chances for RD?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Colgate University
1

<p>Hey guys,</p>

<p>im a rising senior at a prestigious high school (stuyvesant) in new york city. my average is an 89 and most of my courses have been geared towards humanities. i've taken three AP courses so far (english language, spanish language and us govt) i didnt do that well on the exams (3's) and im taking two more AP courses for senior year (english lit, ap calc AB). </p>

<p>my regents for math and science are ok(90's for math, low 80's high 70's for sciences) however, my english and history regents are better (95+)</p>

<p>my SAT combined is a 2020 (690V, 700M, 630W)
im going to retake my SAT IIs this fall and im also taking the ACT this october.</p>

<p>my EC's are a little better though</p>

<p>FRESHMAN YEAR:</p>

<p>-volunteered at local hospital about 110 hours
-volunteered for a saturday sports summer camp as an instructor's assistant for volleyball. participated in sports day and attended field trip.
-joined the REd Cross Youth Group </p>

<p>SOPHOMORE YEAR:</p>

<p>-was part of an empowerment program called Chinatown Youth Initiatives (CYI). Participated in a series of leadership and empowerment workshops revolving around Asian American issues such as media representation, social justice, self and community identity, politics and government, writing and the arts...etc. We interacted with community leaders and attended an Asian film festival. i was also part of the yearbook and participated in their annual Chinatown Beautification Day as a team leader. There were over 350 people in attendance for that event and it was a record success for CYI.
-in school, i also became part of my school newspaper and wrote for the sports department. this was also the year in which i became part of the jv volleyball team at stuy.
-i also created my own awareness club in school regarding falun gong (and had a pretty hard time with it; i've been turned down by a couple of teachers when i asked them to be the club advisor since they didnt want to be involved with something that is viewed as a "cult" and i've also had my club meeting signs vandalised. there was a lot of negativity revolving that club and it's still ongoing.)
-Volunteer for Buddhist Temple during saturdays (cook lunch for senior citizens and chat with kids and elderly after lunch)
-second year at Red Cross</p>

<p>JUNIOR YEAR:</p>

<p>-part of Oxford Health Plans' SIP Program (Summer Internship Program).
I worked as a teacher/counselor at a summer day camp (worked from 8am-6pm, mon-fri). it was pretty rigorous work. a lot of responsibility and dedication was expected of me. i basically did the same things an elementary public school teacher did ( made lesson plans; taught math, english, science and history. planned recreational activities, gave proper attention in case of nosebleeds, insect bites, bruises, scrapes and falls. made up my own tests for my students, made up own homework and classwork and graded everything, took my students to breakfast and lunch, dismissed them, addressed parental concerns, supervised kids on field trips...etc.) there was a lot expected of me and it was a learning experience for both my kids and me. the SIP program also required the attendance of several community service events and training workshops in order to graduate (in which i met all requirements so yayyy =]).
-volunteered again for the saturday sports summer camp as instructor's assistant again. i was also the yearbook photographer and became part of their dragon boating team.
- appointed as Special Events Coordinator at Red Cross YG, and then this summer, i was promoted as the Special Events Executive Board Member for Red Cross YG
- second year as part of school newspaper staff
- contributed to school's departmental arts and literary magazine
- second year as president of my own club</p>

<p>i have a pretty good teacher recommendation from english teacher but a pretty average one for science. i plan on continuing with Red Cross and my club as well as writing for school newspaper for senior year. For Red Cross, I'm planning a new fundraiser for the 06-07 school year and i'm really hoping to see it happen.</p>

<p>What are my chances?</p>

<p>What are some other reaches, matches and safeties? Please give some suggestions! Help of any kind is appreciated! THANKS!</p>

2

<p>Your SATs seem fine, although your grades (and maybe class rank if your school ranks) a bit low. I think a lot will depend on how you present yourself, your interests and goals. Whether you can interweave your ECs into an attractive interesting package. I wouldn't be surprised if your nationality, interest in Falunn Gong and community service, if woven into a coherent package of who you are and what you want to do, created a strong interest in you. Do you have an area you want to major in, or goals?</p>

3

<p>mhc48, since stuyvesant is very competitive, it doesnt rank its students so i dont really know my rank. i still dont know what i want to major in, but im considering economics or premed. thanks for you input :D</p>

4

<p>Colgate is certainly going to know Stuy, so would think you have a decent shot with those SATs and ECs. I would also look at similar schools that are higher reaches (Dartmouth, Williams), comparable chance of acceptance (Middlebury, Bowdoin, W&L) and somewhat easier chance of acceptance (Colby, Hamilton, Bucknell, Lafayette, Union, F&M).</p>

5

<p>gellino, why would you suggest Dartmouth in particular for me? Please elaborate as i would like to know the school better :D thanks a lot.</p>

6

<p>How have other Stuyvesant applicants with your grades done recently in Colgate admissions? Colgate is going to be familiar with Stuyvesant, which may or may not be a good thing. Even though the school doesn't rank, Colgate admissions is going to know anyways roughly where you are in your class.</p>

7

<p>nafeiniar, Dartmouth is similar to Colgate, but on a larger scale. I just meant that if you're interested in Colgate you would probably like Dartmouth too. There is a lot of overlap (at least on the Colgate side) as I know that 61% of my class at Colgate was wait-listed or rejected at Dartmouth. I would think you are roughly in the range for Dartmouth, but so are probably 75% of its applicants; so unless you can wow them with essays or in some other special area you are probably not going to be accepted. Colgate is not quite in the position to be so selective, so would think you have a decent shot.</p>

8

<p>ok thanks gellino. i'll definitely work on that essay of mine.</p>

9

<p>jrpar, </p>

<p>for the graduating class of 06, there were five applicants who applied, with averages from 91.5 - 94.8 and one other with an 88.9 average who got accepted. Two people with averages of 89.7 and 88.0 got rejected while one applicant with an 84.3 average got waitlisted.</p>

10

<p>Nafeiniar - from those numbers I'd say your chances are a little iffy - what do you think? Do a great job on the essays - a really good essay can make the difference at Colgate.</p>

11

<p>you look like you fit the profile pretty solidly. Do you have any connections at Colgate, (those get some consideration)</p>

<p>They also appreciate applicants from prestigious high schools, and a lot of people know that stuy has a good rep.</p>

<p>peace,</p>

<p>sam</p>

<hr>

<p>Don't stop believin'
Hold on to the feelin'
Streetlight people</p>

12

<p>one question----does an 89% average translate to a 3.3 gpa? (do they both equate to B+s?)</p>

13

<p>i think an 89 average translates roughly to a GPA of 3.57</p>

14

<p>Just for the record, Middlebury and Bowdoin are vastly harder to get into than Colgate. and on the other end, Colgate and Colby are highly comparable.
Realistically, I am afraid you don't have a shot at Dartmouth, Williams or Middlebury. Particularly with the huge numbers of applicants and the domino effect from the top schools.
Your numbers are also a little iffy for Colgate, but it's true that a good essay counts for a lot. And your ECs are looking great, so that should help. Best of luck.</p>

15

<p>"Vastly harder"? These days I don't think that's true when it comes to Colgate vs. Middlebury and Bowdoin - and anectodally it wasn't the case among my kid's friends (I'm talking about plain old unhooked, non-athletic-recruit students). Middlebury and Bowdoin both have SAT optional approaches - Colgate doesn't, so for the unhooked kid, SAT's remain very important. And there are a lot of Div I athletes at Colgate, so if you aren't one, stats are even more important for you.</p>

<p>I also don't think Colgate and Colby are "highly" comparable - Colby was my son's safety school (based on the admissions experience of similarly qualified applicants from his private school). My son's best friend from high school goes to Colby but was turned down at Colgate; a old friend who is a current freshman at Colby was also turned down at Colgate. Again anecdotal, but supported by recent admissions experience at my kids' school.</p>

<p>On the other hand, I do agree that Dartmouth and Williams are still "vastly harder".</p>

16

<p>It is hard to determine how comparable schools are without looking at the larger statistics: the common data sets are remarkably similar at Colby and Colgate. I am sure anecdotes about one or two students abound, and could prove the reverse just as quickly.<br>
Funny, our daughter thought of Colgate as the weaker school compared to Colby (she got in at both). That is, it was weaker considering her needs and her focus. Ultimately, every candidate has to figure out which academic program is going to be right for them, and choose the school accordingly.</p>

17

<p>When you refer to "common data sets", do you mean the admissions stats published on Colgate's website? I'm curious because I thought Colgate didn't make its official common data set info publicly available. Others here on CC have looked for it and not been able to find it.</p>

<p>The info available at my sons' private school isn't based on one or two students - it's a detailed analysis of admissions experience over the most recent 5 years (they have longer but that starts to get stale) based on standardized tests scores, grades, athletic or legacy tags, etc. Both Colby and Colgate are very popular at this school (and for that matter, so are Bowdoin, Middlebury, Dartmouth and Williams), so there's a lot of data to look at.</p>

18

<p>According to PR, SAT avgs are Colby: 1352, Middlebury: 1349, Colgate: 1347. I would certainly call this comparable (all round to 1350). Acceptances rates are maybe a little bit misleading (possibly because Colgate and Middlebury are larger and probably more well known than Colby), but show Colby: 37%, Colgate: 27%, Middlebury: 24%.</p>

19

<p>u go to stuvyesant
u have a great chance
ur grades are way deflated
ude be like a 4.0 at any decent school</p>