Chance me! (West coast early decision applicant)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Smith College
1

<p>Nationality: Caucasian</p>

<p>Income: Middle, will need financial assistance</p>

<p>GPA: 3.63 (unweighted--my school doesn't calculate weighted)</p>

<p>Classes: All very rigorous; I've taken essentially all the AP/honors classes physically possible. Seven AP classes total, I think. Math-wise, I've gone through AP calculus (got a 4 on the exam) and am now taking AP statistics. Done well in English also (5 on last year's AP). Three years of Latin. I've taken all the possible AP history courses, but haven't done too great in them. I've taken lots of cool sciences, including genetics (which I want to study in college) and AP Bio.</p>

<p>SAT Reasoning: 2200 (740 reading, 680 math, 780 writing)</p>

<p>ECs: Lots and lots of choir. I've done concert choir at school every year (soprano section leader every year since sophomore year and winner of the peer-voted "most inspirational" award the same years!) This year I also TA for our lower-level treble choir and higher-level jazz choir. I'm also in a gay-straight alliance youth choir in my city, and I've been the chorus representative on our board since freshman year. I also play the piano well, but not too consistently or professionally at this point (casual rehearsal accompanist because my school choirs never have one). I'm the copyeditor of our school newspaper (a nationally renowned high school newspaper!)</p>

<p>Community Service: Volunteered at a hospital summer of 2010 and at various camps in Hungary last summer.</p>

<p>Essay: I've written one about my experience in Hungary last summer (my dad is from Hungary, came here as a refugee). Basically, Hungary is really Catholic and homophobic, and I've never been one to hide that I'm gay, but it was hard over there because it was already hard to communicate with the Hungarian girls my age and I didn't want them to hate me because I was stuck for several weeks with them. I wrote about choosing to be honest about it with them anyway because I figured that at least one of the people I talked to would inevitably be in the closet and maybe never have met another gay person before because of where they live. I'm good at writing, but I'm not sure if it's a good subject for Smith, because being gay isn't incredibly diverse...</p>

<p>Recommendations: Solid.</p>

<p>Class Rank: Not sure yet, but probably not awesome. My school is a magnet school for students from a a super advanced middle school program (which I was not a part of). Hopefully they will take that into consideration.</p>

<p>Intended Major: Biology.</p>

<p>Thanks for reading; I really want to go to Smith but I'm worried because my GPA is a little low...I plan on explaining myself a little (had a serious illness freshman year and a recurrence junior year, which caused me to miss a fair amount of school and fall asleep in class).</p>

2

<p>I think you will get admitted. My daughter’s naviance says Smith’s avg accepted gpa is 3.43 and 2000 SAT’s.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the input! That’s a lower average than I’ve heard. Unfortunately my school stopped using Naviance, so I can’t see mine. :(</p>

<p>ALSO I FORGOT ONE OF MY ECs and that’s swimming. I swam year-round on ultra-competitive teams since I was eight, and varsity for high school for three years. I quit this year due to a medical condition.</p>

4

<p>Based on your GPA, SAT and EC’s I believe you have a good chance of being accepted. Smith continues to become more competitive each year and the number of both ED and regular decision applicants is dramatically increasing. It is important to make sure that the CSS Profile from College Board is timely filed and if accepted file your FAFSA as soon as possible after January 1. Good luck.</p>

5

<p>Cherries, I think you have a good chance of being admitted. In addition to your explanation of your illness which has affected your grades, I’d encourage your guidance counselor to corroborate that in her/his recommendation. Good luck!</p>