Chances? (Creative title, eh?)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Swarthmore College
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I'm a rising senior this year and will be applying to colleges in the Fall. I really like what I've heard about Swarthmore and feel like I'd really enjoy the intense classes and close-knit community. I've listed some information below about me (stats) and was hoping you guys might be able to guide me in the right direction, or tell me if there's anything I could do to improve my chances of admission.</p>

<p>General
-White female
-Washington state
-3.8 HS GPA (UW)
-Pretty rigorous courseload
-Get along very well with my teachers and I think they would have good things to say about me too
-Prospective major: Physics or Engineering</p>

<p>Tests
-ACT: 29 (retaking in September, most likely)
-SAT II's
*Math II: 750
*Physics: Taking October (expecting at least 700+, I <3 Physics;))
*Chemistry: Taking October (expecting 700+)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars
This is where I'm a little nervous about. I don't have very many because taekwondo takes up a lot of time.
-Taekwondo (11 years): Past team captain of multiple state teams, third degree black belt...have been regional, national, and international champion. Highlight was probably training at the Olympic Training Center for a short time. Currently injured and not competing, but hopefully I'll be able to compete again soon.
-NASA SHARP (Summer 2005): This was an amazing experience for me, because it really got me a chance to "preview" my dream job. It was easily the best summer of my life and really convinced me that I want to major in either physics or engineering.<br>
-I have other little things I guess. I volunteered in an elementary school classrooom last year because I didn't have school Fridays (Hooray, for creative schedule planning;)) and used to attend "Hebrew High" classes once a week, but I'm not really passionate about those activities and probably won't list them. Really Taekwondo and science are pretty much my main interests.</p>

<p>Courseload
I've been in dual enrollment classes for my junior year and plan to continue dual enrollment for senior year. Last year, I took 15-20 credits each quarter (average = 15) and an online AP US History class. I believe my GPA was around 3.8.
For senior year, I'm planning on (at University of Washington):
Fall Quarter *
-Physics: Waves (third in calc-based physics series)
-Modern Hebrew I
-Applied Math: Differential Equations
-Calculus 3
*Winter Quarter
-Physics: Thermodynamics
-Physics: Elementary math-based physics
-Modern Hebrew II
-Applied Math: Linear Algebra
Spring Quarter
-Physics: Modern Physics
-Physics: Elementary math-based physics II
-Modern Hebrew III
-Applied Math: Partial Differential Equations</p>

<p>I think that's all ;) </p>

<p>I'm pretty sure I would like to apply to Swarthmore, but I don't really know where I stand in comparison to all the other applicants. I don't have very many amazing extracurriculars, because I always just did what I liked instead of joining a million clubs I had no interest in. </p>

<p>Also, I was wondering if anybody had information about transfer admissions? I'm not sure if I'd qualify as a "transfer" student, but I'll have about three years of college credit when I graduate high school, and it would be nice if I could apply some of it or maybe get placement for things like the physics classes. </p>

<p>Thanks in advance, and I'm really sorry about the huge post!</p>

2

<p>I think you would apply as a freshman, not as a transfer student, but it would probably not be that difficult for you to graduate in three years (if you want to), given the number of college credits you already have - although I'm not sure if they allow you to count dual enrollment classes if you don't take a corresponding AP - you might want to take APs just to be sure. You seem really cool, by the way. Taekwondo = awesome.</p>

3

<p>If you apply as a freshman, I think you'll have a great chance to be admitted.</p>

<p>Swarthmore is quite generous with AP credits, but can be very stingy with transfer credit, even when it comes from a well known university. It is basically up to the department head in each dept you took classes from, and they generally don't like to give credit for classes taken elsewhere, though you might get a placement in higher level classes.</p>

<p>The advice to just take AP exams is a good one. AP credit is very straight forward, and will allow you to graduate early if you wish.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

4

<p>Thanks for both the replies, hellohowareyou and nngmm:) I will definitely plan to take some more AP tests next year then. I also think I will try to save all of the syllabi from the courses I'm taking, in case that would help evaluate the courses? I'm not really too worried about transferring the credits, but more about the placement I think. I spent a lot of time feeling bored during high school, so that's really not something I'd like to repeat again if I could avoid it.</p>

<p>And hellohowareyou, I'm glad to hear you like taekwondo:) Its really been a great sport to be competing in, as I've gotten to travel across the country competing in a sport I love. Thanks for the compliment also.</p>

5

<p>Re math placement... they will ask you to take an exam to place out of the normal calc. courses. If you want to test of out linear and multi to, I'm sure they're flexible about that stuff... although it might be good to retake as a refresher. The only thing is that it seemed like you didn't take an english class your junior year... you might want to take one senior year just to seem like you're well rounded and stuff. good luck!</p>

6

<p>The physics dept. is stingy when it comes to giving potential physics majors credit for AP classes. You might be able to place out of one of the physics classes if you take Swat's exam and get an A on it. They really want physics majors to do all their work at Swat; this would also make it difficult to graduate early since you'll have 4 years of physics classes to take.</p>

7

<p>"I also think I will try to save all of the syllabi from the courses I'm taking, in case that would help evaluate the courses?"</p>

<p>Definitely do that!</p>

8

<p>Info on AP sredits:
<a href="http://www.swarthmore.edu/Admin/registrar/page.phtml?sidebar=alumniparents&content=apcredit%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.swarthmore.edu/Admin/registrar/page.phtml?sidebar=alumniparents&content=apcredit&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Physics:
<a href="http://www.swarthmore.edu/x1673.xml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.swarthmore.edu/x1673.xml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>If you want to have more accurate info on what kind of credit or placement you can expect for courses taken in U of Washington, you should probably contact the department's Administrative assistant.</p>

9

<p>Wow, lots of good ideas again. I've got a folder now full of syllabi from last year and will try to save this year's too. Also, I really like your idea nngmm, about contacting the department's administrative assistant. They probably have a lot more specific information than what I can find online. </p>

<p>Also, shellfell, this might be more of a question for the people at Swarthmore too, but in your opinion do you think three college English classes would be enough to make up for 2 years of high school English? Last year I took: Colllege Composition (Fall), Writing from Research (Winter), and Technical Communication (Spring). However, I won't be taking any English this year. I believe it shows up as 5 years on my transcript all together, but I'll have to check. Thanks for the reminder;)</p>

<p>Thanks again for the compliments and advice :)</p>

10

<p>If its possible to take some sort of English class this year, especially a lit class, I would do so, or at least contact a swat admissions office about the implications if you don't. Its quite unusual for swat applicants not to have four years of english, and it would be sad if something as silly as that made the difference between you being able to attend swat or not. good luck though!</p>

11

<p>I think you have good chances at Swarthmore:</p>

<p>a) Swat has to actively target potential Engineering majors. Female engineering/physics majors are like finding a needle in a haystack. If you successfully communicate your interest in these areas, backed up by the NASA Sharp stuff, you will stand out in the admissions office. Definitely contact (or better yet visit) the Engineering and Physics department chairs. Get them talking you up in admissions!</p>

<p>b) Your TaeKwanDo is a cool extracurricular, especially at the level you are talking about. Write an essay about it. Research the TaeKwanDo scene at Swat or talk about teaching it at Swat. They LOVE student initiated activities in just about anything.</p>

<p>c) Your work with elementary school kids is fantastic. Eugene Lang is Swarthmore's biggest benefactor (see the Lang Center for Civic Responsibility). He is famous for starting the I Have a Dream Foundation that adopts an entire class of grade school kids, mentors them through high school, and funds their college education. Contact (or better yet visit) the Lang Center in the train station on campus. Learn about the tutoring programs in local grade schools. Tie your experience with how you could continue this sort of thing during your Swat years.</p>

<p>You have the raw materials to put together a fantastic application that will push a lot of good buttons at Swat.</p>