Chance me? (Whitman)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Whitman College
1

I’m applying ED II. After passing through Walla Walla briefly over Thanksgiving break (unfortunately didn’t get to visit the campus but did drive past it) I immediately fell in love. After doing extensive research on the school, Whitman is my top choice. I go to a fairly competitive urban arts high school (I’m in the vocal department) in California.
GPA (unweighted): 3.61 (I got straight As the first semester of senior year though so it’ll go up)
SAT: 1730 - 510 math, 580 critical reading, 640 writing
SAT II: Spanish w/listening 700 (had to take it to test out of Spanish in high school b/c I’m a fluent speaker)
My school doesn’t rank its students
Course rigor (went to Spanish immersion elementary/middle schools so no foreign language): 9th grade- algebra II (B, C), physics (A, A), PE (B, B the teacher was the head of the dance dept and graded based on dancing ability, nearly everyone who wasn’t in the dance dept got Bs), health (A), Honors English (A, B), vocal (A, A). 10th grade- world history (A, A), chem (B, B), geometry (A, B), English (A, A), vocal (A, A). 11th grade- Honors US history (A, A), bio (B, B), precalc (C, B), AP English (B, A), vocal (A, A). 12th grade first semester- AP psych (A), LGBTQ studies (A), AP gov (A), AP literature (A), vocal (A).
Extracurriculars: Gay-Straight alliance (2 yrs), co-founded a girls club (1 yr), private vocal lessons w/ professional opera singer (4 yrs), middle school outreach (1 yr), chamber choir (1 yr).
Summer: the summer after my sophomore year I attended a one week opera workshop at the University of British Columbia and last summer I participated in a paid internship in a radiology research lab at UCSF.
Personal statement: I chose the common app prompt about the transition from childhood to adulthood. I talked about dealing with my mother’s cancer last year and how it forced me to grow up.
Major: Psychology. I want to get my PhD in clinical psych eventually
Gender: female
Ethnicity: mixed- 1/4 Japanese, 1/4 Native Hawaiian, 1/2 white
Financial stuff: My parents are divorced and my mom has been unemployed for almost 3 years. Before that she was working a minimum wage job. My dad has a job that pays slightly over minimum wage. My dad finished college but my mom never did. I’m counting on need based aid (obviously not many opportunities for me in terms of merit based aid) to afford college.

I know my grades and SAT scores aren’t up to Whitman’s standards, but I also know they’re looking for ethnic and socioeconomic diversity, which I would definitely bring (I’m talking a little about that in my supplement essay).

2

Best wishes to you! It’s lovely to hear that Whitman is your top choice. My son is a sophomore there, and it’s an absolutely wonderful college. And if you like it so much without even having visited, you are really in for a treat when you get there.

I know at this stage “Chance Me” reflects an understandable desire for some real assurance, and I wish I could give it. You’re kind of on the cusp in terms of qualifications, but very compelling holistically. Your overall profile seems like something that would really appeal to Whitman admissions. Strengths in the arts, lots of AP classes, an different economic background from most Whitman students, with both academic and life challenges under your belt.

Keep the vision, have a back-up plan, and know we’re sending good thoughts!

3

@rejnel thank you for help!!

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That’s wonderful that you’re looking at Whitman as a number 1!!
I’m currently a sophomore there and remember my application process quite well.
Your extracurricular activity is about 10x’s better than mine was when I applied and my grades and SAT scores weren’t that much better than yours… If it’s possible I would take the SAT one more time but that’s just a suggestion.

Ethnic diversity is a pretty big deal but I think they’re a little more concerned about regional diversity. There are so many people from California, and Washington… and Portland so your state residence could have a huge influence.
Asian and White are the two major groups so ethnicity probably won’t help too much.
Socioeconomic diversity is definitely our largest problem though. I’m comfortably middle class and considered quite poor by Whitman standards.
If your family makes less than $150,000 a year that’ll really help your chances.

Overall, after reading about your credentials and the fact that you’re applying EDII I’d say you have around a 55-65% chance of getting in.
If you live in an state that’s not common for Whitman students you’re chances increase to about 75-85% depending on the state

You’re main weakness is your SAT score, and honestly, your course rigor a little.
When I graduated I finished with 6 IB Higher Level Courses and 2 Standard Level Courses along with 6 AP courses and a 3.8 GPA .
However, your extracurricular activity should definitely make up for course rigor.
SAT though… It’ll be close but I have confidence in your resume to be honest.

It’ll be awesome to hear what happens but keep back ups open just in case. Not that you’ll definitely need it but it’s just rational to have a plan B.

Good Luck!

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@nooooooo0 thanks for the help!