<p>note: at my school my stats are NOT elite, so please don't take offense to me not thinking my stats are elite if you disagree
from Alabama, elite public school
ACT: 31 (not retaking)
SAT: 700 CR, 600 M, 720 W (will take again in OCT)
SAT subject tests: 600 math I, 740 lit, 800 US history, i'm thinking of taking bio in Nov
35 (or 34/36 can't remember)/430 (ish)
GPA: 4.23 w, unweighted not given
APs: Junior Year: English Lang. 4, Latin (vergil) 3, US history 5
senior year: We the People (AP government), English Lit., Latin (lit)
ECs: various volunteer work
NHS (committee head), FHS, LHS, probably Spanish HS too
scholars bowl
AWARE (political activism club, co-president)
mission trip to Costa Rica last summer
Anytown diversity camp, Presidential Classroom ('05)
2 years of Amnesty (one year historian)
French Club (3 years)
Latin Club (4 years)
church youth group (Methodist)
technically a girl scout</p>
<p>interests:french, spanish, maybe classics, DEFINITELY international relations, possibly specializing in latin america, languages in general</p>
<p>schools: EA georgetown, EA U of Georgia (safety), EA U Chicago (first choice), Emory, Rhodes, Agnes Scott, Bryn Mawr, U of Alabama (already accepted, safety), and either Middlebury or Colby (visiting Colby next month)</p>
<p>You are a match everywhere except Univ of Chicago and Emory, where at both you are a match to slight reach. Applying ED to Univ of Chicago might get you in directly.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>P.S. Use your SAT scores, not your ACT score.</p>
<p>Calcruzer was right on the money, although I'd put Middlebury as a very slight reach. Tufts is superb in IR and Classics, if you're still looking for suggestions.</p>
<p>Tufts has SUPERB undergraduate (and graduate) IR -- it should CERTAINLY be on your list. We're ranked #1 in the Gourman Report ranking of undergraduate IR programs (Princeton #2, Georgetown #4). And the Classics dept. is ridiculously good as well -- I have a friend who studies Classics at Harvard and one of his profs there told him during a bad spell my friend was having at Harvard -- he was considering transferring and all -- "Go two stops down the T (the subway) and you'll find the best department there."</p>
<p>Btw, I applied EA to Gtown, got in, then picked Tufts RD and have never looked back. You should check out the UChicago social life before you commit yourself to that school -- I ran away screaming when I did a campus weekend visit. Good luck!</p>
<p>Not to throw cold water on the previous responses to you, as I often agree with Calcruzer and Warblersrule86, however I think they are being highly optimistic. I will offer only a few thoughts:</p>
<p>Georgetown: Reach
University of Chicago: Slight Reach
Middlebury: Slight Reach
Emory: Slight Reach</p>
<p>Your GPA is strong. Your academic rigor is above average, appears to be challenging for your junior and senior years. Your ECs look solid; however, there is not much that stands out as distinctive in leadership or honor except your Scholars Bowl and your co-presidency of the political activism club. Both your ACT and SAT test scores present a weakness in how adcoms will evaluate your application. If your re-take of the SAT Reasoning Test in October produces a 100+ point overall boost in your score, i.e., 2100+, it will push you above that average range that youre sitting in for UC, Middlebury and Emory. BTW, I dont think you need to take another SAT Subject Test your 740 Lit and 800 US History are fine.</p>
<p>For Georgetown, your SAT combined of 1300 (they dont consider the Writing component) would put you at around the 25th percentile of enrolled freshmen, and your ACT score of 31 is still below the average for entering freshmen. Georgetown admissions has become increasingly competitive (accepting about 21% of applicants), and with increasing applications, this will likely continue into the present applications period.</p>
<p>What will make a difference for all of these schools will be those other admissions factors, e.g., essays, letters of recommendation, and interviews (although Emory does not offer interviews, they do want to see that youve demonstrated interest by making contact with their admissions office through channels such as regional visits, campus visit, and/or ordering their video/DVD). Some of these things will be within your control to prepare and follow through. Other factors, such as recommendations, are beyond your reach in that you cannot write them yourself hopefully those who recommend you will be able to articulate your strengths well. Unfortunately, the admissions process is an imperfect one. I tend to think that if there is a passion that brews deep within you, if you are able to bring that to the surface in an essay, it will help the admissions evaluators to see why they should admit you. Good luck!</p>
<p>thank you for your responses!
NorCalDad: I was thinking of taking another SAT II because Middlebury will take three of those instead of SATI, which would show my strength of history
my interview with Chicago went wonderfully (it lasted 2 hours!)
my interview with Georgetown went very well as well, the guy said he could relate to me on a lot of things (half jewish, hating chemistry, etc.)
We the People, which most people don't know about, despite it's national competition, is an intense competition team, which we don't have a "captain" for because we work in small teams, (my school's team got into the top 10 at nationals last year!), <a href="http://www.civiced.org/wethepeople.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.civiced.org/wethepeople.php</a></p>
<p>BTW, I said "Maybe Classics" so it's not really my main focus, and Tufts looks a little too competitive for me on the IR scene</p>
<p>lolabelle: what's wrong with the social life, if you mean there is no typical social life, what's wrong with that?</p>
<p>Gonzo, you're right... I wasn't aware of the "We the People" program, so thanks for enlightening me. Were you in last year's team that came in the top 10 nationally? You may want to certainly bring this out in your applications.</p>
<p>I'm glad your interviews went well. One thing I neglected to mention, which I'm sure you've explored, is to look at the Study Abroad programs for each of your chosen schools, especially given your interests in Languages and IR. I see your strategy about the additional SAT Subject Test... that would only potentially benefit you at Middlebury, though. I suppose it's a worthwhile tactic if you are very high on Middlebury. Good luck, and I hope you get into University of Chicago or Georgetown!</p>
<p>i agree with NorCalDad, so I'm not going to repeat what he said. But keep in mind that UChicago is quirkier in its admissions too--if you write a lame "here's what I learned on my mission trip" essay then you can expect a rejection at UChicago, even though your stats are in range. Also, what is your class rank? hard to say without knowing that too.</p>
<p>oh everyone at my school with a 4.0 or above is ranked 1/430 (ish)
for my own purposes i know that i'm either 34/35/36 out of 430
but that is not what colleges get on my transcript
i wrote my essay about my aunt's kitchen...</p>