hey! i’m a junior just trying to figure out where i stand so far in the very scary admissions process.
academics
gpa uw - 3.95
gpa w this semester - 4.50 (2 aps, 2 h, 2 reg)
no sat/act
this year taking ap macro, ap gov, ap lang
took ap psych and apush as a sophomore and got 5s on both exams
this year all other eligible classes are honors, last year i had two other honors courses
extracurriculars
student body president (just elected this year)
founder of amnesty international student group at my school (this year)
editor on school paper (this year, last year)
member of several other clubs including nhs and school diversity club and i am mentoring two new students this year as part of a peer mentor program
i work part-time at a bookstore, started during my sophomore year
full scholarship at my school
recipient of nsli-y scholarship last summer (state dept language program)
tutoring esl students at public school - stopped this year b/c covid
demographics
white, female, low-income, divorced parents so spend half time of my time in super rural area
interesting things i might include
i transferred into my current school beginning sophomore year and got a job to help pay for tuition until the school decided to give me a scholarship this year but i’m still working to support the family
i grew up in an urban area until age 10 but completely dropped out of school in 4th grade until 8th grade and moved to the middle of nowhere w my mom where i spent most of my days doing farm work so i had a super rough time transitioning back to normal stuff when i started freshman year at a public school.
i’m super passionate about international relations and dream of going to the walsh school of foreign service but feel like i’m just not a strong enough applicant. i’d also love to study political science at nyu. would be passionate about any political science/international relations major at a top school, if possible. thank you for reading!
These are awesome accomplishments and I applaud you for overcoming your barriers.
Two things I will contribute here:
How did you spend your summer time outside of school? That is a significant chunk of time away from academics that T20 admissions folks would be interested in.
The interesting things that you outlined probably belong in the Additional Information section, unless they are integral to the narrative you want to tell in your personal statement. I’d be interested in how you’re approaching your essays, especially given that you don’t have any test scores. That’s probably going to mean a lot more and make a difference.
While schools like Georgetown and NYU are reaches for almost everyone because of low admit rates, that is a very good and interesting profile that will certainly get you serious consideration at both colleges imo.
thank you!! so, the nsli-y scholarship i got last year was supposed to send me to south korea all summer to study korean. due to covid, they canceled the in-person aspect but i did spend six weeks of summer completing 50 hrs on language instruction thru the state dept. this summer i’m hoping to do some kind of political internship.
for your second point, i’m def just thinking abt where i want to go w essays at the moment. i do want to incorporate my background and i was thinking of maybe going weird and using my experience w herding sheep as an analogy for my passion for international relations…not sure how that will go.
appreciate the feedback/suggestions!
As an opinion, you should ultimately convey a “straight” message with the topic, which might represent what you have in mind in any case.
Based on your grades, interesting general profile and goals, you can hardly fail if you select the colleges to which you apply properly. Research in this area will be key.