Chances at Lafayette?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Lafayette College
1

<p>First of all I'm not sure whether or not I want to do early decision to Lafayette. I applied regular decision already but I have until February 15th to change it to early decision. I THINK I'm pretty borderline for Lafayette, and that I would probably be rejected regular decision but would have a decent shot with early decision. Anyway, here are my stats:</p>

<p>-Residence: New York City
-Gender: Male
-Intended Major: History or Government/Law</p>

<p>SATs:
Critical Reading: 670
Math: 650
Writing: 700
***I'm not sending them my SAT IIs because they weren't very good. I can do this because Lafayette does not require them and I had sent my SAT scores before I got back my SAT II scores. For the record, they were a 650 on the Math I and a 590 on the Literature.</p>

<p>GPA:
Sophomore: 88.5
Junior: 89.6
Senior (First trimester): 92.0
Class Rank: n/a
***I go to a small private school, but although many private schools have grade inflation, mine does not. I know my average is a bit low for Lafayette but I have been improving every year, and my average is consistently lowered by math and foreign language. I do better in History, English, Science and unique classes to my school like Philosophy and Broadcast-Journalism.</p>

<p>APs:
European History (Self-Study, not offered as class). Exam Grade: 4
American History - taking this year
English - taking this year</p>

<p>ECs:
Newspaper writer and editor (3 years)
Model UN (2 years)
Key Club (1 year)</p>

<p>Recommendatings:
Two very good recommendations (or so they say) from two very qualified teachers who graduated from Harvard and University of Pennsylvania.</p>

<p>Essay:
Extremely well-written, but may lack direction just a bit.</p>

<p>Interview:
They were booked up on-campus, but I will soon be having an alumnae off-campus interview.</p>

<p>Recognitions:
-I won the "Gold Honors" award for academic excellence in my junior year (5 were awarded out of 51 students)
-I won the "Citizenship Award" for reasons I can't explain in my junior year (2 were awarded out of 51 students)
-I was in the Honors Math and Science Program for my 9th grade year (at a different high school)
-Honorable Mention for the "Math AMC" Test</p>

<p>Other:
-I took an Introduction to Sociology Class during the summer at New York University (a class that combined college students and qualified high school students) and got an A-.</p>

<p>So what do you think my chances are?</p>

2

<p>HyruleGuardian,</p>

<p>Only change your application to ED if you are certain that Lafayette is truly your first choice. </p>

<p>I'm not sure why you are not more confident in your chances for RD admission. Look at the collegeboard stats posted for Lafayette and their own website stats posted for admitted students from last year and you will find you are certainly in the mix. Plus it sounds like you challenge yourself which is very important to Lafayette.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

3

<p>Hey HyruleGuardian!</p>

<p>My name is Justin Sayde and I am a first year student at Lafayette. I spend a good amount of time in the admissions office (Markle Hall) as a tour guide, and with those stats, I can tell you that you are firmly in the running with your grades/test scores.</p>

<p>A little secret...Lafayette LOVES to admit students who show an obvious interest in the college. Think about it...what college doesn't want to accept students who show excitement about their institution? The admissions office keeps track of every contact you make, and these contacts weigh heavily in acceptance decisions. If you haven't yet, take a tour/attend a group info session/get an interview with an admissions officer or alumni/sleep over with a current student/attend a group session in your area if available. All of these "contact events" are kept track of VERY CAREFULLY (<em>hint, hint</em>)</p>

<p>Applying ED is the ultimate way to show your interest in Lafayette, but only YOU can decide if you are willing to accept that binding offer for admission.</p>

<p>My advice on your dilemma: I have many friends planning to major in gov't/law/history, and they find Lafayette nurtures their interests well. If I were you (which I am not), and with my own experiences at Lafayette as an indicator, I would change to ED...but that's just me talking!</p>

<p>Good luck with your decision. Maybe I'll be seeing you around campus next year.</p>

<p>Justin</p>

<p>p.s. Are you a die hard Zelda fan?</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the response. And thanks for the helpful <em>hint</em> as well. I visited Lafayette and took a tour of the campus and went to an information session. I had to say that I found the Lafayette campus to be quite beautiful, and I bet it would have seemed even better if it was a sunny day and school was in session. I tried to arrange an interview with Lafayette several weeks ago but they said they were completely booked up for the class entering in the fall of 2006. But I will be having an off-campus interview with Lafayette.</p>

<p>Funny you should mention that you're a tour guide. I know a person who used to go to my school who now works as a tour guide. His name is Ryan Osterwiler (I know that's not even close to the correct spelling however). Do you happen to know him? If you do tell him Marc from Kew-Forest says hi!</p>

<p>Oh, and yes I am a Zelda fan, lol. I used to be a HUGE Zelda fan, but I really hardly ever play video games anymore like I did when I was a child. The reason my name is HyruleGuardian is because that was the screen name I gave myself when I was 10 years old, and I've just stuck with it for all these years...</p>

5

<p>HyruleGuardian,</p>

<p>I know Ryan Osterweil...we are actually Co-Presidents for Residence Hall Council. He lives in my building (Keefe Hall) on the Dry Surfers floor. He's a cool guy...I'll tell him you said hi when I see him in about a week!</p>

<p>J</p>

6

<p>u mentioned "dry surfers" what is that? ive heard that mentioned at lafayette before</p>

7

<p>Keefe Hall is very unique when compared to many of the other residence halls at Lafayette in that each section is divided into "living groups" - people who share a common interest. In Keefe Hall, the "Dry Surfers" are tech-savvy students committed to a substance-free environment (no drugs/alcohol).</p>

<p>Check out this link to the Lafayette website for more information regarding this and other "living groups" in Keefe Hall and in a few other residence halls as well:</p>

<p><a href="http://ww2.lafayette.edu/%7Ereslife/living_groups.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~reslife/living_groups.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>The "living groups", more than anything else, foster great communal environments for those involved.</p>

<p>J</p>

8

<p>Hello again HyruleGuardian,</p>

<p>I don't wish to place any undue pressure on you, but I was just curious if you decided to change your application to Lafayette to ED.</p>

<p>I understand you have already taken a tour and attended an information session. Did you have your off-campus interview yet? If you did, I am excited to hear how it went.</p>

<p>Just know that I am always here for advice. If you wish to visit the campus again (maybe this time on a sunny day with classes in full swing) and just roam around with me, I'd be more than happy to show you around. Maybe you'd like to attend a few of my classes...I have the most awesome professors this semester! </p>

<p>If you would like to spend a night with a prospective student host and learn what college life is really like, there is still time. I know my floor would love to have a prospective student over, and I would be honored to host you.</p>

<p>Of course, all of this is assuming you have yet to make the "BIG decision". In the end, all I hope is that you choose a college you feel most comfortable at. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>J</p>