Chance This! Pomona? Duke?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm a junior, going to competitive IB school in Oregon (public)</p>

<p>SCHOOL STATS:
GPA - 3.99 unweighted/ 4.2 weighted (all As in AP US last year)
- I am an IB Diploma student taking IB Enlgish, Bio, Psychology
(HL) and French, Calculus, Business (SL)
- this tri i got a 4.8, first b in IB Calculus
- major: Government & Economics
- taking Most rigorous courses available</p>

<p>Awards:
-Scholar of the Month
- NHS fundraiser, Prez. next year
- Honor Roll
- Duke of Spirit
- Coach's Award</p>

<p>Extracirriculars:
-Track (3 years) - Varsity Letter
-Cross Country (3 years) - Captain, Varsity, Prestigous Coach's Award for Leadership and excellence on the team, 1 per year
-Mayors Youth Advisory Board (2 years) - Co-Chair, going to Washington DC for a National Conference on it
-Uganda Club (3 years) - Organized fast for malaria, Prez next year
- Diversity Club - went to Diversity Summit, VP next year
- Freshman Treasurer, Sr. Prez next year
- Varsity Ultimate Frisbee - starting defender
- FCA - Prez this year and next year. Organize every week by myself</p>

<p>Running - 17:32 PR. I could run for Pomona, Whitman, Claremont</p>

<p>Volunteer Work:
- 190 Hours at Beaverton Library helping Children
- 40 Hours working at Senior Center
- IB Executive Committee, organized/made advertising
campaign for IB Iron Chef fundraiser</p>

<p>Hobbies: Photography</p>

<p>Hook: Planning an event w/ a local running company owner to give 100 pairs of shoes to lower income children in Portland who cannot afford shoes. By end of Senior year i want to give 250 pairs of shoes through donations of corporations etc.</p>

<p>SAT & ACT:
haven't taken either, but practice tests land me at:
ACT: 30-32
SAT: 2150 - 2250
SAT II: took US History 660, disregarding that and taking:
Biology, Literature, Math IIC? or French? Above 700 on all of them...</p>

<p>Colleges:
- Pomona (ED)
- Claremont Mckenna
- Duke University
- Whitman College
- UO Honors College</p>

<p>Other schools to Consider: Amherst, Dartmouth</p>

2

<p>Bump! Bump! </p>

<p>I hate standardized testing...</p>

3

<p>Doing ED at Pomona will defintely help</p>

<p>Whitman is a lock, as is UO Honors(I would assume it's not terribly dificult to get into).</p>

<p>CMC is probablly a math/slight reach, Duke is probablly a reach, and Pomona is a slight reach, but ED should certainly help</p>

4

<p>I assume that my GPA is fine, as are Extracirriculars.</p>

<p>Test scores seem to be the weakest aspect of my application, but would it help if they are all over 700?</p>

<p>Oh and this might help - my essay's and reccomendations will be AMAZING.</p>

<p>anything else i can do right now?</p>

<p>oh yeah - i got a 4 on the AP US test.. not that it matters, but my sucky SAT II score doesn't reflect my history knowledge.. if calculus isn't my strong suit should i take Math iiC?</p>

5

<p>"Oh and this might help - my essay's and reccomendations will be AMAZING."</p>

<p>So will everbody and their aunt.</p>

<p>I'd advise you to take a look at the forums for those respective schools you are interested in, and browse the accepted threads to have an idea for what stats you should aim for.</p>

6

<p>"Oh and this might help - my essay's and reccomendations will be AMAZING."</p>

<p>Yeah, that's kind of a ridiculous statement to say as a junior.</p>

7

<p>I'm sorry for saying they will be amazing, but they won't suck either.</p>

<p>Some of the smartest kids at my school are hated by teachers because they do nothing in class and would rather be reading anime. I've had 3 teachers ask if they can write letters of recommendation, i didn't even bring up the subject. I've got to assume that these will be pretty great letters...</p>

<p>Essays can be random, but my point was that writing is one of my strengths. If i had to do a calculus problem on an Application i might get worried, but you get the idea. My essays will be unique and original, amazing might not be the best word to describe them..</p>

8

<p>Is 5 schools too few to apply to? Even if i have my heart set on Pomona/Claremont Mckenna?</p>

<p>Are there any other Top LAC's that look like they would be good? What are my chances at Bowdoin, Davidson?</p>

<p>Any other opinions/advice?</p>

9

<p>What about chances for merit scholarships at Whitman, Claremont Mckenna (unlikely), Duke i've realized is unattainable for scholarships...</p>

<p>Any other ideas? Or does anyone know of schools that i could get merit money besides UO, University of Portland, Seattle Pacific...</p>

10

<p>The shoe thing is a nice EC, but it's no hook. This list is reach heavy. 5 to me is not too few if you have safeties you love.</p>

11

<p>I like UO Honors College it's just not my first choice and I would be happy there.</p>

<p>So I understand that Duke, CMC, Pomona are difficult to get into, but would you say it's reach heavy? Especially if my Sat's end up being 700+ across the board?</p>

<p>in my opinion:
pomona - low reach/high match
cmc - high match
duke - low reach/reach
whitman - safety/match
uo honors - safety
bowdoin - match (no sat!)</p>

12

<p>With a 2100 Duke is a big reach. So is Pomona. </p>

<p>If you are recruited for running you could get in.</p>

13

<p>Pomona's mean SAT is 2156, median is 2190</p>

<p>thier mean ACT is 31, median is 32</p>

<p>If i got 2150 - 2200 would this make a difference suze? what about a 31/32 ACT? I just don't like to think of Pomona as a "big" reach. If i got their average SAT wouldn't that be good enough for admission?</p>