Chances for Bryn Mawr? I'll chance back!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Bryn Mawr College
1

<p>Gender: Female
Location: NJ
Ethnicity: Filipino

  • School sends many graduates to top schools; consistently ranked in the top 50</p>

<p>Weighted GPA: 4.7397
Unweighted GPA: 3.6008</p>

<p>I think the worst hit was opting to be a year ahead in the science curriculum at my school (took Biology as a freshman); I didn’t have the math to keep up with courses such as Physics.</p>

<p>SATs: 2060 (CR: 690, M: 620, W: 750, 11 on the essay)
ACTs: 29
Will take SAT II’s in December (Latin and Literature, high 700’s)</p>

<p>AP Exams:
AP US History - 4
AP English Language & Composition - 5</p>

<p>Senior Schedule:
AP English Lit
AP US Gov
AP Latin
Calculus 1
Sociology/Psychology
Music Theory 1</p>

<ul>
<li>Took a 200 level poetry course as a junior at a college, finished with an A</li>
</ul>

<p>Honors and Awards:</p>

<p>Freshman Year:

  • National Latin Exam (Latin 1): Magna Cum Laude</p>

<p>Sophomore Year:

  • Most Valuable Member Award: Latin Club
  • New Jersey Junior Classical League: 1st Place Regional Certamen
  • New Jersey Junior Classical League: 2nd Place State Certamen
  • New Jersey Junior Classical League: 2nd Place State Vocabulary</p>

<p>Junior Year:

  • Montclair State University Classics Day: 3rd Place Regional Certamen
  • National Latin Exam (Latin III): Magna Cum Laude
  • National Honor Society
  • National Latin Honor Society
  • Social Studies Honor Society</p>

<p>School Co-Curricular Activities:</p>

<ul>
<li>Literary Magazine (9, 10, 11, 12)</li>
<li>Latin Club (9, 10, 11, 12)</li>
<li>Key Club (9, 10, 11, 12)</li>
<li>Knowledge Masters (11, 12)</li>
<li>New Jersey Junior Classical League (10, 11, 12)</li>
<li>Future Teachers of America (11, 12)</li>
</ul>

<p>Leadership Roles:</p>

<p>Junior Year:</p>

<ul>
<li>Magazine Director of the Literary Magazine</li>
<li>Historian of the Latin Club</li>
<li>Scholarship Chair of the National Latin Honor Society</li>
<li>Student Council Representative</li>
</ul>

<p>Senior Year:

  • Editor-in-Chief of the Literary Magazine
  • Consul (President) of the Latin Club
  • State Historian of the New Jersey Junior Classical League
  • Scholarship Chair of the National Latin Honor Society
  • Student Council Representative</p>

<p>Community Service:</p>

<ul>
<li>Emergency Room volunteer at a respected research hospital</li>
<li>Interned during the summer at the George Street Playhouse (taught ballet and improv)</li>
<li>Usher/greeter at the State Theatre</li>
<li>Performed dances in cultural shows</li>
<li>Key Club</li>
</ul>

<p>Other:

  • Danced on a competition team for first two years of high school, continued recreational dance until the present (ballet, tap, lyrical, and jazz)
  • Tutor at Kumon North America (paid job)
  • Published in Teen Ink
  • Published in anthology from The America Library of Poetry
  • Published in NJJCL newsletters and school newspapers
  • Played the piano since the age of 6</p>

<p>I will major in either Classics, Comparative Literature, or English.
Reccomendations should be great.</p>

<p>Thanks so much!!! Leave a link and I’ll chance you back. </p>

<p>I’m also applying to:
Barnard
Colgate
Vassar
Rutgers - New Brunswick
TCNJ
Penn State - University Park
Brandeis
NYU
Haverford
Fordham</p>

2

<p>Being the excited proactive applicant you are, I am sure you have done your research on Bryn Mawr. Bryn Mawr is very big on the Honor Code, which includes a no-grade-talking policy. That creates a non-competitive academic environment, which is one of the main reasons many students choose to attend Bryn Mawr. </p>

<p>In the spirit of the Honor Code, I would ask you not to post your grades and test scores, or showcase other achievements on this board.</p>

3

<p>b@r!um- In fairness, we can’t really gauge her chances if we don’t know her grades. Yes the Honor Code demands modesty, but do not dismiss her for giving readers all the information they need to form a realistic opinion. The competition may be over once one is at Bryn Mawr, but you’ll have to put yourself in the position of someone at a Top 50 high school where they have not yet enjoyed the privilege of a “non-competitive academic environment.”</p>

<p>Skittlerose- Your resume looks impeccable, save your standardized test scores. Though they are above average, it would help a lot if you were at or above 2100/31. As you won’t have any time between now and January 15th to retake the SAT because you need the December date to take Subject Tests, your best shot would be trying to retake the ACT one more time, one last push to really make yourself stand out. On a side note, you might consider taking different subject tests. I’m sure you will do well in Latin and Literature, but we already know that from your AP Lang score and Latin awards. If you have other areas in which you are particularly talented, I would recommend using the subject tests in them instead to show a different academic side of you. If not, no harm done really, but it might help. Overall you have great chances at the schools you’ve listed. Good luck.</p>

4

<p>I do realize that we cannot “chance” her without knowing her grades. But “chances” threads are not in the spirit of the honor code on so many levels. </p>

<p>I think the honor code violation goes both ways here. In replying, <em>we</em> are pretending to know more about Bryn Mawr’s internal admission process than we actually do. How many applications to Bryn Mawr have you read to be in a position to evaluate her chances? I don’t think we are helping her by giving her misleading information.</p>

<p>I understand how anxious prospective students are. I remember posting “chance me” threads myself when I was applying. I am not blaming her for that. But I do think current Bryn Mawr students should be modest enough to realize that they cannot evaluate the chances of a prospective students. And I hope that prospective students respect that we are doing things differently at Bryn Mawr. After all, they are hoping to be part of this community in the near future.</p>

5

<p>b@r!um- Just so you know, if you read the honor code (the 2009 version is not loading, but I was able to get a copy of the previous years, and there were no changes made regarding the grade discussion policy in the past two years) it doesn’t say anywhere that you can’t discuss grades. I also discussed this with the honor board during customs week to clarify the policy, and the chair explained that there was no formal policy; a culture had just arisen where it’s considered impolite to discuss your grades without first making sure that everyone else is comfortable with your doing so. Thus, there has been no “violation” of the Honor Code.</p>

<p>Also, the prospective student is asking for her chances at not just Bryn Mawr, but other institutions as well, and without her statistics it would be very difficult to even suggest that one school or the other would be a good fit. </p>

<p>Skittlerose- First off, I want to second everything that elytron stated- great resume! I would think that you have excellent chances at Bryn Mawr, Barnard, Vassar, Rutgers, TCNJ, Penn State, Fordham, and NYU, while Colgate, Brandeis, and Haverford might be less of a sure bet, just because of their low admission percentage. But you’ve picked schools that you shouldn’t be too worried of your chances. Also, I would suggest possibly taking a variety of SAT IIs as well, just to show how well-rounded you are. Good luck!</p>

6

<p>Again, I don’t actually care about her posting her grades. I am concerned about the replies she gets, from well-intentioned posters who nonetheless don’t know anything more about the admissions process than she does. College applicants are already nervous enough as it is. The last thing they need is someone - someone without “inside” knowledge of the admission process nonetheless - to tell them that they would be better off with higher test scores or more volunteer hours or… </p>

<p>Whatever you say will just make her more nervous about the admission process. And that <em>is</em> covered by the honor code, by the term “respect.” It does not matter if she is applying to Bryn Mawr or XYZ university. Bryn Mawr students look out for each other, and I strongly believe that “chancing” students does more harm than good. I would hope that Bryn Mawr students are smart enough not to give advice in an area they are not knowledgeable about. </p>

<p>If you did a tiny bit of research on the college admission process, you would know that the “well-roundedness” approach is very controversial. Some authors say that applicants to very selective colleges are better off highlighting their passions and achievements in one specific area than their well-roundedness. You probably don’t have enough experience to recommend one course of action over another to any specific applicant. Neither do I. </p>

<p>Our honor code specifies barely any concrete rules. It does not say not to steal each other’s laundry detergent. It does not say to obey dorm quiet hours. It also does not mention a policy on talking about grades. It merely asks us to respect each other, and what exactly that means is up for interpretation. In the recent past the community has decided that respectful behavior excludes the public discussion of grades. Whether or not this is actually disrespectful depends very much on your personal point of view.</p>

<p>However, I strongly believe that respect entails not giving misleading advice to others, or pretend that we are knowledgeable on matters we are not. And unlike the grade discussion, this is common decency rather than personal preference. That’s why “imposture” is usually considered bad…</p>

7

<p>b@r!um: Thank you. I’ve never understood why anyone gave credence to these ‘chance’ threads, as they are answered by peers with little experience or knowledge of ADCOM decision-making. Your thoughtful answer, with consideration of the stress that prospective students are under, is appreciated.</p>

8

<p>Well, in fairness, this whole board is basically a chance forum and many many people reply to it for basically every college. I think it’s ridiculous to suggest that the OP or anyone for that matter can’t ask for advice or feedback on what kind of schools she/he has a shot in (that’s what this CC isf or) in the Bryn Mawr board because it is considered unrespectful by the honor code. Prospective students have every right to know and estimate their chances and what other way than to ask on CC?! And since she is not a student at BM, it makes it all the more ridiculous to say she has to abide by any rules. In addition, you will find that every single college will outline in their handbook along the lines of courtesy and ‘respect’. That doesn’t stop other school’s boards, including many of the LAC with honor codes, having chance threads.</p>

9

<p>I see the point in both arguments and I would like to say that b@r!um is an example of the reason i want to attend bryn mawr - women who have an opinion and do not just accept something simply because it is part of the status quo
that being said, as a prospective bmc student, I would appreciate, instead of focusing on “my chances”, perhaps suggestions on how to highlight positive and unique attributes so I can improve “my chances”
is that something we can do for the OP?</p>

10

<p>Skittlerose, your resume looks amazing and i am sure you will get accepted to all the schools you are applying to :)</p>

11

<p>One thing I know after getting into Bryn Mawr, your grades & test scores are really not THAT important. Its about you & Bryn Mawr. If your a fit, you’ll get in. I got in with a 1650…idk how I did it, but I guess I was a fit ;)</p>