Chances at Colgate and others!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Colgate University
1

<p>I'm a female Hispanic high school junior. I'd like to know my chances at Colgate ED, Brown Early Action, and Georgetown Early Action. Don't worry I know these are all major reaches! I'm going to apply to many other schools that I think I'll realistically get into, as well.</p>

<p>SATs: 710 M 640 CR 650 W</p>

<p>GPA: Currently a 4.46/4.8, but will go down to a 4.25-ish/4.8 after this year. I'd like to know how this is going to affect me, considering I've gotten just about all A's in honors classes throughout high school but my junior year grades are going to be as follows:</p>

<p>AP Biology: B
Honors Math Analysis: B
AP English: A-
Honors History: A- or A
Honors Spanish: B+ </p>

<p>-Starter for Varsity tennis 4 years (Captain)
-National Honor Society
-Spanish Club
-Teen Advisory Board (volunteer work in the Jewish community)
-Leader for a discussion group at my Temple
-Tutor
-Nursing Home Volunteer</p>

<p>Please let me know what you think! Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Hilda: You have very strong chances at any good college and Colgate will definitely look at you very seriously, and I’m guessing they might offer you ED admission. My daughter (now a soph) had similar numbers and was admitted in regular admission last year. </p>

<p>Colgate has made real efforts in recent decades to enroll a broad variety of students ethnically and so on – as much as or more so than the typical “small liberal arts college” in the Northeast (which all used to be pretty WASPey and some still are). Colgate was rated #3 in the nation by a leading black magazine for its broad admissions policy. </p>

<p>I’m a high school teacher (besides a Colgate Dad) and one of my strong Hispanic students last year went to Colgate (besides my daughter). He isn’t just an Hispanic name, either, but Spanish-speaking, and so on (from Los Angeles). I believe he loves Colgate as much as my daughter (who is half Japanese/half Caucasian) does. She’s nuts about it. </p>

<p>Your academics are very good, and I wouldn’t worry much at all about a few B’s or a small drop in GPA, especially with your very good athletics and extracurriculars. YOu might contact the tennis coach at Colgate and see how much they would be interested in pushing for your admission. That can play a big role. Schools like the Ivies and similar may even want you, too, but give Colgate a good long look as it is truly first-rate, small, personal, and very encouraging to many types of students. Students like yourself may be a dime a dozen at some top schools, but at Colgate you will be special in many ways. And that’s always a good thing.</p>

3

<p>Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply and advice! I’m so glad to hear that both your daughter and former student love it there. Hopefully I can just write a killer essay to really improve my chances! Again, thank you for your help, I really appreciate it!</p>

4

<p>Another tip. Take the essays seriously. Use them to your advantage to discuss things that are personal to you in ways that can diversify the campus. They want to see what excites you personally, even if it seems dumb to other people.</p>

5

<p>thank you!! anyone else?</p>

6

<p>Hilda,</p>

<p>My daughter is incoming class of '14. Her SAT’s were in the 2100’s and in the 3.8+ GPA range (unweighted) in mostly all honors/IB level classes where available. She was admitted RD. She has similar ECs, but where you have athletics, she has music.</p>

<p>I would think your chances being Hispanic and applying ED would be very good. Take ColgateDad’s advice and contact the tennis coach. Colgate was recruiting hard for one of my daughter’s friends for volleyball. They are very serious about high achieving student athletes. </p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>

7

<p>Many good things about your application:

  • Being Hispanic will help a lot since Colgate has been emphasizing diversity in the admission process in recent years.
  • Having a fantastic GPA will balance out the lower-than-average SAT score.
  • The extracurricular activities and leadership experience demonstrate that you are a well-rounded and dedicated person.
  • You are applying ED, thereby showing commitment with the school. Those that are admitted in the first round tend to have lower academic credentials than average. </p>

<p>With all honesty, I think Colgate is a good match for you. If you spend some time polishing your essays and acquiring good letters of recommendation, you have a 90% chance at Colgate. Congratulations on your high school achievements and good luck with the process!</p>

8

<p>Thanks everyone! I’m really grateful for all the helpful advice. I plan on taking all that everyone has said into account. I am going to take the SAT one more time, so hopefully I can increase my scores! :)</p>

9

<p>What about Tulane University early action? And do you think I would receive any scholarships from them? I hear that they give great scholarships!</p>

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<p>Hi Hilda - I guess you could say I am to Tulane what ColgateDad is to Colgate, except besides being a Tulane Dad (sophomore as well) I am also an alum, lol. Anyway, you would almost undoubtedly get a nice offer from Tulane for merit. With your stats my guess is you would have gotten $15K if you had been in the last applicant pool, plus $2,000 for being a NMF (which you will be). If you can get the SAT scores up to 2100 or so, you would probably be looking at $20-22K. The nice thing is that if you get the (free) app in by early October and mark it EA, you will most likely have an answer by the middle to end of October, including any scholarship they may choose to give you. Just so you know, if you get in and get, say, a $15K offer, and then really blow out the SAT’s, they will reconsider your offer for a higher one. Any other questions, just ask.</p>

<p>I think, though, it is important to look at the following factors and decide what you like best:</p>

<p>1) Size of school, undergrads (0-2,500; 2,501-10,000; 10,001-20,000; 20,000+)
2) Location (Highly urban, suburban, rural)
3) Geography (are there parts of the country you prefer or some you will not consider)
4) Weather (prefer warm, snow…?)
5) Sports (looking for competitve Div. 1, don’t care…?)
6) Greek scene (thinking about joining, want to avoid even a whiff of it, or in between)
7) If female, are single sex schools an option?
8) Anything else that you might think is important to you personally (you ride horse, like rock climbing, active arts scene, whatever). For example, in your case is having an active Hillel important to you?</p>

<p>These are not trivial considerations because you will be spending 4 years (or more) at this place. You should like the lifestyle outside of academics as well.</p>