Chance me RD Colgate

First time posting. Does Colgate seem like a target or a reach for me?

Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
School: Public
State: NJ
Not applying for financial aid.

Academic Interest: Economics/Political Science
Cumulative GPA: 3.78
Weighted GPA: 4.73
Rank: School doesn’t report rank or percentiles.
ACT: 34 English, 32 Math, 36 Reading, 36 Science, 35 SS
AP: 5 US History, 5 World History, 5 English Language and Composition (didn’t report my Physics 1 AP score, 3)

Senior Courses: IB-SL Economics, IB-SL Psychology, IB-HL/AP English Literature, AP European History, IB-HL Physics, Advanced Calculus (I have a 3.95 GPA for the first semester)

Extracurricular Activities and Volunteer Work:
-Worked as a political canvasser during the midterms for both primary and general elections, registered voters to vote by mail (70+ hours of service).
-Alumnus of the National Outdoor Leadership School. Took three week summer courses (330+ hours each) during the summers before my sophomore and senior years. Earned credits from the University of Utah.
-Certified Wilderness First Responder, took an 80 hour course over the summer before my Junior year along with CPR, AED, and BLS certifications.
-Peer tutoring for AP Physics 1, APUSH, AP World (20+ hours)
-Officer for school investment club, managed my own portfolios and held info sessions about the stock market (11th and 12th)
-National Honor Society (12th)

Sports:
-Varsity epee fencer, participated in county and regional tournaments (11th and 12th), JV (10th and 11th)
-JV captain of the school golf team (10th, 11th), varsity this year.

Job Experiences:
-Worked as an umpire in the local little league (40+ hours)
-Worked as a caddie at the local country club (40+ hours)

Accomplishments:
-National Merit Scholarship Program Letter of Commendation (1450 on PSAT) (12th)
-AP Scholar with Honor (11th)
-Member of NHS (12th)

Application:
-Common App essay was fine, probably decent in the context of the application pool (it was about my political campaigning)
-Supplementary essay was great, one of the best I’ve written so far.
-Letters of recommendation were mediocre, both from AP teachers junior year. I got an additional one my AP Euro teacher this year, which I believe to be far better than the other two.

So far I’ve been accepted into Fordham University EA (with $22,500 scholarship), deferred from Northeastern EA, rejected from UNC and UVA EA (extremely hard to get into from my school)

Thanks.

I think you have a pretty decent shot, but Colgate is a reach for almost all applicants. Your essays and LOR will make a big difference for sure, so hopefully those LORs are better than Mediocre. Your application would have been helped with a bit more leadership (though maybe you just didn’t disclose that here). Try to schedule an interview with one of the seniors that do them (call admissions to do this, I am not sure if they will do them on the phone or if it has to be in person). Connect with your admissions counselor through email (become a person, do a resume so they can get to know you better and email it to them if you didn’t do it already with the application)…ask good questions and do your research so you know just why you want to go to Colgate. It’s a shame you did not do EDII, as I think your shot for that would bring you more to a target level. Good luck! Colgate is an amazing school with a lot to offer and you seem to be the type of student they look for.

Thanks for the reply. I toured Colgate last month and talked with my AO in person. I sent in my resume with my application as well.

Colgate tends to be a match school for highly qualified applicants. Based on the profile you’ve included here, I’d say your chances are good. As stated above, your “mediocre” LORs could be a factor, but less so if they don’t, in full context, fairly reflect your accomplishments.

Not incidentally, based on faculty scholarship in the field, you’ve applied to an excellent school for the study of economics: https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.uslacecon.html.

Best of luck to you!

I got accepted.