Chances at Davidson...

Colleges and Universities A-Z Davidson College
1

<p>My GPA is about a 3.43 UW, but it was because of only one year that brought it down due to family issues which will be the heart of my essay. Following that one semester, my grades shot back up. By the time i apply, my GPA will be about a 3.61 UW.</p>

<p>I know my SAT will be >2100 I dont know what though, and if it's lower I will take it a second time, as well as the ACT in the 30's
I will do well on the SAT II's as well - especially French</p>

<p>I went to a large public school in 9th and 10th grade.</p>

<p>I go to a private school (11th and 12th) which i think helps because of the competitive curriculum</p>

<p>Sports :
Freshman Basketball Team (9th)
JV Basketball Team (10th)
JV Soccer (9th,10th)
Snowboarding through a school program (11th,12th)
Varsity Baseball (11th,12th)
Varsity Soccer (11th, 12th)</p>

<p>Other Extracurriculars :
Math Team (9th,10th)
Quiz Team (9th, 10th)
Speech and Debate (9th)
HMMT Harvard-MIT Math Competition (11th,12th)
High Scorer from the Darrow School team
Core Leader (12th)
Math Prefect (12th)
Science Prefect (12th)
Computer Prefect (12th)
Possibly an RA for the dorm and a peer counselor but maybe not (12th)</p>

<p>Volunteer Work :
200 + Hours of Volunteer Work
Habitat For Humanity - 30-50 hours
An additional 200 hours will be done this summer at a local animal shelter (SPCA) and a local hospital.</p>

<p>AP Tests :
Calculus AB - 5
AP European History 3</p>

<p>Any classes that offered honors i took.
My current private school does not offer any honors or AP classes, but is a "college preparatory" school.</p>

<p>Getting a job this summer as well...40 hours a week.</p>

<p>My essay will be phenomenal.</p>

<p>On my regents finals for NewYork
Biology - 94
French I - 97
French III - 99
Math II - 98</p>

<p>Ive taken 5 years of French and will have taken 2 years of calculus by the time i graduate.</p>

<p>There might be other stuff that I missed.</p>

<p>8th Grade
French I - A+
Math I - A+</p>

<p>9th
Money Management - A+
Biology - A+
English 9H - A+
French II - A+
Global Studies 9H - A+
Math II - A+
Studio in Art - A+</p>

<p>Summer 9th grade - Field Biology - A</p>

<p>10th
Chemisty - WF (Withdrawn Fail)
Physics - D
AP European History - C
French III - A-
Math III - B
English 10H - B+
Health - A+</p>

<p>11th
Philosophy - A-
American Literature -B+/A-
Calculus I - A-
Chemistry - A/A+
US History - B+/A-
French IV - A</p>

<p>12th (My planned classes) (With projected grades)
Calculus II or Statistics - A
Russian Literature A/B - A-
Evolution -A+
Physics -A
Geology - A+
French V - A
Painting - A+
Economics - A- </p>

<p>Oh and I'm a lower class white male.</p>

<p>My sister graduated from Cornell
My brother currently goes to Cornell
My mom was a high school drop out
My father is a Russian Orthodox Priest</p>

<p>What do my chances look like?</p>

2

<p>You have an impressive resume. In my opinion, you're definitely in the hunt. Here are my additional thoughts:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Make sure you have strong recommendations from teachers and your college counselor - and not just strong about you - well-written and credible. Find out which of your teachers have the most success with their recommendations and go to them first.</p></li>
<li><p>DC requires a peer recommendation. Choose someone who writes well and who knows you well and can write an honest [yet positive] evaluation. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>My belief is that DC views itself very much as a selected community and how the community members interrelate with peers and faculty are very important so good recommendations are extremely important - at least thats my opinion.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Show interest and initiative with DC. Visit the campus for sure. Make sure they know you were there. Keep in touch with them - don't be annoying, just show interest when appropriate.</p></li>
<li><p>Become immersed in what makes DC special - at least those things that DC thinks makes them special. In particular, understand and think about the Honor Code and how you fit into a school that operates that way and how you'll contribute to it. This will help immensely with the essay about the HC. I personally think that's HUGE at DC - but again only an opinion.</p></li>
<li><p>Finally, if you are prepared to make the commitment, consider applying ED. Statistically it improves your chances.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I hope that helps.</p>

3

<p>And score "stellarly" (very well) on the ACT and/or SAT. Don't leave home without them, at least if you wanna matriculat to the world's nascar HQ.</p>

4

<p>Definitely can't hurt - less than stellar scores won't necesarily keep you out, but stellar scores definitely won't.</p>

5

<p>You are definitely in the game as people have said... I got in ED with a 3.65ish UW GPA and 1470/1600 SAT's.. my essay was very good according to people who read it.</p>

<p>However, I really think the thing that makes the difference is showing interest. I had visited twice before applying, and had been to two local info sessions. I also made regular (but not too much) contact with the admissions... I really feel if you do this stuff it will help you out here and other schools (esp. the smaller schools).</p>

<p>I would also advise applying ED, it will greatly increase your chances of getting in.</p>

<p>Good luck, but as of now really focus on your schoolwork and not worrying about your "chances."</p>

6

<p>but if i apply ED, arent I forced to accept their financial aid plan? ..although ive heard there financial aid hsa 100% need met. any thoughts?</p>

<p>also, i never heard anything about a peer recommendation? so i can just pick one of my friends that are smart and know me well and have them right me one? weird..</p>

7

<p>I haven't been through the financial aid process with DC, so I don't have much to offer on how someone applying ED deals with that. I would expect they'll be as helpful as they can be without doing too much violence to their need-blind admissions process. My impression is they're pretty generous and of course they have eliminated loans all-together.</p>

<p>I'm sure there are other schools that require a Peer Recommendation, I just don't know who they are. This is one of the reasons why I think the DC admissions process is more like a team drafting exercise than a mere ranking and cutting process. They really seem to want to know who the people are who want to come to DC - not just what GPAs and SATs/ACTs are applying.</p>

<p>My advice to you in selecting your PR author is to pick someone who knows you well and can communicate that knowledge effectively in writing. That may not be the smartest person you know - in fact my guess is its not the smartest person you know. Its the best communicator you know who knows you well enough to communicate who you are to the DC admissions officers.</p>

8

<p>Or you may wanna pick someone who doesn't know you too well, and is heckuva fiction writer. :eek: :)</p>

9

<p>haha thats great
yeah ive pretty much decided that im applying to davidson early decision. 50% chances is DAMN good for a top tier LAC. Plus, who can beat their new financial aid policy :).</p>

10

<p>My last bit of advice is to take it slow on your decision to apply ED. You have until late fall to make that decision. Visit DC. At least once if not twice. Walk around. Observe the people around you. Listen to their conversations. Look at how they interact with each other. How they dress. See what they're doing. Really observe. Take the tour. Check out the dorms [basically everyone at DC lives on campus]. And while you're doing all this take a metaphysical step out of the picture and look back at it [almost an out of body sort of thing] and see if you can find yourself among the people you're seeing. If you can't find youself, it probably isn't a fit. If you can, then you're probably on the right track. I know that sounds like a bunch of psycho-babble mumbo-jumbo, but I really think it works.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

11

<p>Thanks whittierst, that really means a lot.
Im mostly concerned about acceptance however.
Such a selective school.
One last question..what more can I do to improve my chances do you think? </p>

<p>I was thinking about doing a summer scholars program at Washington and Lee University in Science and Medicine. Sounds fancy i know...do you think it would impress DC? What else do you think would help? OH! And what do they look for in a peer recommendation? Im a little lost on that, and i already know the person i want to do it. How long should it be? Any specifics? Thanks so much for all your help.</p>

12

<p>I don't know whether the W&L program will help - but I don't see how it could hurt - and the W&L Campus is beautiful - although I bet it gets pretty steamy in the summer!</p>

<p>As for the Peer Recommendation, there is a specific form. Go to the DC Admissions website. You can download the app there. It will include the Peer Rec form. It's quite straightforward.</p>

13

<p>One other thing - don't worry about acceptance. You'll either get in or you won't. </p>

<p>What is way more important is whether it's the right place for you. </p>

<p>There is a right place for you. If you don't get in somewhere, that wasn't the right place anyway. But its entirely possible to get into somewhere that isn't the right place, and to go there would be a mistake. </p>

<p>So, don't focus so much on where you might get accepted - or whether you'll get accepted - focus instead of finding the right place. Keep doing what you've been doing in school, EC's, etc., do a good job on your app, recs, etc. do your best on the tests and the rest of it will take care of itself. </p>

<p>Relax and enjoy it as much as you can. Its a process. Someday you'll look back on it and realize its merely one thread in the fabric that will be your life.</p>

<p>[Wow am I in a philosopical mood today]</p>

14

<p>Right but it is a problem when you find the right place and you get denied to the place that was most right for you. Thanks so much for all your advice though whittierst. You have been extremely helpful. Do you currently go to Davidson?</p>

15

<p>Those words were wisdom, Whittierst.</p>

16

<p>
[quote]
Do you currently go to Davidson?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Ha! How fun would that be? No...one of my children will be a freshie at DC next year. I will attend vicariously.</p>

17

<p>oh wow, still youre the person to ask about it. youre advice has been completely invaluable. thank you so much. ive been doing college research since i was in eight grade. now that it's coming down to application times (what i would consider coming down to it), I really just want to make sure that I apply to those schools that are right for me. I want to be going pre-med, and even though ive asked you so much, if you maybe would comment about this list? i think youll some strong similarities between all of these schools.</p>

<p>Colgate U
Davidson C << applying early decision
Franklin/Marshall C
Northwestern U <<the only school im not certain about applying to.
Vassar C
Washington & Lee U
Whitman C </p>

<p>any thoughts?</p>

18

<p>I know you prefer to look at academics, but Vassar and W&L have two of the most polar opposite students bodies that I've encountered. And thats not something you can ignore when choosing schools</p>

19

<p>yeah i noticed that as well. i think i actually would lean towards the W&L student body oddly enough. However I consider Vassar to be almost a shoe-in for me. Mainly because they are in love with my private school and are eager to take ANY graduate out of it. Plus their pre-med program is great. I think I would get along fine at either school, however W&L is definitely above Vassar in my choices.</p>

20

<p>The only schools on your list I know much about are NW and WL. I know a little about Whitman.</p>

<p>NW is beautiful and you have great access to Chicago. Academically it is top-notch, but much more in feel like a typical national university that a LAC. But I didn't spend much time there.</p>

<p>I took two separate trips to WL. Its a beautiful campus - one of my favorites of the ones I've visited. Lexington is charming - but very isolated. Roanoke is the closest "big" city [and not that big]. Again, the academics are top-notch, although the school has a more regional appeal than somewhere like NW. They have a strong Biology program and their science facilities are very nice. And I've never seen so many good-looking kids - but break out your RL Polo clothes and prepare for a pretty conformist preppy feel. That didn't bother me so much, but that was one of the differences that caused my DC freshman to choose - DC just didn't feel quite that rigid when it came to the ever-elusive "style" of the place [this is part of what I was talking about whether you could find yourself among the students you encountered when visiting the school - for my child DC: yes; WL: no].</p>

<p>Whitman is I think very much like Davidson - just all the way across the county - and a bit like WL in that its sort of off in a quiet corner of the state - Walla Walla [the city they loved so much they named it twice]. I understand their academics are top-notch too, with a good strong Bio program. I've never been there, but [except for the part of the country most probably come from - NW vs SE] my guess is the kids are pretty much like those at DC.</p>

<p>Those schools are all over the country. If you're applying RD, you can wait to visit some of them after the admissions process if over, but definitely visit any school your applying to ED before you make that decision. </p>

<p>Hope that helps. Good luck.</p>