I’m a junior this year, not doing so hot but looking at kind of competitive schools. I go to a small but somewhat highly ranked public school. I’m probably towards the top of my class, but my school doesn’t release rankings so I have no way of knowing. I’m taking a really demanding schedule this year, so my grades aren’t as good as other students’. My school doesn’t show us weighted GPAs either. I’m not really sure what I want to study in college yet, but I’ll probably major in a physical science and minor in fine arts.
Stats:
GPA uw: 3.93
SATs: 2140, taking again in October, will probably go up around 100
Taking math II and literature subject tests in a month
Schedule:
I’ve taken four years of spanish so far, plan on doing one more next year
I also doubled up on science classes sophomore year.
Junior year schedule: World History, AP English Literature, AP Biology, Spanish IV, Physics, Pre-calculus, Ecology independent study. Have mostly low A’s, will probably end the year with B+ in the two APs.
Senior year schedule: AP psychology, AP European History, AP Calculus, Spanish V, Art and Writing independent study, Advanced Drawing and Painting.
Schools I’m looking into:
Middlebury
Wesleyan
Bowdoin
Bates
Colby
Connecticut College
Hamilton
Swarthmore
U Vermont
Forgot extracurriculars:
Varsity Cross Country for four years, captain senior year
Class VP freshman year, treasurer junior year
math team all four years
Volunteer hours at local audubon and SPCA
Job at a local business in my city
I travel a lot and am going on a one month trip with students in my area to study at a reserve in South Africa this summer
I also have a mixed media portfolio of art I’ve made in the past four years to submit with my application
You have excellent qualifications. Other than the University of Vermont, every one of the schools on your list are excellent and extremely selective. (I am not suggesting Vermont is not an excellent school, it’s just not as selective as the others on your list) I think you should apply to as many as you can since you never know exactly what any given school is looking for in any given class. Even with your qualifications your odds of getting into any one of these schools is 20 - 25%. However, in aggregate your odds of getting in to one of them is higher.
Couple of other things to keep in mind. All of these schools are getting record applications and more selective every year. Another thing I want to highlight is if you are a student from NY, NJ, CT, or MA, states that produce many highly qualified students, most of whom are looking for colleges in the Northeast, your odds of getting in are lower. All of these schools are looking for diversity and since they get way more qualified applicants from these states, competition will be stiff. I would encourage you to include similar schools outside of the Northeast to improve your chances. You should look at Carleton, Grinnell, Oberlin, Mcalester, Pomona, Reed, and Kenyon Colleges to your list. These are also excellent schools outside of the Northeast. You may also want to add Franklin & Marshall to your list. Although not as selective as those on your list it is becoming more so. I think they saw a 39% jump in applications this year.
Thanks so much for the advice! I’m from NH and I’m looking to stay somewhat close to home due to medical issues. Not sure if this is an advantage or not- my family is from India, so I am racially diverse I guess. Hindu culture is a big part of my life and I plan on writing about it when I can on apps. Wesleyan and Bowdoin are my favorites, I might apply Ed to Wesleyan just because the odds seem a little better than Bowdoin.
Most people will tell you the exact same thing: Vermont is a safety for you, the rest of the schools are challenging admits for anyone but you are a top notch student so the odds for getting at least one acceptance from them are in your favor.