Chances at Bowdoin and other schools

Chance Me / Match Me!
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I’ve never posted on here so I’m not sure how this works, but hi! I was wondering about my chances to a few of my top schools. My top is Bowdoin, followed by Brandeis and Tufts. (I know Tufts is probably out of the picture for me, but it is one of the only schools I’m looking at that has the major I want.) Bowdoin is definitely a reach, but I’m really hoping I have a shot, I’m within their GPA and scores ranges. I got a junior book award from Brandeis, which is why I started looking into it. I interviewed with both Brandeis and Bowdoin and they went really well! If there are any other schools you think I should look into for my majors, advice would be greatly appreciated! I don’t want to go out of New England. Just as an FYI, I’m applying RD to every school because I want to be able to compare finanical aid packages.

My intended major: Child Life/ Child Studies/ Child Development / Human Development etc. I could also get a Psych degree for my intended career path, (child life specialist), but I was hoping to have a degree more specific.
I’m a white female, American citizen, middle class, living in New England, no legacy to any schools. I’m from a small public high school, and am ranked 4/142 in my class. My unweighted GPA is 3.95/4 or 98.75/100, my school doesn’t weight. My SAT score is 1370: not as high as I wanted, but it could be worse. It’s within Bowdoin and Brandeis’ ranges at least.
My school doesn’t offer many advanced classes, so I’ve only taken 6 honors, 2 APs, and 4 dual-enrollment/ college classes.
EC’s:
-Club officer of my school’s “(school name) for change” club for 3 years. I got feminine products in the bathrooms, was one of a few students who created an annual mental health awareness week at our school, and was one of a few students at my school to create an annual winter clothing drive. We work with organizations like Yellow Tulip Project, (which I am hoping to become an ambassador for- I’ve gotten a reply to my application), PENQUIS, RapeResponse, etc. to help make our school better and connect with our students.
-School kitchen and pantry volunteer, 2 years. Before we got shut down due to state regulations, I was one of two students who managed and unkept our school’s pantry all by ourselves, did monthly community food drive events, created a food shelf and to-go dinner bags for students in need, and prepared lunches and breakfasts for our students.
-Indoor track athlete, freshman and sophomore year, co-captain sophomore. Had to quit after that due to personal reasons.
-Outdoor track athlete, (covid cancelled it freshman year), during sophomore year, co-captain, had to quit after that.
-One of my school’s Writing Center coaches, 2 years.
-Part of my school department’s health committee as a student rep, 1 year.

  • Math Team member, two years. Vice President senior year.
    -Key Club member and volunteer, 2 years.
    -Data entry employee work experience, senior year summer.
    -School Student Ambassador, 2 years, (only two years available at my school to be one).
    -NHS Member, junior and senior year. (Only two years available at my school to be inducted).
    -Math Honor Society, (Mu Alpha Theta), inducted my junior year.
    -I’m in my school’s honors diploma scholar program (4 years), and have completed all my requirements so I’m on track to graduate with my honors diploma.
    -I’ve been on high honor roll, (93’s and up for all classes), all four years of high school.
  • And I’ve documents 130ish community service hours, but there were many working in my school pantry that I didn’t log because I didn’t care about the number as much as the actual work I was doing.

What do you guys think?? I think I can get into Brandeis, especially since they gave me a book award), but I wanna know about Bowdoin and Tufts.

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I think Bowdoin and Tufts are reaches for almost anyone, and the SAT score might hurt. I might even have gone test optional for those. but you have some nice things in your EC’s so it’s definitely worth applying.
I would look at Connecticut College as a similar school that has a Human Development major and is an easier admit.

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I’m definitely going test optional for Tufts, Bowdoin I didn’t decide yet. I will look into that, thank you!!

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Have you run the net price calcs ? Bowdoin and Tufts do not do merit so you’d see if you qualify. Conn College and Brandeis do. And also meet need. But you need to see what they say about your need - hence do the NPCs. If they show you as full pay you’ll likely already know the financial aid offers ($5500 in loans)…

Take a look at Bates and Rochester (slightly out of NE).

What’s your safety schools ?? Or your entire list ? Tufts is need aware of the three you mentioned meaning if you have heavy need, they could factor that into their admission decision. I believe Brandeis is need blind and Bowdoin definitely is.

You have a fine profile. But do need an assured school and none are. Congrats and good luck.

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Tufts strongly favors demonstrated interest. So be sure to tour, attend online sessions, click on emails, etc. I would go test optional for Bowdoin and Tufts since you are not applying with other “hooks” that could offset a SAT score on the lower end of their ranges. Bowdoin is TO but they also say that test scores are important. I would only submit if I thought my SAT score would boost my application.

At single digit admission rates, both Bowdoin and Tufts are hard to predict for any student, as they both routinely have to turn away top stat students. I would also add some less reachy LACs. Conn College is a great choice as someone mentioned. Perhaps Clark? There are other great schools outside of the NE but not sure what your geographic preference is. Good luck.

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For ideas for schools with strong psychology programs, of which some have been mentioned, look into Bates, Mount Holyoke, Smith, Wesleyan, Clark, Holy Cross, UMass and UConn. Additionally, you might want to consider Simmons, which has a relationship with the New England Center for Children (as does Hamilton, which lies outside of your stated search area).

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Impressive profile.
Have you considered Clark?
Wheelock (now part of BU) used to be very good for Child Development.

Lesley worth considering post-grad.

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I think you have a definite chance at Brandeis, and Bowdoin and Tufts are reaches for all.

As you haven’t mentioned any schools with higher likelihoods of admission, I just want to mention a few possibilities for you to consider:

  • Seconding Connecticut College, though this is closer to Brandeis in terms of admissions percentages
  • Emmanuel (MA)
  • Merrimack (MA)
  • St. Bonaventure (NY)
  • SUNY Oswego (NY)
  • SUNY Plattsburgh (NY)
  • SUNY Oneonta (NY)
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I have not done NPC’s yet, but I will check them out.

My safeties are Univeristy of Maine, Univeristy of New Hampshire, and Utica University.

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Thank you!

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This list is so helpful, thank you.

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I have not yet considered Clark, but BU is on my list. Thanks for the suggestions!

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Thank you!!

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hmmm - your safeties are “too safe”. First mention of Utica I’ve heard - not sure if it still is but it used to be a part of Syracuse U.

What’s your home state? You’ll get in the flagship given your major.

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I agree that Utica is too safe. It is no longer part of Syracuse U.

I agree with others that Brandeis seems likely. Also agree not to submit scores to any of them.

Thirding Bates if you like Bowdoin , Brandeis and Tufts. They have a very good arrangement with the local school district for Bates students to do mentoring and teaching assistant type classroom stuff. In fact, there’s another thread recently on CC by a young lady from Lewiston who loved it when Bates students were on duty in her middle school class.

I also like Conn College and Clark. I’m surprised no one has yet mentioned SUNY Cortland. It has an excellent program in Childhood Development and, at least in NY, is well known for its programs. Childhood/Early Childhood Education Department Overview - SUNY Cortland
You’d probably be offered a scholarship too. It’s in a pretty central NY location, not far from Syracuse, Ithaca, and Binghamton. There’s quite a lot of interaction between all these college towns.

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Syracuse itself could be worth considering; their Human Development & Family Science program is listed by the Association of Child Life Professionals as an approved educational program.

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And SU would be highly likely (but also likely expensive) for OP. Coupled with a New England flagship if that’s where they are from it’d be a winner in regards to having safeties covered.

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Bowdoin had an acceptance rate of 9% last year. Bit when you account for athletes, legacies, children of faculty, and underrepresented minorities at such a small school, probably less than half of the spots are left for everyone else.

Tufts also admitted fewer than 10% of its applicants last year. It’s a bigger school so the applicants wit special considerations don’t represent as big a percent of the freshman class, but they still rejected more than 90% of the applicants.

The problem with both of these schools is that they rejected applicants who looked just like the ones they accepted, so there’s really no way to know your chances. Applying to these schools is like buying a lottery ticket. Apply, but be forewarned.

Brandeis accepted 39% of their applicants for this year, so your chances there are much more realistic. Your gpa and class rank make you very competitive fir Brandeis, but your SAT is borderline. Brandeis places it’s major emphasis for admission on gpa, class rank, and rigor of high school program. While they consider SAT scores, they do not regard them as important. More than 40% of last year’s freshman class was admitted without submitting test scores, so you might want to consider going test optional there.

Before suggesting any other schools, I’m wondering what the specific major is that you’re interested in at Tufts?

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Sorry, I’m just seeing this. I would be applying for the Child Study and Human Development major at Tufts. I know I don’t really have a chance there, but I just thought I would try since they have a more specific major for my career choice rather than a broader psych program.

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Maine.