<p>Hi! (: Im new to CC but Ive the spent the last 48 hours creeping all over the site, and I thought Id try to do this, and see if anyone had information or opinions. Im really open to criticism, suggestions, etc., and Im easygoing so I will hardly be offended by anything anyone has to say. Besides, youre all strangers over the internet I probably will never meet IRL. But youre all very smart strangers. So thanks! And I dont think Im a typical CC user, I dont have crazy stats or ECs or even an upper-level college list... so dont expect too much! (;</p>
<p>Colleges Im preeetty sure Im applying to: (in no specific order)
SUNY ESF
Miami Oxford
Kenyon
Otterbein
Denison
OU
Unity (in ME) </p>
<p>Colleges that Im thinking about
: (in no specific order)
Mount Union, Malone *, Wheaton *, Oberlin, Loyola, WUSTL, Vanderbilt, Emory (these last few are stretch xD)</p>
<ul>
<li>Christian colleges that because of my current religious situation Im unsure of the idea of attending, but do like the college.
I want to get the best possible education in the fields of study I want, but I also kind of want to stay close to home, which sucks because of the amazing far away schools. Im a little scared about going too far though. Any suggestions?? </li>
</ul>
<p>Rising senior, white, female
First generation college student
Low income, single parent household: < $30k, eligible for $0 EFC
Public high school in northeast/central OH
( how much does first gen/low income help? )</p>
<p>UW GPA ~3.5, unsure W
Rank, I honestly have no idea.
ACT 32: English 35 (31 w/ writing), reading 33, science 31, math 28, writing 7
Havent taken SAT or any AP exams (havent taken/wont take any AP classes, but may take biology, environmental, language tests)
( my school only offers 5 AP classes; 2 had scheduling conflicts [AP Chem, APUSH], 2 are calculus [AP Calc, AP Calc II] and Im only in pre-calc, 1 I have no interest in/possible scheduling conflict anyways [AP Gov])</p>
<p>Recs should be decent/good - Im asking my English 11 teacher, and its difficult to be a top student when surrounded with top students, but she knows a lot about me and weve talked a lot. Same with Guidance counselor.
My essay should be great; Im a good writer - have no idea what happened on the ACT, unless its just that my talent is more in creative writing. Which is possible. (I have a few trophies/awards from grade 8 Power of the Pen creative writing contests).</p>
<ul>
<li>Intended major: natural sciences Ive seen what I want show up in so many ways, examples are: biology with environmental/ecology concentrations, environmental biology, conservation biology, zoology with an environmental co-major, wildlife biology, etc.</li>
<li>Im also interested in having the options of a teaching certificate or early/middle/elementary childhood education, and possibly youth ministry.</li>
<li>Im also very interested in taking courses anthropology, Spanish, philosophy, astronomy, religion, psychology, and probably other random things, just out of interest.</li>
</ul>
<p>COURSES
8th grade:
o Spanish I - A (high school credit)</p>
<p>9th grade:
o American history I - A
o Spanish II - A
o Algebra A
o Integrated Science B
o *Advanced English 9 B
o Concert Band A
o Health A / Office Aid</p>
<p>10th grade:
o Spanish III A
o *Advanced English 10 B
o American History II B
o *Enriched Geometry B
o Office Aid / Speech A
o Concert Band A
o Biology A </p>
<p>11th grade:
o *Enriched Algebra II B
o *Spanish IV A
o US Government A / Economics A
o *World War II B / Study Hall
o Ecology and Geology B<br>
o *Advanced English 11 A
o Chemistry B</p>
<p>12th grade:
o *Physics
o Office Aid / *Western Civilization
o *Advanced English 12
o *Pre-Calculus
o Anatomy
o *Spanish V
* weighted course; Im assuming our "advanced" and "enriched" courses are the equal of honors, because... well theyre for the smarter/harder-working students.
some of the final class grades are my best guesses; they were all either As or Bs, I just couldnt remember exactly which ones were Bs and I dont have a transcript /:</p>
<p>ECs
* Key club: 9, 12 ( ~35 hrs big brothers big sisters, ~20 hrs tutoring at the elementary school, trick or treating for UNICEF) (i plan to at least double the hours for both of those this year)
* Spanish club 9, 10, 11, 12
* Spanish Honor Society 12 (hopefully)
* NHS 12 (was 1/1.5 club points short for eligibility last year; grades were fine)
* Varsity Softball 11, 12 have been playing for around 10 years, played on travel teams (havent lettered because of an injury early season that kept me from playing for about five weeks)
* Office Aid 9, 10, 12 (not even sure if this matters, but I have good relationships with the administration; and, we do a lot of filing, filling out forms, and errands like running mail/slips/attendance to teachers)
* School Newspaper 12</p>
<p>VOLUNTEER/WORK
* 110+ hours volunteer work at local haunted prison (pushing tours, crowd control for the haunted Halloween house, parking, gift shop, christmas party for the local friendly/harmony house children)
* Paid tutor (mostly for science) at the end of my freshman year, ~50 hours
* Unpaid work at a skating rink, ~30 hours (because of the situation, were like family to the owner; we just show up two or three Friday nights during the school year [its only open Fri/Sat nights from September to March] and do all the work a normal employee would)
* I have a part-time job available at a local restaurant if I want it, the only problem is finding the time/money at the same time to put me through drivers ed so I can get my license
.
* I plan to start volunteering at the local Humane Society and possibly a therapeutic equestrian farm
. As soon as the driving thing works out. This transportation issue is a lot of the reason for lacking ECs. My volunteer work was only possible because my parents both volunteer/work at the same places, and the school is in walking distance from my house.</p>
<p>Another note on my lower-than-should-be GPA and lack of EC involvement: I do not mean to make excuses, only to give insight.. In the beginning of my sophomore year, I attempted suicide I was diagnosed with major, clinical depression and it had been going since sixth grade. For this reason, I was only doing what was expected of me, and trying to make it seem like nothing was wrong, but my grades slipped from lack of interest (especially in my worst area, math, which is why Im not on the advanced math course, taking calculus this year). Then, most of the end of my sophomore year, I was trying to catch up and get back into the swing of things with the help of a weekly counseling session. Same with the beginning of my junior year
by the middle/end, I felt able to start up ECs and whatnot again, which is why I started softball.
My biggest regret from all of it though is that I was short by only one club point to be eligible for NHS. (And BTW, I am 99% better, so theres no worries of anything happening again, and Im not looking for pity or anything like that by admitting all this)</p>
<p>Also, I was just wondering if making a note of this in college applications was wise or not I dont want to seem like Im making excuses, although anyone whos been through something similar will know how hard it is to focus and care about anything, and Im not sure that colleges care to see it, but I just want to show there was a reason for a my less than satisfactory GPA, grades, and ECs.</p>
<p>Over explanatory explanation Im the type of person where I like to have things explained to me. Which is why this is probably way more extensive than it needed to be, sorry :b but thanks for even reading all this!! (:</p>