<p>I am applying to the School of Foreign Service</p>
<p>Stats:
3.8 unweighted, 4.2 weighted
6 AP's, All honors classes in everything except math, all four years.
28 ACT, ( I am retaking it)
630 on World History SAT 2 will take more tests this fall.
My school doesn't rank but I think I'm around the top 10%
I attend the top high school in Arkansas, ( the same as fellow cc poster Vitalik1) My school sends multiple kids to ivy league/top tier schools every year.</p>
<p>Ecs:
Varsity football for three years
Model UN
Amnesty International
Quiz bowl- VP
I am writing a 60 page thesis on the immigration policies of France, Germany, and Great Britain
Stock Market Club
Mu Alpha Theta
National Honor Society
Beta Club
Council of Intercultural Affairs
Fellowship of Christian Athletes
French Club
Speech and Drama team, I received a couple of small awards in a few tournaments
Honors in US history( my school does not have this as a AP/honors class), AP Human Geography, and Intro to Journalism for having the top 3 overall grade in that subject
over 30 hours of community service last year</p>
<p>Other/hooks:
I am a African American male, (This could help my chances I hope...)
I am very passionate about the world and international issues, I spent the majority of the first four years of my life in Saudi Arabia and Turkey, even though I was young this drove me at a young age to want to make a difference in the world.
So what are my chances?</p>
<p>You need to get your ACT score into the 31 plus range and get your SAT II scores into the 700 range if possible. Also, Georgetown loves students who are the top in their graduating classes. Try to improve your class rank if possible. The fact you are in a top HS in your area and your hooks may also help you if your test scores can be raised. Good luck.</p>
<p>@Neat1837 - this is a common misconception among students at high schools that “do not rank.” “Do not rank” actually means “do not publish a list of rankings for the student eye.” The guidance office most likely has the class rankings of every students and updates them at the end of each semester. Class rank is EXTREMELY important in a school that does not rank, because guidance counselors can still allude to your rank in a rec letter.</p>
<p>My school is a very competitive and small private school ( There is only around 80 students in my grade). Therefore the top 10% is only 8 kids.( I think gpa wise I am probably between 9-12). Meanwhile the school I went to in the 9th grade in TN, had around 650 kids in my grade. Meaning that the top 10% was 65 people. That is a big difference. That is like around 75% of my current grade being in the top 10% of a school. This is why my Guidance said that she doesn’t even publish the rankings to colleges and only uses it to determine valedictorian and salutatorian.</p>
<p>Your ethnicity will certainly help you, but I doubt it will make up for your poor test scores. Your ECs are also pretty ordinary, so that won’t help you too much. I’d say you have a decent chance at Georgetown if you pull that ACT up to a 32, and get 700+s on multiple subject tests.</p>
<p>Keep in mind a few things, though:
The SFS, from what I understand, is the hardest school to get into here.</p>
<p>2) Your ethnicity certainly will help, but you’d be surprised by the diversity here in the SFS. You’re going to need a really good story (aka show your passion through a really good essay) if you want to get in.</p>
<p>3) Rank, from what I’ve seen, is very important. My high school “didn’t rank” either, only using the numbers for valedictorian, but they still did send percentile rankings to colleges…I don’t know of any high school that doesn’t at least send a “top 10%”, “top 25%” in. If you’re not in the top 10%, I’d say that that’s a major ding against your application, given that that’s the only way (besides SAT/ACT) to gauge what your GPA actually means. (As a side note: at this year’s Opening Convocation, the DeGioia talked about how a vast majority of the class of 2016 were the top of their class, and the ones that weren’t had probably started a non-profit or were the elected president of their town or something like that…so ranking’s kinda big)</p>
<p>4) As a continuation of (2)…you’re going to have to REALLY explain how spending the first four years of your life abroad made you “want to change the world”. The adcoms can smell that kind of BS pretty well, especially when you’re applying to a school where most kids want to “change the world” through foreign policy, too.</p>
<p>If you’re a senior (which I’m assuming you are?) then you have no time to work on your ECs, so you better get cracking on the ACT/SATIIs. Besides that, just relax and enjoy high school; there’s not much else you can do at this point, so once you click the “submit app” button in a few months/weeks, forget about it!</p>
<p>The same general quotes were made in last years’ convocation address. Based on the figures provided, nearly 49% of the matriculating class of 2015 were ranked 1st, 2nd or 3rd in their HS graduating classes. Georgetown loves valedictorians and salutorians.</p>