<p>ECs
National Honor Society President
School newspaper managing editor
Youth Ice Hockey U19 Assistant Captain
Varsity Ice Hockey
Latin Club
Debate Team
Political Activism:
-Ned Lamont for Senate campaign
-Save Darfur rally
-ANSWER
-SPEAK
Attended an intensive political summer school which involved 100 hours of college level course work in Honor Constitutional Law (A-), a graded Congressional Debate program, and a speakers program throughout Washington, DC.
17hr/wk part time job</p>
<p>Published poet
International poetry contest semifinalist
CAPT Scholar
Scholar Athlete</p>
<p>Brandeis is one of my top choices, but what are my chances for getting in given my low-ish GPA (brought down by one C+ in Honors Chem amongst mostly As)</p>
<p>I think you should be good. You PROBABLY need documentation for your Native American status, but that almost makes you a shoe in. Your GPA is OK, especially since you are in the top 10% and you have so many ECs on top of work.</p>
<p>PS. I worked on the Ned Lamont campaign too! :) A few Brandeis students, myself included, were really involved.</p>
<p>Your class rank makes you a reasonable candidate.
Your tests scores are less than those of a typical Brandeis student.</p>
<p>I think you need to show some real interest (applying ED will be a <em>big</em> help), have an interview where you discuss what <em>in particular</em> about Brandeis appeals to you, and write a compelling essay.</p>
<p>I would not say you are a "shoe-in", but if you do what I suggest above I'd classify your chances as "very good."</p>
<p>Your test scores are higher than my daughter's, and she was admitted last year (28 ACT, I don't believe she submitted SAT, but it was comparable to her ACT). She had a few things that offset her test score, including a couple of national academic awards and top 5% class rank. She visited once when she was just starting to look, but did not interview after putting Brandeis on her list due to distance from our home. All that to say I think you have at least as good a shot as she did, but since you are close, be sure to visit and request an interview early.</p>
<p>Diversity is important to Brandeis. I think that if you self-identify as Native American and that is an important part of who you are (to you), you should work it into your application somehow even if you do not hold tribal membership. I used to work in a reservation community that had a long history of intermarriage. It's now the sixth generation since whites moved into that region of the Pacific Northwest. Many of the young people are not tribal members, but they are definitely descendants, and they were raised in the same community and had the same experiences and challenges as their counterparts who were tribal members, and they would bring diversity to a university community.</p>
<p>Oh, one other bit of info I should have included in post #4: D was not only admitted (RD), but also offered a nice merit award--I don't remember exactly but somewhere in the 15-17K per year range. I think she maybe was considered a niche-filler in certain ways--prospective Russian major, talented musician interested in some kind of ensemble, and URM, in addition to being a good student. Your EC interests make me think you would feel very much in your element at Brandeis, and I think they will be interested in you.</p>