<p>So I'm going to be applying to the University of MD--College Park (Priority, Honors hopeful!), Dartmouth, Brown, Cornell (father and half-sister are alums), Georgetown (EA), Middlebury, and possibly Johns Hopkins though, in all honesty, I don't know much about any of these schools except for GTown and UMD. I'm considering a career in veterinary medicine or secondary science education, and am, at the recommendation of my counselor, applying as a Physics major. I do really like physics, but it seems less useful than, say, biology, and languages are also a great passion of mine.</p>
<p>I'm more than open to any suggestions on other colleges, too, and any input about the ones that I've chosen!</p>
<p>Me:
Gender/Ethnicity -- Male/White</p>
<p>*9th/10th/11th GPA *-- 3.9 Unweighted, 4.1 Weighted. ((My Freshman year wasn't my best (A mix of As and A-s, with one B+), but that was due in part to the death of my father halfway through the year.))</p>
<p>Ranking -- No rankings at our school, but I'm in the top 5%, or number 1-3/70, I believe.</p>
<p>Junior year schedule/grades -- AP English Lit. (A), AP US History (A), Physics (A), Precalculus (A), and Spanish III (A)</p>
<p>*Senior year schedule/first trimester grades *-- AP Biology (A), AP Spanish Language (A), AP Calculus AB (A), AP English Language (A+), and Physics II (A)</p>
<p>APs taken -- AP US History (5) and AP English Lit (5). ((Our school only offers 2 APs before Senior year (US and Lit, obviously) and in Senior year we only have access to 4 (the ones that I'm taking).))</p>
<p>SAT -- 2200: 760 CR, 680M, 760 W ((strange, since math has always been my best subject, but oh well.))</p>
<p>SAT IIs -- 720 Mathematics Level 2, 690 Spanish, 770 U.S. History. ((The Spanish test is a little bit embarrassing, as I'm near-fluent. I realized after the test that I had not turned to the last page, thinking that I already finished...))</p>
<p>ECs:
-- Martial arts all through middle school and high school, began Tai Chi in high school.
-- "Little Dragon" martial arts instructor to kids 7 and under, Tai Chi forms and weapons instructor to adults (both since junior year.)
-- Executive tutor (paid) with P2P Tutors, around 4 hours per week
-- Tutor at the National Center for Children and Families, mostly helping children from abused and broken homes who dropped out of high school to get their GEDs, 1-2 times per week
--Tutor at the National Center for Children and Families' Greentree Shelter (tutoring math, reading, science, etc to high schoolers living at the shelter) 1-2 times per week.
-- Volunteering every Sunday with an ASPCA vet, for a total of well over 100 hours
-- Not sure how good this will look, but I ran track in Freshman year, participated in my school's musical Sophomore year, and played the violin in our Symphonic Rock Orchestra Junior year
--Peer Leader (I work with incoming freshmen and help them adjust to high school life -- a leadership role at our school)</p>
<p>Awards, etc:
--Inducted into the Cum Laude Society in my Junior year (top 5% of my class)
--Black belt in martial arts and Tai Chi
--Finalist as well as 3rd place in the US Capitol Classics Chinese Open (Martial arts)
--Tutor of the Month at my tutoring company
--I went on a community service/language immersion/homestay trip to Honduras for one month this summer. I came back with an additional 40+ hours of community service, teaching in a rural kindergarten (an INCREDIBLE experience), and near-fluent in Spanish.
--Wrote a 61-page thesis on the history of the desegregation movement (specifically the desegregation of the University of Georgia) with an analysis of my one-on-one interview with Vernon Jordan for my APUSH class, don't know if that counts for anything?
--Maryland Distinguished Scholar nominee for Junior year
--High Honor Roll member every trimester since the 2nd of Freshman year.</p>
<p>Recs and Essay: Great teacher recs from my APUSH, Spanish, and Precal teachers. All three volunteered to write for me without me asking, which I took as a good sign, and my Spanish teacher went on the trip to Honduras with me, so she'll be speaking to my out-of-school life.
My essay is pretty deep and creative (my college counselor seemed to like it), and I am a strong writer.</p>
<p>Quick question: do any of these colleges require you to send in all SAT attempts? I took it cold in May and got a 2090, and when I took it again (without prep) in October, all of my scores went up or stayed the same. I don't want to spend the money if I don't have to!</p>
<p><em>edit</em> Second quick question: what will colleges do with arts in my GPA? My school sends in my GPA with arts included, and that drops it to a 3.9 UNweighted, since the art teachers at my school rarely give A's. Will all of these colleges re-calculate my GPA without arts, since I'm not applying as an art major??</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!</p>