Chances for Reed, Wesleyan... Others/

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm a senior in VA and I'm hoping to major in biology and minor in theatre (my two major passions). I have a love for LACs and Reed is my top choice. Brown would be my reach school but I'm honestly not too concerned about getting into the few Ivies that are on my list (no need to stress too much about a school with a >10% acceptance rate I suppose).</p>

<p>Schools besides Ivies that I'm applying to:
Wesleyan
Reed
Boston U
UVA
William and Mary
VCU (safety)
Grinnell
U Michigan
Temple</p>

<p>Here we go with the stats...</p>

<p>Race: Half African American, half white (some interesting experiences there; I'll probably be writing my personal statement about this)</p>

<p>GPA: 3.95 UW, 4.3 W
SAT: 2150
Math-690 (low, hoping to make up for that with Math II score in October)
Reading- 740
Writing- 720
SAT II:
US history- 800
Biology- 660 (retaking, went in fairly blind 1st time)</p>

<p>I'm partial IB, partial AP</p>

<p>AP Scores:
Freshman year: World History (5)
Sophomore year: Government (5)
Junior year: English lang (5), US history (5)</p>

<p>IB Score:
Junior year: IB Economics (6)</p>

<p>Currently taking: IB Psychology HL part 2, AP Calculus BC, IB Geography SL, IB Theatre HL part 2, AP Chemistry, AP English Lit</p>

<p>Class rank: 1 (all students with a GPA above 4.0 are ranked 1 but I know I am indeed in the top 10% of the class)</p>

<p>EC</p>

<p>Athletics:
High School basketball (1 year)
Rec basketball (7 years total, 2 years captain)</p>

<p>Theatre:
Community theatre in various productions (4 years)</p>

<p>Involvement in school theatre (2 years)</p>

<p>In exclusive apprentice program for students involved in the arts (3 years)</p>

<p>Involved in a theatre program that combines education with acting to teach and spread information to high school students in the area (topics range from the Arab Spring to PTSD in veterans). I'm particularly proud of this program because each year I spend over 200 hours involved in it over a three month period and we teach over 1000 students in a span of about a week. (3 years)</p>

<p>Clubs:
National Honor Society (3 years)
Culture club specifically dedicated to those of multiracial/cultural backgrounds (3 years total, 1 year president)
Humanitarian Club (2 years)</p>

<p>Volunteering
Stream Monitoring (collecting and identifying macroorganisms in local streams to gauge pollution levels, 4 years)
Sewer Marking (placing anti-dumping notices on sewers every season, 2 years)
Ambassador between local theatre and high school students to help students get more involved in theatre (3 years)
U.S. History tutoring (created by me, run by me, 1 year)</p>

<p>All right thanks for any and all responses to my inquiry. </p>

<p>Also, I did a fair amount of research on the schools I'm applying to, do you all agree that these schools have solid biology programs. If not, what schools do you suggest?</p>

2

<p>Well you can probably be admitted to Reed but your list of schools shows a lot of variation. William and Mary and Reed are both liberal arts colleges but the similarities end there. </p>

3

<p>Reed is very quirky and holistic, so comparative stats won’t necessarily mean much, but my son was waitlisted with lower stats than yours.</p>

4

<p>You will probably get into some of the schools on your list… but <em>just in case</em> you might consider St. Olaf, Lawrence, Kalamazoo and Beloit – quality LACs in the Midwest (you mentioned Grinnell) that are safer bets than many of the schools on your list.</p>

5

<p>If you indicate that you are AA on your application, given your URM status and your high stats I would not be surprised if you got into all the schools on your list (Brown included).</p>

6

<p>Well I wouldn’t say having variation is a bad thing. For instance, I applied to plenty of different schools, from William and Mary to Northeastern and I wanted to leave my options open in case my preferences or mindset drastically changed between now and then. You should know though, that if you go to a school like Umich, Temple, or BU that your experience will definitely be different than Grinnell, Reed, and Wesleyan. It’s not a decision you have to make immediately, just something to think about. (Out of curiosity, can you afford the OOS schools though? Some of them can be pricy with limited financial aid.)</p>

<p>Personally, I chose W&M because it had the perfect size out of the schools I visited. As for its biology programs, it is pretty solid programs with many opportunities available for freshman, to name a few: the Sharpe program, the PLUS-S program and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) program that specifically works to get freshman in the lab. Although I am not a biology major, from what I have heard from others in the class, the course is very comprehensive including things like statistics and interesting things that you may not learn from a high school course. Being in state is a pretty big plus as well.</p>

<p>Anyways, if you have any questions about the school in particular, feel free to shoot me a message or tag me so I can get back to you.</p>