Chance me?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Pomona College
1

<p>Hi, I'm currently a junior and was wondering if I have a shot at Pomona. My stats really aren't complete yet, but if you could give me some idea of whether or not I am on the right track I would appreciate it. </p>

<p>School: Pretty good public school (~250 kids in my graduating class)
GPA: 4.0 (My school only calculates unweighted GPAs)
Probably one of the top 5 students in my grade</p>

<p>SAT: Taking in June by most likely 2220+
SAT II:
Chem: 750
Math(II): 770
US: 800</p>

<p>AP: My school offers 12 AP courses. By the end of senior year I'll have taken AP US, Spanish (twice since it's the highest level offered), Lang, Calc AB, Stats, Chem, Bio, and Physics, with probably 4s or 5s on all the tests.</p>

<p>ECs: </p>

<p>Sports: Varsity tennis: 9,10,11,12. Captain: 10, presumably 12. State entrant: 10,11,12. I play some tournaments, have a national ranking and take the sport pretty seriously. I'm probably good enough to play D3 but I don't know how good a team Pomona has. </p>

<p>Clubs: NHS:10,11,12
Science Club: Co-Founder (11) and President (11, 12)
Science Olympiad: 9, 11, 12 (not offered 10) Placed 3rd in State for Chemistry (11)</p>

<p>Other: I placed in the top 10% of non-native Spanish speakers across the State in the National Spanish Exam all three years so far.</p>

<p>Summer: Last summer I got to live in Europe for several months.
This summer I'll probably job-shadow at a cardiology clinic (I want to be a doctor, I think) and do some research with a prof at the local University. </p>

<p>Volunteer: Maybe 250+ hours by the time I leave high school. Mainly tutoring and teaching tennis clinics. </p>

<p>Essays: I think I'll get a pretty good boost from my recs and hopefully from the essays as well. One of them might be on how my sister was diagnosed with anorexia earlier this year and how my mom had to move away for a little while so that she could be with my sister while she got in-patient treatment. I'm not sure if this will fit one of the prompts but it's something that I'd really like to write about if I could. </p>

<p>Ummm... I guess that's about it. Thanks to anyone who responds.</p>

2

<p>You definitely have the qualifications. As for your potential essay topic, you’ll need to make sure you demonstrate the impact it had on you.</p>

<p>As for the tennis team, the women’s doubles team came in second over the weekend at the D3 national championships.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

3

<p>You have the numbers and should have many options. Should be a good candidate at Pomona or anywhere else. Take the time to look thoughtfully at what you want from the college experince and dig deep to find the schools that match what you want.</p>

4

<p>Thanks a lot</p>

5

<p>Remember – you look like all the other applicants that Pomona gets. Although your record is impressive, Pomona gets three such applications for each spot.</p>

<p>The inside money understands that what you need to do with your complete application (including your rec’s and essay) is “frame” yourself. You need to tell a coherent story about how your personality, interests and accomplishments distinguish you. If you do not, you are essentially leaving it to the school to decide whether they select you or not. Given that, your chances might be in the 35-45% range (which is generous given that their overall acceptance rate for men is approximately 19%).</p>

6

<p>Ok, just got the SAT and ACT scores back (first time for both). ACT = 33, SAT = 2190 (800 CR, 710 Math, 680 Writing). Should I retake one or both? I didn’t study for either test so I know that I could bump my scores if I do retake in Sept. or Oct.</p>

7

<p>I wouldn’t retake them, but that may just be me. I took both tests once and received a 34 on the ACT and something around 2050 on the SAT. To me, those were fairly decent scores and I didn’t think I would have significantly increased my scores if I took the tests again. Fortunately, I still got into Pomona.<br>
If you think you can do a lot better next time by studying, then by all means take them again. I would be happy with those scores though, and as long as your grades are strong, there shouldn’t really be a problem.</p>

8

<p>I think those scores are fine, and you showed mastery of both tests ( which can’t hurt). I got in with An ACT of 33 and 3 SAT II’s of 700+ , (one was 800)</p>

9

<p>Thanks everyone. Do you think I should send in both tests or would it be better to send in a particular one?</p>

10

<p>Great scores, sound academic record.</p>

<p>however, like someone said in an earlier post, there are a lot of smart people who take AP’s and play sports, do clubs and volunteer. Not that these aren’t all great (and important) but you need to let them know that you didn’t just take those classes to get into a good college (hopefully you didn’t). Your stats will get you considered, your recommendations and essays will put you in. In your essays stress YOU, rather than just talking about a certain event or the team - show them something that represents who you are.</p>

<p>about the test scores - submit both. Colleges would rather see everything, because they want to see improvement</p>

<p>good luck! You’re definitely a strong candidate</p>