<p>Hey @thecthaeh. Thanks for reaching out!</p>
<p>Firstly, I just want to let you know academically you are fine. Davidson evaluates people in this descending order of importance: rigor (AP,IB, Honors), academic success (GPA, Rank), writing (Personal statement, writing supplement, recommendations), extracurricular involvement (leadership, club membership, level of participation), and test scores (ACT/SAT I/SAT II). From that breakdown you can tell they don’t evaluate test score highly but thinking as a admissions counselor that part would just be a check mark to me for you as your 2300 super-score is well over the middle 50% range (1940-2240). Moving up the list to your extracurricular involvement that looks great as you show a dedication to one specific area of interest instead of having clubs all over the place and you even have a leadership experience in one that further demonstrates your dedication to things you have a passion for making Davidson think you would feel the same way about them. </p>
<p>Next up on the list is writing. This is what separates a good applicant from a great one. They take recommendations very seriously and try to get teachers that can talk about you personally instead of having one you like write a generic one remember they want to know about you as a person. Also, just a generally rule given to me by an admissions counselor try not to give them more recommendations then what they’ve asked for as they feel you are trying to hide or compensate for something else in you application. And when writing your personal statement and writing supplements be bold, risky, and entertaining remember “real” people are reading your application so don’t bore them. Think about it this way if your essay can wake someone up who looks tired and forlorn from reading all day then you have a winning essay.</p>
<p>The next two are really application considerations are really important in your evaluation. They want to see that you’ve taken as many advanced classes as possible and maybe even some not available to you. It looks like you have taken a good amount of honors and AP’s from what I’ve seen; just make sure that your schedule is most rigorous in all areas. And your GPA looks fine to me. </p>
<p>My overall comment of you is that you seem to be a highly academically qualified applicant who has demonstrated a great passion for political science(s) and has supplemented this passion through participation in several prestigious programs both nationally and internationally. The only problems I see is that you appeared not to have taken a foreign language up to senior year, which they really like to see, and you’ve also haven’t mentioned anything about your rank which is also really important.</p>
<p>Some advice would be to make sure the essays are personalized but not boring; absolutely do not be boring or you will go straight to the reject pile. Also, if you are really committed apply early decision II as that should optimize your likely hood of acceptance. REALLY IMPORTANT: <strong><em>contact you regionally admissions counselor and make sure they remember you when reviewing your application</em></strong>This is the struggle for liberal arts as they want to keep their acceptance rate low but have a large enough of a yield rate to fill up the class, so calling them will show you’d intend to enroll if accepted. And try not to make the school look like a safety as that quickly will get you rejected too.</p>
<p>Note: I had MUCH, MUCH, MUCH lower scores than you did when I applied early decision I but I was accepted and I did it doing everything I just listed here. Please let me know if you need anymore help. </p>