Chance me?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Wellesley College
1

<p>Asian-American female
GPA UW - 3.70/4.0 (My school does not do weighted or class rank.)
ACT - 34
Income Bracket - ~170,000
SAT Subject: Math 2 800, Physics 800</p>

<p>Junior Year Schedule - AP Calc, AP Computer Science, AP Macroecon, AP Lit, Spanish 2, Physics, Government (also planning on self studying AP Psych)</p>

<p>Summer of Jr. Year - AP Microecon, History, and Accounting courses at a local university</p>

<p>Sr. Yr - Spanish 3, AP Lang, AP Stats, AP Bio, AP-USH, Computer Science course at local state university</p>

<p>(I've taken the hardest courses available except AP Chem and AP Euro. There has also been an upward trend in grades for the most part. My worst semesters were 2nd semester freshman year and 1st semester junior year. I have a legitimate explanation [sudden death of a friend] for my poor grades junior year, but none besides laziness for freshman year. Not sure if my explanation is enough to explain a 3.28 gpa of junior year 1st semester though.)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
- Work at restaurant for 1 year (40 hours during summer, 18 during school year, Freshman Year-Sophomore Year)
- Work at another restaurant for 1 year (40 hours during summer, 18 during school year, Sophomore Year-Junior Year)
- Volunteering at local hospital (400 total hours since Freshman year-beginning junior year)
- Volunteering at the ER (150 hours from junior year-now)
- Academic competition (1st in Biology local)
- Peer leader in support group (6 hours a week, not sure if I should mention this because I would have to admit to having an eating disorder in the past)
- Creator of anonymous eating disorder support group (4 hours a week -- started this in the summer before junior year after I dealt with my eating disorder)</p>

<p>(My extracurriculars are one of my biggest concerns because I don't participate in school activities that much, probably 1 or 2 hours a week in an after school club.)</p>

<p>My recommendations should be generic I think. I'm planning on visiting soon too!</p>

2

<p>Hi there,</p>

<p>As long as you’re in the top 10% of your class, I wouldn’t worry too much about your GPA since you have a legitimate reason for your grade drop. As long as your GC explains everything, you should be fine in that regard.</p>

<p>Your profile seems a lot like mine. I’m also an AA female with a 3.70 unweighted GPA (family member died my sophomore year) with an SAT score of 2260 (=34 ACT). I was planning on applying to Wellesley RD but I got accepted ED to Williams. Although your GPA won’t help your application, it’s definitely not the end of the world.</p>

<p>Still, I’d say Wellesley is a reach for you. The strongest parts of your application are your great test scores. Unfortunately, your ethnicity, mediocre EC’s/lack of specialty, and “generic” recs really hinder you. However, like everything you find on the internet, take my estimation of your chances cautiously.</p>

3

<p>@supergrapez What kind of ECs did you have? Thanks for being honest!</p>

4

<p>@supergrapez Also, if things go as planned, I think I will be doing an IT internship at one of the top insurance company over the summer (I’m a junior right now if I didn’t make that clear!). Do you think that would help my ECs? I know they are weak, but I am planning on majoring in CS. Sorry for posting twice to you!</p>

5

<p>I’m assuming you’re a junior right now (is that right??). The summer internship sounds impressive and will definitely strengthen your application. You can extend the benefit of it by getting an awesome rec for whomever you’re interning for or writing an interesting essay about your experience.</p>

<p>Btw, when I said your ECs were “mediocre,” I meant that on a College Confidential scale (in which playing at Carnegie Hall and publishing a research paper in a distinguished scientific journal are considered “great” ECs). Yours aren’t weak, but they will be compared with many others on a much larger scale. I want to caution you again to take everything you hear from strangers on the internet with a grain of salt. As much as CCers want to help each other, sometimes we can be hypercritical of the most minor faults. ಠ_ಠ</p>

<p>Anyway. </p>

<p>You asked about my ECs. </p>

<h2>(<em>cracks knuckles and takes a deep breath</em>) </h2>

<p>ECs + Honors/Awards ----
1st place Concerto Competition + $500, performed piano concerto w/professional orchestra in front of thousands of people
Winner of a music competition + $1000
2nd place in state piano competition
1 Gold Key, 2 Silver Keys, and 2 Hon Mention in Scholastic Art and Writing Competition</p>

<p>Concertmaster of Youth Orchestra
Concertmaster of District Orchestra
Spokesperson for Youth Orchestra
Performed at show of Grammy-award winning jazz pianist as one of three guest artists- other two guests included the host of my state’s NPR and a Juilliard faculty member
Performed violin concerto with Grammy-award winning composer (different than from above)
Performed as paid violin soloist w/hundreds of choral singers
Personal essay chosen to be read for a radio program
Performed at many master classes for piano and violin
All-state orchestra, 2nd chair 1st violin
First violinist in string quartet-- we get hired for weddings + other social events</p>

<p>Superintendent’s Academic Excellence Award
Music + art department awards
AP Scholar
Gifted &Talented program in Music and Art</p>

<p>Founder and President of National Art Honors Society
GSA, Vice President
Math team scorer
Speech team, won several regional awards
Paid research for PhD student
NHS High school tutoring committee
Representative at anti-bullying committee</p>

<p>Volunteering----
Local hospital volunteering, 40 hrs/yr for 2 yrs
Hospital lobby violinist, 1 hr/week for half a year
Pit orchestra for school musical, concertmaster, 20 hrs/yr for 2 yrs
Homecoming poster, designer, 20 hrs/yr for 4 yrs</p>

<h2>Senior T-shirt designer, my design won by popular vote. Almost all people in my class bought a shirt, and the raised money went to funding our graduation</h2>

<p>Overall, my ECs are/were really centered around music (with some art). I sent in violin/piano supplements (so azn lol) and an art supplement as well. I have a feeling that these things pushed me from the Williams ED deferred pile to the accepted pile. My recs were really strong… one teacher (whom I didn’t ask to write a rec) wrote a 2 page rec anyway saying I was one of the most talented and creative students he has encountered in almost 50 yrs of teaching. Before he showed me his rec (he was the only one to do so), I was expecting that none of my teachers would write anything distinguishing about me. So, I wouldn’t immediately assume that yours will be “generic.” </p>

<p>Also, Wellesley’s campus is incredibly beautiful. Seriously, pictures don’t do it justice. I hope you enjoy your visit soon and I wish you the best of luck with the college admissions process… sometimes it’s really random. </p>

6

<p>Okay, so I was looking over your post again, and now I think think Wellesley is more of a low reach/high match for you…</p>

<p>I don’t know what I was thinking before. </p>

<p>ERG. BRAIN WHAT ARE YOU DOING. I apologize for that. =(</p>

7

<p>@supergrapez Wow that’s really impressive! Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my question in detail haha. What changed your mind so I know what to highlight/expand on in my application?</p>

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<p>A couple things changed my mind. It was mostly that I wasn’t considering your profile in the context of your situation (I should also mention that before my first post to this thread I had just finished lurking through some chance me threads for Ivies). But let me elaborate:</p>

<p>-You’re still a junior. Not only do you two more semesters to improve your GPA, but you also have a lot more time to do really cool things before it’s time to apply to college. I did a lot of my “impressive” things late junior year/early senior year</p>

<p>-You have sooo many volunteering hours (and they will continue to grow). Obviously, whatever time you spend volunteering you can’t spend doing other ECs</p>

<p>-Test scores: Terrible. Wellesley’s 75th percentile ACT score is a 32. Your 34 and those double 800s subject tests will surely be the end of your application</p>

<p>-Your story: Even though I don’t know whether you should tell the admissions officers about your previous eating disorder, I think it was very inspiring/courageous that you started your own anonymous support group. These things say a lot of great things about your character</p>

<p>-You mention that you think you’ll receive generic recommendations… but how do you know this? A lot of students (who are ready to apply to college) think with this mindset</p>

<p>-You still have a college essay to write. It’s an additional opportunity to improve your application</p>

<p>-I believe being Asian doesn’t hurt as much if you’re applying to LACs… but then again, don’t quote me because apparently 28% of Wellesley students are Asian… xP</p>

9

<p>@supergrapez This might be a stupid question but do colleges see your 1st semester senior year grades? Like is it calculated with your GPA when you apply, or do they see those separately?</p>

10

<p>Yes, they do see them. All applicants are required to send them, so they do count. They will also see your 2nd semester grades after you’ve been admitted.</p>