Chances and Suggestions

<p>I am considering applying to Swarthmore during Early or Regular Decision.</p>

<p>Transcript:</p>

<p>GPA: 3.6 at a prestigious private school that doesn't give out A+ grades.
Course-load: Very rigorous -- 7 AP classes</p>

<p>Standardized Tests:</p>

<p>SAT Math: 800
SAT Critical Reading: 700
SAT Writing: 720
SAT Composite: 2220</p>

<p>AP English Language: 5
AP US History: 4
AP Chemistry: 4</p>

<p>Extra-Curricular Activities:</p>

<p>Varsity Tennis: 9 & 10
Varsity Cross Country: 10 & 12
Varsity Track & Field: 11 & 12
Varsity Indoor Track: 11 & 12</p>

<p>Debate Team Captain and Founder
Tri-M Music National Honor Society: 10, 11, & 12
UNITY/Gay-Straight Alliance: 9, 10, 11, & 12
Coalition for Global Change: 11 & 12
Jazz Band: 10, 11, & 12
Guitar Ensemble: 10, 11, & 12</p>

<p>Hooks:</p>

<p>Music Rating (in all likelihood)</p>

<p>This Autumn I'm going to take the Literature and Math II SAT IIs and I am considering retaking the SAT I to improve my Critical Reading and Writing scores. Does anyone have any suggestions for improving my application and if I should apply during the Early Decision or Regular Decision periods?</p>

<p>Thanks so much.</p>

<p>You have the stats, though the GPA is low. What is your class rank?
Your chances will greatly depend on the way you present yourself in the application. Applying ED will help...</p>

<p>You can't choose your dorm, but I hope you get Willetts, I think it's the most fun.</p>

<p>I don't think that my GPA can be considered comparable to an ordinary one. Moreover, I've heard that normally A+ grades register as 4.33s; at my high school all grades 94 and above register as 4s. There isn't any very statistically sound way of recalibrating my GPA to use as a comparison.</p>

<p>My high school doesn't release a class rank in any form, unfortunately.</p>

<p>79%. Good luck, and really try hard on those essays. Also, try to get some good recommendations from community leaders or people in academia, not just from teachers or coaches.</p>

<p>Who would you consider an exemplary sort of person from whom I could get a recommendation aside from a coach or teacher?</p>

<p>
[quote]
Who would you consider an exemplary sort of person from whom I could get a recommendation aside from a coach or teacher?

[/quote]

The mayor of your hometown, or some city official. The president of a college somewhere who knows you.* A college professor. If you're religious, a church leader is good. A business leader in your local community. The leader of a volunteer organization. A prominent lawyer or judge, a doctor, or some other type of respectable professional.</p>

<p>You see, everyone and his brother gets a recommendation from some of his teachers and perhaps his principal or a coach. You should do that, of course, but you should also get some from other people, such as those I mentioned. You want to indicate that you have breadth as a person, and one way of doing that is having recommendations from sources outside your high school life.</p>

<p>*I don't think you can do better than getting the president of a respected LAC to give you a recommendation when it comes to applying for another LAC. That's probably the best recommendation you can muster, but the hitch is that you've got to somehow be connected to such a person.</p>

<p>I disagree with the idea of trying to get some exemplary person to write your recommendation. The best recommendations are those from people who know you really really well. And for recommendations not from school, they should show some aspect of your personality and accomplishments that will not be covered by your teacher recommendations. So a recommendation from a politician might work, for example, but only if you have worked 100 hours+ on their campaign or lobbying or in some way worked personally with them. A letter that says "Joe Blow is a very bright kid who is hard working and deserves to go to your college." is pretty worthless in my view.</p>

<p>I second dadx3. </p>

<p>The only meaningful recommendations are the ones that are very personal, and come from people who know you well and LOVE you. And any extra recommendations should add another dimension not already covered by teachers' recs.</p>

<p>I second dadx3. In fairness to A.E. though, if such a recommendation is authentic, based on a very close relationship, then that would be fantastic. There's not much point in going looking for that kind of recommendation. If you have one, I'm sure you will have already thought of it!</p>

<p>The main reason to go outside of the normal school circles for recommendations is to highlight an interest you have outside of high school. For example, the "thing" that probably got my daughter into Swarthmore was something that her high school really knew nothing about. So a recommendation from that activity added something to her application beyond just fluff.</p>

<p>I'm pretty sure that A.E. is not suggesting a fluff recommendation, but rather a recommendation that is authentic and integral to your interests.</p>

<p>You guys are missing the point. If he does volunteer work and has some extracurriculars beyond just athletics and school clubs, then he should have some people in his network who are able to write a recommendation for him. He has the Coalition for Global Change listed as one of his extracurriculars. I don't know what that is, exactly, but it sounds like something that may have gotten him some contacts outside of his school. That is a good place to look. Perhaps he has some friends whose parents he knows and who know him. Perhaps some of those people are in academia or are prominent professionals. Perhaps he interacted with some prominent musicians, what with his musical background, and they could be tapped for a recommendation. The point is to search your social network beyond just your teachers and coaches. Everyone who applies to Swarthmore undoubtedly has glowing recommendations from teachers, coaches and principals. If that's all you get for your own recommendations, then you're doing nothing at all to use the recommendations element of your application to get an edge over the thousands of other applicants who also have outstanding grades, test scores and long lists of extracurricular activities. You have to take every opportunity you can to get an advantage over the competition on your application, and the best places to do that are the recommendations and the essays.</p>