to BC, but provide you with more merit money at other schools.

A 29 is a low math score for someone in AP Calc as a junior; even Calc AB as a Junior means that you are a stronger math student. Heck, it is pretty low for a senior in AP Calc. My strong suggestion is to retake in Sept. Take some math and science tests at home. Practice, practice, practice. (That is the answer to the question of, 'how do you get to Carnegie Hall", but also how do you get to a 32/33.)

Math test hint (#1): ACT math always has 4 trig problems on it, two of which are always right angle problems and solved by the Pythagorean theorem. +2 points

Science test hint (#2): has nothing to do with Science per se, but reading the passages and charts and graphs. Forget what you know, since your science knowledge will be used against you in this test.

Science test hint (#3): is a speed test on steroids. Thus, take the test in sections at home. Set the kitchen timer and see if you can do 10 questions in 8 minutes. Then do 10 questions (in 6 minutes).

Good luck.

@scottj @bluebayou thank you both very much!

P.S. Some schools superscore the ACT, and BC is one of those schools!

Dear ladybug216 : John Mahoney, BC’s Director of Admissions, did an interview recently where he stressed the “four years of the five core subjects” speech : English, Social Studies, Math, Science, and Foreign Language. Per @bluebayou’s suggestion, see that you can be sure to cover as many of those 20 checkboxes as possible. See the link below for the full interview (less than five minutes in total length).

http://www.necn.com/video/#!/on-air/as-seen-on/Tips–Preparing-for-College-the-Right-Way/306944431

Based on your class-rank and extracurricular activities, I think you would have a good chance of getting in. ACT is good, as the average at BC is around that, and the varsity sports helps a lot. It wouldn’t hurt getting the ACT score up a point or two.

If you’re doing PoliSci, I would suggest volunteering for local politically-active groups. For example, I helped work on someone’s campaign for a school-board seat and that looked really good on my application. Overall though, I think you have a good chance of getting in! Good luck!