Chance Me??? PLEASE

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Maryland - College Park
1

<p>I'm a white, female who goes to a performing arts high school where I major in Musical Theatre. My school requires a lot of commitment and I have to take just as many art classes as I do academic classes. I am a bit worried after seeing other people's "Chance Me", because I do not go to a school that allows me to do other clubs or much after school activities. I have to stay after school until 8:30 pm at least 3 times a week. Also I went to two other high school my freshman year.</p>

<p>Class Rank: 3 out of 50</p>

<p>GPA: 4.00 UW</p>

<p>SAT: 1540. I took this at the beginning of my Junior year, and I'm planning to score at least a 1750 by the end of this year.</p>

<p>CLASSES: (We can only take 2 AP classes a year!)
Freshman year: all honors.
Sophomore year: all honors. (My school does not allow us to start taking AP until Junior year)
Junior year: AP Language, AP Biology and Pre calc/Trig
Senior year: I'm planning on taking AP Calc, AP Literature, and Anatomy.
In addition to these academic classes, my arts classes include dance, musical theatre technique, acting, concert choir, musical theatre ensemble and technical theatre.</p>

<p>EXTRA CURRICULAR:
I am beginning a volunteer program at my local hospital (I want to major in Dietetics) (Junior year--)
Girl Scouts (Kindergarten--)
Community Theatre Group (Freshman year)
Maryland All-State Choir (Freshman year)
Member of SGA and Key Club (Freshman year)
Member of National Honor Society (Sophomore-- )
Member of my school’s Concert Choir (Freshman-- )
Participant in my school's seasonal showcases three times a year (Sophomore-- )
Member of my schools Mixed Musical Theatre Ensemble (Sophomore-- )
I have been doing my school's annual musicals since the 7th grade.
My school does monthly performances at different charity and government events.
Soccer (4th grade-Sophomore year)</p>

<p>AWARDS:
Girl Scout Bronze Leadership Award
Girl Scout Bronze Award
Girl Scout Silver Leadership Award
Girl Scout Silver Award
National History Day County Honorable Mention (Freshman)
Diploma of Merit for Spanish 3 at my high school (Freshman)
National Thespian member</p>

<p>How am I doing?</p>

2

<p>Just to be clear, I gather that you are currently a junior…? </p>

<p>Please don’t be intimidated/worried about what others post.</p>

<p>The important things to know about applying to Maryland are:

  1. Apply by the priority date of Nov 1
  2. Apply by the priority date of Nov 1 (so important, it bears repeating)
  3. Maryland is one of those schools that places a lot of emphasis on numbers/stats
  4. The only SAT scores they look at are CR + M
  5. Since many schools have varying scales for weighting GPA’s, Maryland will convert your weighted GPA to unweighted, so that is very important. After they convert your GPA they look at number of AP classes and class rank.
  6. While EC’s are important, they are not going to make or break you.
  7. Since Maryland is a public state university, they have to take a certain (very high) percentage of students from Maryland, so residency is definitely an advantage.</p>

<p>So, my take…
Your unweighted GPA and class rank are outstanding (great job!) and are definitely your strength.
Your EC’s are actually good - leadership is demonstrated in Girl Scouts (and community service is assumed since it is integral to Girl Scouts), and while the other EC’s don’t have leadership positions, being a member of Maryland All-State Choir is very impressive.
Your only weakness, honestly, is that you did’t do as well on the SAT. However, with practice, there is no reason you can’t raise your scores. Focus all of your energy on improving math and critical reading. Maryland does NOT count the writing section or essay at all.
Decide now which teachers you would like to use for letters of recommendation and ask them close to the end of the year so that they have time over the summer to work on it rather than waiting until the fall when everyone else is asking.
Best of luck!</p>