Chances for small private LACs?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Like Hamilton, Vassar, Colgate, Pomona, etc.? And also for Brown, although I already know that's a reach. I'm really wondering because I know my GPA is lower than my SATs might suggest, and I'm not sure how that'll affect me. Also, I'm really not sure at all if my ECs are decent, although it's really too late to do much about that now.</p>

<p>General Stats
Gender: Female
Race: Caucasian
GPA: 94.1 (unweighted, my school doesn't weight GPA)
Class Rank: 54/780 (weighted)
SAT: 2350 (800 M, 800 CR, 750 W)
SAT IIs: USH (740), Math I (760), Lit (no score yet)</p>

<p>APs:
APUSH: 5
AP Chem
Next year: AP Lit, AP Stats
My school doesn't offer as many APs as it should, and most of them aren't available until you're a senior anyways.</p>

<p>College credits:
4 credits for SUNY Spanish, credit from Syracuse for Psych, Sociology, and Public Affairs next year (not sure specifically how many credits) -- My school offers classes through SUNY and Syracuse for college credit</p>

<p>Honors courses, Freshman year:
Earth Science H
World Culture H
World Literature H
Geometry H</p>

<p>Honors courses, Sophomore year:
Algebra 2 and Trig H
APUSH
Biology H
Lit Classics/Lit Decisions H
(I also self-studied all of second-year Spanish to switch into a third-year Spanish class - don't know if that counts for anything.)</p>

<p>Honors courses, Junior year:
Chamber orchestra (advanced, audition-only)
Modernism H
Pre-Calc H
AP Spanish
AP Chemistry</p>

<p>Honors courses, Senior year:
Chamber orchestra
AP Lit
Syracuse Public Affairs
Economics H
AP Stats
Syracuse Psychology
Syracuse Sociology
(I'm also self-studying all of second-year French over the summer - once again, don't know if that counts for anything)</p>

<p>I'm basically taking the hardest courseload I possibly can, with the exception that I'm giving up science next year so that I have room to take 3 languages, orchestra, and 2 social studies classes. This year, for languages (which are my real passion, and will probably be a big focus of my essay), I'm taking Spanish, German, French, and Mandarin Chinese.</p>

<p>ECs/Volunteering:
Amigos de las Americas - Going to Oaxaca, Mexico for 8 weeks this summer to volunteer and work on public health and nutrition projects, as well as give classes to kids there - About 40 hours of training, plus 8 straight weeks this summer (it's not one of those volunteer programs where you just basically go on a glorified vacation; it's real work, basically becoming a community organizer in a foreign language for the summer)</p>

<p>NHS, 2012-2013 (it's only open to seniors in my school)</p>

<p>Tri-M Music Honor Society, 2011-2012 and 2012-2013</p>

<p>Spanish Club - Vice-president 2011-2012, President 2012-2013</p>

<p>International Service Club - Vice-president 2012-2013 - We organize fundraisers for various international organizations. For example, we recently organized a fundraiser through 16 Handles for the Iliso Care Society, which helps South African orphans.</p>

<p>GLASS Club - Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Spectrum</p>

<p>German Club</p>

<p>Violin - Private lessons every week, plus I've been doing orchestra since 9th grade (this year and next year, I'm in the very selective audition-only orchestra at my school, which has won awards)</p>

<p>Tae Kwon Do - Black belt, testing for 2nd degree black belt in April 2013</p>

<p>Youth Court Officer - Court officer in my county's Youth Court in 9th and 10th grade, until Youth Court was disbanded - Counts as volunteer hours, about 50 hours total</p>

<p>Youth Court Leadership Council - 9th and 10th grade - about 10 hours total</p>

<p>Volunteer at local animal shelter - about 30 hours total</p>

<p>Volunteer Event Staff at Northeast Astronomy Forum - Every year since 8th grade, I volunteer as staff at NEAF, which is one of the largest astronomy expos in the world - I mostly work with kids there, explaining basic astronomy stuff and doing arts and crafts activities, as well as other staff work as necessary - about 100 hours since 9th grade</p>

<p>Work experience:
Math tutoring - 9th grade and 10th grade, tutoring elementary/middle school students in math for about an hour a week, for a total of about 50 hours</p>

<p>Honors/awards:
Freshman LOTE Departmental Award - Awarded to the best female and male language students in the 9th grade</p>

<p>National German Exam - Gold medalist</p>

<p>White Letter Award for scoring 100% on a Regents (Spanish Regents, 10th grade)</p>

<p>I'm intending to major in International Relations, or something along those lines. In my essay, I'm probably going to talk about my trip to Mexico this summer or my interest in languages. I'll probably have a really good rec from my Modernism/AP Lit teacher, and another one from either my APUSH/Psych teacher or my German teacher.</p>

<p>To anyone who bothered to read all that, thanks! To anybody who didn't... Well, chance me anyways?</p>

2

<p>I’d say a good chance at Colgate and Hamilton, don’t quite know what they are looking for in their applicants though, but you have the stats and EC’s to get in. For Vassar, as an admitted applicant, I am fairly certain Vassar admits based upod fit and personality as long as you have good grades and scores. You can really personalize your app. with a free “Your Space” section for submitting anything you want and a place to upload a personal pic. So if you write a good essay and have fun and show who you are on the personal sections of the app. you have a good shot. Pomona will look more heavily at test scores (must submit all test scores from both SAT and ACT) and grades, they aim for top ivy-like applicants (I was waitlisted). So Pomona and Brown are definite reaches, with Brown being a bit more selective. It is my belief Pomona wants really strong balanced applicants who have flawless records and are very “clean” applicants. Brown wants ultra strong and unique people who will fully embrace their own educational journey. Also, don’t be afraid to send in an arts supplement for violin if you are playing high-quality music and are good, it will help!</p>

3

<p>Thanks! I’m also expecting/hoping that my GPA will go up a little next fall. Any other suggestions for colleges that seem like decent matches?</p>

4

<p>Matches as in chance of admittance, or matches as in similar to other schools? </p>

<p>For admittance maybe University of Rochester, Bard, Union, Bates, Colby, Connecticut College. </p>

<p>Schools similar to those you mentioned are Wesleyan, CMC, Bowdoin, Pitzer, Haverford, Swarthmore, Occidental, and any of the ones listed above.</p>