Chances at the schools on my (current) list?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>stats:</p>

<p>GPA: 3.895 uw (my school doesn't weight)
SAT: 720 cr, 710 w (11 essay), 700 m
ACT: 33 composite, 35 science, 34 reading, 32 english, 31 math, 30 english+writing (9 essay) ---- i plan to retake the ACT in september in hopes of getting the score i got on a practice test (35)
SAT II's: 750 lit, 720 latin, 690 US history --- i'm taking the math 2 in october and hope to get a good score on that, to replace the crappy 690 on the history test
APs: (2006) latin literature - 5, calculus AB - 5, english comp - 4, US history - 4 (2005) european history - 3 (i know i know, it was a bad class for me)
other academic honors: summa cum laude (gold medal) on the national latin exam three years in a row, honor roll, 9th place in the ocean sciences bowl (listed below)</p>

<p>i've taken the hardest classes possible at my inner city public school in seattle, washington. next year i am taking three more APs and calc based physics, which is considered to be an AP level class but the teacher doesn't want to be tied down by the AP curriculum. (APs next year are stat, language arts (i think it's lit, they just call it LA at my school) and gov).</p>

<p>i skipped a year of latin with a week notice (there was a schedule conflict, orchestra and latin 3 were the same period, my teacher called me a week before school started to warn me that i was jumping from latin 2 to AP).</p>

<p>also i'm a white, middle class female</p>

<p>EC's</p>

<p>drama club (9-12): very, VERY involved (an average of 10 hours a week). treasurer 11-12, acted in six shows (including starring in the musical into the woods this year), directed one show, stage managed one show, worked on the set for three shows, business manager for one mainstage, i've run 12+ bakesales in the past two years for the club.</p>

<p>choir (9-12): i participated 9th and 10th without being in the class (at least 15 others did this as well), practicing during lunches and evenings. 11th and 12th grade in the vocal jazz ensemble, which is the top choir (audition only). we won first in our division at the lionel hampton jazz festival in moscow, idaho and partipated in the jazz festival in reno (we didn't win, we got 4th i think). vocal jazz is a zero period class, it shows up on my transcripts, but i get to school at 6:45 AM every day to rehearse.</p>

<p>concert/marching band (9): co-principal flutist</p>

<p>orchestra (10-12): 10th grade in orchestra B, 11th and 12th as principal 2nd in orchestra A. we were named the best high school orchestra in the country by downbeat magazine this year. we have won first place at the northwest musical festival in gresham, oregon the past two years and have performed side by side with the seattle symphony. we have monday night rehearsals at least 12 times a year and have concerts up to three times a month.</p>

<p>flute outside of school (9-12): i have competed in the seattle young artists solo competition (10 and i will in next year) and the solo and ensemble competition (9-12). i have received the highest score (1) each time. i also occasionally play gigs.</p>

<p>ocean sciences team (11-12): we won 9th (out of 16th) in the washington state ocean sciences bowl last year and also won the sportsmanship award.</p>

<p>o2 (outdoors program in seattle): participated in the summer of 2005, and likely will do more with them this summer... volunteered with them on an indian reservation at the end of canoe journey, went to the olympic park institute to learn about the elwha river, went rock climbing, hiking and river rafting, also helped cut life rings around trees in seattle parks.</p>

<p>recreational basketball team (9-12): i've played for the same community center every year. we have practice twice a week and games once a week.</p>

<p>volunteering:</p>

<p>tutoring: i tutored a peer in math freshman year (45 hours throughout the year)</p>

<p>aquarium: this summer i am participating in the teen volunteer program at the seattle aqaurium. i work twice a week and also on selected weekends. i went through training and i am very knowlegable on marine life and the animals in the aquarium. my title is "teen naturalist," and i basically interact with guests and answer questions. should have about 150 hours by the end of the summer.</p>

<p>work experience:</p>

<p>i babysit for three different families very regularly, and this summer i have a scheduled nanny job for one of them (12 hours a week).</p>

<p>schools that i plan to apply to (i'm fairly sure this is the final list, though kenyon might be switched)</p>

<p>yale (scea)
rice
harvard
stanford
haverford
wesleyan
davidson
middleburry
st. olaf
whitman
kenyon
UW</p>

<p>does this seem like a good list? what are my chances at these schools? should i find more safety schools?</p>

<p>ALSO: based on my list, are there any other match or safety schools you would recommend?</p>

2

<p>Your academics and test score look really good. A 690 is actually a decent score but I think a lot of colleges want a math, science and humanities SAT II. Your math II will obviously cover math but you still have science to fill. I heard biology was pretty easy. You should check if the colleges on your list want that math, sci, humanities. Maybe you won't need to worry about this.</p>

<p>Harvard, Stanford, Yale are crapshoots. Rice maybe too. Others look like matches and safeties. I think it is a good list in terms of balance of reach/match/safety.</p>

3

<p>thanks, that's reassuring :)</p>

<p>i actually took the biology SAT II (self studied) and got a horrible score (610). the test asked about things my study book hadn't covered. i'm considering getting a different study book and taking it again, along with my math 2, since i studied so hard the first time that i've still got some stuff down, i just need to learn things that weren't in my first book.</p>

4

<p>bluetissues, I'm not familar enough with St. Olaf or Whitman to judge, but I would think that these would be reasonable safeties for you. UW would be only if you really want to go there. It seems out of sync with the others on your list. </p>

<p>You don't really need another reach, but I'd suggest that you take a look at Williams. They have a wonderful theater program (just built a $50 performing arts center), excellent music department and orchestra with lots of performance opportunities for non-majors. They offer a marine studies semester at a town on the Atlantic. Plus they LOVE outdoorsy kids who are involved in wilderness activities.</p>

5

<p>UW is a safety school across the board, finacially and academically. i live in seattle and it's the standard safety at my high school. they have a really good oceanography program, and though i'd prefer to go into human biology, i wouldn't die there. it definitely is the most un-me school on my list, but both my parents and i want a guarenteed affordable school for me.</p>

<p>i looked at williams, i was a little afraid of its remoteness... but that was a while ago, and i've since become much more open about location. i have a friend who goes there, she's premed and is constantly working and stressed out, but you know, that's how it is at a lot of top schools and i thiiink i'd be up for a challenge like that. thanks for the extra information on it, i'll look at it again.</p>

6

<p>blue, a safety isn't a true safety unless you really want to attend. I'd also suggest that you take a look at Smith. Excellent academics, including sciences, plus many positives like strong theater and music, great town and accessibility to the other schools in the consortium. This could be a safety with merit money for you.</p>

<p>Good luck and let us know how it goes.</p>

7

<p>ahh i know, but i just need the guarentee or i won't be able to sleep at night. smith certainly has excellent academics.. but it's also an isolated all girls school. i visited barnard and hated the atmosphere, and have since been turned off of all girls schools. smith may be different.. but.. i still don't think it'd be right for me.</p>

8

<p>"but it's also an isolated all girls school."</p>

<p>Isolated? In Northampton - one of the 10 most happening towns in America? Part of the 5-College Consortium? 9 a capella groups? Five-College Opera Consortium? Large orchestra (that played at Carnegie last year?) More undergraduate Fulbrights than Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Pomona, and the University of Chicago?</p>

<p>No girls at Smith, though. Only women.</p>

9

<p>oof, i must've been getting it confused with something else. i'll look at it more, but i've read a few excerpts about it in college books i have and it hasn't really sparked my interest much.</p>

<p>but er.. does anyone have any opinions on my chances at the schools i'm planning to apply to?</p>

10

<p>Blue, I wouldn’t begin to guess your chances at HY&S. These are super reaches for everyone. There’s nothing in your profile that would keep you out, however, so if they’re what you want get in there with the 10’s of thousands of other applicants.</p>

<p>Among Rice, Haverford, Wesleyan, Middlebury your chances are very good. Kenyon even better. If you demonstrate interest and put together strong applications I’m sure you will have some good choices in March.</p>

<p>Women’s colleges are not for everyone. Those who have chosen Smith are generally a satisfied group, though, and for a less selective it offers an amazing academic atmosphere.</p>

<p>Same for isolated colleges. The reaction tends to be visceral as in “this is the place” or “get me out of here.” </p>

<p>I hope you will be able to visit a range of LACs. Their personalities are quite different and it doesn't really become apparent until you're there.</p>

<p>For a COMBINATION of music, theater and the outdoors you wouldn’t find better than Williams or Smith though, more opportunties than at Haverford, Wesleyan or Middlebury.</p>

11

<p>hmmm, thank you very much for the advice. i would love to love smith, like i said, it looks like an excellent school.. but.. as open minded as i try to be... i just couldn't see myself at an all-women school.. too much of my social life is focused around close friendships with guys who i can have conversations with after classes and that sort of thing.. not that i can't have conversations with women! i don't want to sound completely shallow. i even admit that it's probably closed minded of me to not want to look at smith because it's a women's school, i just want to make sure i'm completely happy at the college of my choice.</p>

<p>i've visited harvard, yale, wesleyan, haverford, swarthmore, columbia and barnard. haverford was my favorite, closely followed by wesleyan and yale. i'm applying scea to yale because haverford is ED, not EA, and i just can't commit to something that may not come through financially for me. i can't afford to visit any more schools before i apply, but i plan to go on an extensive tour of the schools i get into (overnight stays and all that jazz) to make sure i make the right decision.</p>

<p>in terms of isolated colleges.. i've thought to myself "you either have to love the natural beauty of the isolated place, or love the school too much to care." middleburry seems like it's in a beautiful setting, i'm addicted to mountains living in seattle and a friend of mine at university of vermont says vermont looks kind of like home (though it feels much colder, i'm sure). i loved the academics at wesleyan and the student body seemed lively and artsy, so i figured i could live through middletown.</p>

<p>basically i'm still really unsure which schools are my favorites and i won't be able to tell until i visit all of them, but i am glad to be getting advice from you and others :)</p>

<p>so thank you</p>

12

<p>blue, you seem to be well ahead of the game and I'm sure you'll end up at a great school.</p>

13

<p>:) thanks again</p>

<p>errr p.s. i really appreciate the two people who have responded to me, but i would love a little bit more input. does anybody else have opinions?</p>

<p>also, if anyone can think of more safety schools for me. my parents don't think i have enough, and i may be crossing off kenyon because of more research i have done that has turned me off of it, so that's one safety/match from my original list that likely won't stay.</p>

14

<p>All of the schools are fine. Williams is much, much stronger than Haverford for music and theater (as well as the outdoors), and Wesleyan is much stronger in the first two. You are likely to get a very different campus "vibe" at Wesleyan than at Middlebury/Williams.</p>

<p>When you can, I'd suggest doing overnights on Thursday nights. Basically, you get a better feel as to "how early the weekend starts" at each campus, and likely a more accurate campus read (do folks leave for the weekend, do they start their drinking early, are folks grinding it out, what students do for fun, etc.)</p>

15

<p>thanks for the tip, i'll try and get thursday nights in (i think i'll have two of them on my scheduled "admitted tour" as i'll be in boston with orchestra a week before spring break and i'm just staying there after we're done with our stuff, so i'll have a week and a half to visit schools). also, thanks for telling me about williams music and theater > haverford's. that's what i was worried about.. i loved the vibe on campus at haverford so much, but i was worried that if i went there i would be extremely dissapointed with the music and theater.</p>

16

<p>Putting aside differences in campus cultures, some of this is simply a function of size. Wesleyan (or Smith) are more than double the size of Haverford, and Williams almost double, and, also putting side the strength of all three of these institutions independent of size, Haverford just isn't able to compete in the depth of its student body's interest in music and theater. This is somewhat mitigated by having Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore nearby, but these institutions are far from powerhouses in these areas either. This is not to say that Haverford won't have music or theater, only that you will find more of it (and more interested/involved students) elsewhere.</p>