ACT: Just took 34
SAT II: Bio E 740, Literature 740
GPA: 3.77 ( I have extenuating circumstances)
Major Awards: President Service Award, National Park Service Award, Montana MUN Awards 3-4 awards from my school
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): over
Run A Girls who code chapter in Montana
founded and direct schools TV channel
documentary filmmaker
-Muir Woods (National Park) Volunteer Ranger
-forestry intern at an environmental consulting firm
A lot of Model UN stuff
Envirothon
basic stuff (NHS, student gov, and action committee)
Volunteer/Community service:1000+ hours
-Teach Young Girls to Code (via Girls who code)
-Muir Woods (National Park) Volunteer Ranger
-Ecology speaker ( Muir Woods)
-Forestry volunteering
Essays: I am very good at essays
Common app: 9/10 very strong
Supplements: 9/10 essays are a big strength of mine
Recommendations (amazing)
I saw most of them and they were fantastic
Other: struggle from PTSD ( went through a rape trial at 14)
Intended Major: Environmental Science and IR (or history)
State (if domestic applicant): Montana
Ethnicity: mixed race (white & Asian)
Honestly, I have no idea how anyone can unironically rate their own essays 9/10. Also, how do extenuating circumstances magically make up for a significant drop in GPA? At some point, I feel like you’d need to own up to the fact that harder classes might mean lower grades and try to show improvement rather than using extenuating circumstances as an excuse. That’s just my take on it, though.
Barnard and Smith are definite matches with your ACT score and I don’t think your GPA is a detriment if you took the most rigorous classes at your school.
You’re a competitive candidate anywhere, but in a sea of competitive candidates. Being from Montana will help. Do all you can to demonstrate interest at Smith and Barnard.
GPA hurts, particularly from Montana. Montana helps a lot, but part Asian hurts, particularly as a lot of the kids putting up scores from areas like that are Asian. It is good you show SAT IIs, as I don’t know if you took many AP exams in Montana. I would say competitive for the womens colleges you mentioned. If you can, I would apply to a few others at that level and below. OK to apply to Ivies as reaches.
Nevertheless, a female applicant from Montana with an ACT score of 34 should be a very competitive applicant for admission to several of your targeted schools.
P.S. Curious as to why you are not considering majoring in CS since coding comprises such a significant part of your young life ?
If you’re willing to look west as well as east, the Claremont Colleges are also very strong in all of your areas of interest. There are multiple tracks within the Environmental Analysis major (based at Pomona and Pitzer but fully available to Scripps students too), with varying amounts of focus on the science aspects vs. politics and policy vs. sustainability and environmental design, so you can fine-tune your own emphasis, double-major, etc., and get involved in environmental initiatives through the Redford Conservancy and other area organizations. There’s top-notch computer science through both Harvey Mudd and Pomona, IR through CMC, and history throughout the colleges.
Scripps loves Girls Who Code - they host their summer programs and had the founder as their graduation speaker in 2017. Being Eurasian is neutral there, I’d say - the Asian/Eurasian demographic is well-represented but not in such oversupply as to be an admissions liability. Montana, while not ridiculously far away, is still under-represented enough to give you a boost. There’s a lot of openness about mental health challenges such as PTSD and anxiety, and lots of willingness to accommodate needs like emotional support animals, etc. Scripps falls in between Barnard and Smith, competitiveness-wise, so it seems like it fits the pattern and offers a middle ground of sorts, with more access to nature than Barnard but more access to the city than Smith. Pomona is Ivy-level competitive and Pitzer is in between Pomona and Scripps in competitiveness. All meet full need but with varying formulas and use of loans. Scripps is relatively generous with merit aid, similar to Smith, if that’s a consideration.
It’s hard to say what to expect with the Ivy-type schools. You might or might not get a closer read after the first filter - the 3.77 (assume that’s weighted) GPA without a compensatory “hook” (extenuating circumstances will be considered if you get the closer read but are not a hook per se). The 34 ACT is excellent but all test scores can do at those schools is not keep you out - so that’s one thing that won’t keep you out, but something else still has to get you in, and it’s a steep road. The women’s colleges seem like more reasonable targets, but it doesn’t hurt to take your shot at the lottery schools if that’s what you want.
@DieLit@aquapt@Publisher@sattut@PetraMC@NEPatsGirl
wrote this a post deferral state. My Essays were read by over 20 ppl, some attended ivies, all thought the essays were great. I can send you my essays if you’d like. I think they were very authentic.
GPA/Extenuating circumstances - I was raped in my sophomore year. The boarding school I attended did IGCSE so all of our freshman and sophomore grades hinged on one test in the spring of sophomore year. I reoprted it, the claims were ignored. I was forced to take the exams sitting next to the guy who did it. I got straight B’s, but that was pretty hard/impressive given the difficult emotional circumstances. I took an insane courseload in Junior 13 classes and 9 senior (all IB/AP) to drag the Unweighted up.
@DieLit I know that in my circumstance it wasn’t the difficulty of the class. I am taking an insane course load (I had to get approval from the district insane) this year and have straight A’s
I love CS as a tool. I think it’s amazing but my boyfriend (a CS major at Brown) has been sucked into a CS hole. I want to be more and do more than that, which is why I think I’d only take classes and avoid being swept up.
send one over to me as well! it’s cool that you got 20 people to look at it, that’s crazy. i find that if i show mines to more than three people there are too many differing opinions and too many nit-picks for actual feedback! but I’d like to see yours! i will also provide a bit of honest feedback.
TBH, I liked your essays. But the grades are always going to be an issue, since grades in secondary school are the best predictor of future success. and they’re usually the biggest factor that adcoms take into consideration, overlooking hooks. can you tell us a little more about the B’s and where they came from, and what the extenuating circumstances were again?
@DieLit I was raped in my sophomore year. The boarding school I attended did IGCSE so all of our freshman and sophomore grades hinged on one test in the spring of sophomore year. I reoprted it, the claims were ignored. I was forced to take the exams sitting next to the guy who did it. I got straight B’s, but that was pretty hard/impressive given the difficult emotional circumstances. I took an insane courseload in Junior 13 classes and 9 senior (all IB/AP) to drag the Unweighted up.
oh, i see. sorry to hear that happened, and wow, i can’t imagine taking that many classes. Obviously make sure you explain these extenuating circumstances (which I know you’re doing). I think that gives you a really strong chance wherever you’re applying. just make sure you explain it clearly etc. If i could ask, how does your school let you take that many classes? my school caps it at 6 (7 in special cases).
