Chances at Hamilton College?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Hamilton College
1

Hi everyone, I am a senior, and wondering what my chances at Hamilton are, as well as if I would make a good fit.

Here are my stats:

ACT: 33 (Math: 32, Science: 29, English: 35, Reading: 36)
PSAT: 1430 (National Merit Commended)
GPA: UW: 3.99, W: Not sure, but definitely near the top of my class
Class Rank: 14 of 410 unweighted, likely within the top 5 or 10 if weighted
AP: Sophomore: Seminar (4)
Junior: US History (5), Composition and Language (5), Physics (4), Calculus AB (4)
Senior : Economics (macro and micro), Research, Calculus BC, Environmental Science, US Government
Honor: World History
College Level: Spanish 103, Spanish 201

Extracurriculars (through senior year):

Varsity Cross Country for 4 years, member of a state ranked 3A team in a competitive state
5K time: 16:21 (I will run in college, whether on a team or just for fun.)

Varsity Track for three years (JV Freshman), 4:40 1600m time

National Honor Society for 3 years, Volunteer Coordinator Junior year, President Senior Year, organized school functions, projects, and volunteer events

Leadership: Class senator 9-11, School Treasurer senior year, presented workshops at statewide leadership conference, head of Logistics Committee for statewide arts festival, attended multiple leadership camps, have taken class for 4 years

School Board Representative: student representative for my school at the district level, shared my experiences and learned about the internal workings of the school system, presented information about my school to the board. Attended statewide policy conference.

Writing: I’ve won short story writing competitions in my county of 850,000 for high school aged authors for the past 3 years.

Service Project: I created a service project through the National Honor Society which compiles the short stories, poems, and essays of elementary students into a book published through Amazon. The students were asked to write broadly about the future, in order to stimulate critical thinking and literary skills. The books were published using funds from the NHS, meaning that all the students received their book free of charge. I am working with my library system and other schools to move this project onto a larger scale and into more disadvantaged communities. My eventual goal is to get schools throughout my region to take on my project, and create a network of high school writers helping each other throughout the self-publishing process.

Speech and Debate (9-11)- Public Forum debate. Quit senior year to focus on cross country.

Knowledge Bowl (11-12)

And here’s what I’m looking for:

Academics- Strong programs for economics, international relations, politics, or business. Strong placement in law schools or graduate programs.

Social Life- Active, but not crazy (primarily focused on academics). Outdoorsy.

Athletics- I’ll run wherever I end up going, but I think I would be able to run on the teams of some D3 schools. If cross country could improve my chances at Hamilton, I’d be happy to apply.

I’m from the other side of the country, and was drawn to Hamilton because it was recommended to me, seemed like a good fit, and I want to apply to some Northeast liberal arts colleges. If there are others you think would be a better fit, please let me know!

2

Applicants with your ACT score gain admission to Hamilton at a rate of ~35%:

https://my.hamilton.edu/admission/apply/standardized-testing-distribution-of-scores

However, based upon your nearly perfect GPA and other indicated factors, your chances would seem to be greater.

Hamilton would be top-notch for economics and offers a D.C. term for students with particular interests in politics and public policy:

https://www.hamilton.edu/academics/offcampusstudy/washington-program

Some direct exposure to a business curriculum is available through an HBS extension program:

http://blogs.wgbh.org/on-campus/2015/5/5/harvard-business-school-expands-online-initiative-liberal-arts-colleges/

Hamilton would be a particularly good academic fit for you if, beyond your core interests, you imagine yourself studying a range of elective arts and sciences subjects from fields as diverse as, say, philosophy, astronomy, literature, geosciences and religious studies.

3

@wa2424 I believe you said Hamilton wasn’t of interest because it’s too rural.
Regardless, there are over 30 colleges that are affiliated with the HBS extension program. Students attending all the affiliated collages are eligible for financial aid.
Most of the listed colleges have excellent econ depts

https://hbx.hbs.edu/enroll/collaborating-colleges/

Many LACs “would be a particularly good academic fit for you if, beyond your core interests, you imagine yourself studying a range of elective arts and sciences subjects from fields as diverse as, say, philosophy, astronomy, literature, geosciences and religious studies.”

4

Hamilton offers excellent programs across academic disciplines, and would provide you with the opportunity to pursue a deep and varied undergraduate experience.

In addition, the College’s economics faculty is particularly strong:

https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.uslacecon.html

5

@wa2424 The econ ranking is meaningless.
I’ve been warned about quoting entire paragraphs, but this is all you need to know.

https://ideas.repec.org/top/old/1402/top.uslacecon.html