3.5/4 Unweighted GPA
1300 SAT (Retook in June, feel confident about the results)
Eagle Scout (With all 3 palms)
Top 100 Nationally Ranked for Speech and Debate
2 Years of Band - Section Leader Second Year
Thank you
Classes Include:
APHUG
APES
APEng 3
WHAP
AP Stats
Yes, you have a pretty good chance; however, I would retake the SAT. A 1300 is pretty good but you can definitely do better…have you taken an official prep course or formally prepared for the SAT? A huge misconception that I believed when I was in high school was that you couldn’t study for the SAT; you were either inherently a gifted test or not and whatever you got was what you got. That couldn’t be further from the truth…
Realistically, you can prepare for the SAT and actually a lot of students even at Ivy League schools spend months studying for this exam. I will say you don’t necessarily need to take a prep course or hire a tutor but you should be at least working with quality practice material. You need to be drilling high quality test questions and becoming familiar with the format of the SAT. For example, I scored a 1560/2400 on the SAT without any preparation. A few years later, a friend of mine convinced me that you can actually study for and improve and standardized tests. I study for the GRE for 2 months and was able to score 6 points above the average score at the business school (the school I’m in at GW right now) and hit the median score for Georgetown McDonough. A 1400+ will seriously change the way admissions committees look at you. Even if you can’t hit that try to get at least a 1350.
Secondly, make sure you genuinely express yourself in your essays but also make sure you write clearly and answer the question. Even a lot of smart students veer from the main question or topic and end up coming across as overzealous and unfocused. Have someone read your essay without knowing what the essay question is and ask them to guess. Out of all your extracurriculars, I would say your participation in speech and debate is the really most attractive. You could definitely write a compelling story about how you juggled a heavy academic schedule and membership in the debate club.
I would also like to add that certain companies like Mckinsey, Bain and even some other big places like to see students SAT score. A high SAT score can really bolster your resume and make you a much more attractive candidate to employers; particularly with a political science, economics or business degree from George Washington.