<p>I'm a white junior male from Tennessee. I've mainly been looking at liberal arts colleges, but a recent trip to DC left me enamored with Georgetown. Do I have a chance?</p>
<p>Academics:
-3.7 W GPA (really bad fresh/soph, upward trend junior year)
-Non-ranking school
-planning to take 4 years French/English/Math/Lab Science/Social Studies; Bible is a required elective each year and I've had other electives every year
-APs: English 11, US History, Government<em>, Economics</em>, English 12<em>, Calc BC</em>
-Honors: Biology 2, Precalculus, French IV<em>, Physics</em>
(* I'm taking these next year)
(Note: the size of my school limits the academic opportunities; I have taken advantage of every honors/advanced I could)</p>
<p>Scores:
-1380 SAT I/2070 New SAT (650M/730CR/690W, definitely retaking and my goal is 2200)
-32 ACT
-214 PSAT (70W/74M/70CR, probably going to be NMF)
-No SAT IIs</p>
<p>Extracurricular/other:
-varsity swimming (on the state team and received Coaches' Award for excellence in character)
-club swimming (year-round, practice every night)
-varsity Scholar's Bowl team
-Mock Trial
-Mu Alpha Theta
-National Honor Society
-Chem Club
-Chess Club
-Christian Literature Club (treasurer)
-15 hours of service/year (required by school)
-service/mission trip to French Canada in the summer (not included in service hours)
-nationally ranked in the French Grand Concours, 10th grade</p>
<p>which school are you applying to within GTown? What is your total community service hour count?</p>
<p>You might want to grab a couple of review books and study up for your standardized tests. Your scores are a bit on the low side. And before someone begins to protest, please consider that a 1800 SAT score is fine for an Olympic champion but not for a normal kid. Averages mean nothing. On average, a person has 1 testicle and 1 ovary.</p>
<p>Is EA more or less competitive than regular?</p>
<p>I know my SAT score is much lower than it should be, I’m not sure what happened because my PSAT and ACT indicate that it should be around 2150 (also my PSAT was 70CR/74M/70W, so I should be about 1440). I’m really disappointed in myself as far as that goes.</p>
<p>But is service really that big of a factor for them? I would think 2+ hours of swimming a day would be extra-curricular enough, maybe I’ve underestimated Georgetown though.</p>
<p>Just to put it out there: Georgetown requires 3 SAT II’s and according to your profile you have not taken any. I’d definitely be registering for some pretty soon. The biggest mistake my son made was taking three on the same test date. The good news is he had taken one the year before and then had time to retake two in the fall and did a lot better.</p>
<p>And while I don’t know the weight of any of these things, I can’t imagine any school expecting a kid to devote 2-3 hours a day to a sport plus games and still have had time to devote 100’s of hours to community service. And if they do, I really don’t want my kid to have that degree of pressure all the time because kids that come to think they can never measure up are often measured too often.</p>
<p>I’m not really sure whether swimming is gonna get you in. I mean schools have competitive sports because they yield cash but if their swim team is full, your swimming 2 hrs/day isn’t really all that helpful. If you go for a school of foreign SERVICE you might want to show a SERVICE commitment to your community. ::shrug:: that’s just me. I know I got into MSB because just a glance on my app and credits doesn’t suggest but CRIES of business. Show you were made for this.</p>
<p>I have the EXACT same SAT score as you and dude, they really aren’t that “weak.” People posting on this website are super geniuses for the most part and an inaccurate representation of the actual pool of applicants. I’m from the south too (go sc! haha) AND i’m applying to the SFS, so don’t lose hope in us! :)</p>
<p>PS- I would take advice from someone named “Necrophiliac” with a grain of salt… just sayin</p>
<p>^ Ha, South Carolina is my 2nd favorite state! (Behind Tennessee of course.) Let me know Georgetown ends up working out for you. And lol at your PS.</p>
<p>Necrophiliac, I wasn’t counting on swimming to “get me in”, just maybe act in lieu of a few service hours haha. I may be mistaken but I think colleges just like to see that you aren’t wasting away in front of a TV all day.</p>
<p>Actually, necrophiliac is correct (as per usual): your SAT scores are low for Georgetown. Plus, as Modadunn said, you need SAT IIs. However, I also see little leadership of any consequence, something which Georgetown values greatly. The order of importance is transcript (yours is good, especially if you really have taken every opportunity given to you), then test scores (as previously discussed, yours are a little low), followed by extracurriculars, which would break down into community service (yours is nothing stellar in comparison to many other applicants), breadth and depth of activities (you could probably use more that indicate your academic interests), and leadership (you have little). There is good news: you’re just a junior. Work extremely hard in your remaining high school time, improve your GPA even more, and get your test scores as high as possible through preparing with Princeton Review or something like that. Otherwise, your chance will remain below-average.</p>
<p>I would only disagree with pswib on the point that you should get a princeton review. That company blows. If you want to score high, get Barron’s. Everyone in my school uses that exclusively and a lot of our AP averages are 4+ and SAT’s are astronomical.</p>
<p>And don’t judge because of necrophilia. It’s going to be the next legalized paraphilia after homosexuality so deal with it. (I applied because of the cemeteries on campus…joking)</p>
<p>Necrophiliac, I actually thank you for the tip about Barron’s. I’m going to get those books to study (that is, as long as I can keep senioritis away that long) for my AP exams.</p>
<p>I think your chances are slim with those stats, but you have excellent potential. If you can bring your SATs and GPA up a bit you’re a good candidate. You have excellent activity, volunteer, leadership, etc. It also helps that you’re from Tennessee (everyone is from NJ Early Action is good, I’m not sure how it helps your chances though. I got in EA in 2004 with GPA 96 (not on 4.0 scale), SAT 660V, 780M. I applied to the MSB.</p>
<p>I haven’t heard from GU yet, but I think the 350+ service hours is a little outrageous. SFS is a school for people interesting in politics and international relations, not soup kitchens and volunteer summer camps. 100+ hours is plenty. Boys’ State is a good indicator of your interest, and you should continue to seek out programs that would play to an SFS major.</p>
<p>I also agree that you should take SATIIs asap.
I much preferred Princeton review books to Barron’s.</p>
Early Action is good, I’m not sure how it helps your chances though. I got in EA in 2004 with GPA 96 (not on 4.0 scale), SAT 660V, 780M. I applied to the MSB.</p>