I’m currently a junior in HS wondering what my chances of admission are for some of the most selective liberal arts colleges in the country. These are the ones I’m most interested in:
Middlebury (top choice - maybe ED?)
Williams
Wesleyan
Vassar
Haverford
Here is my profile:
Female
Mother is latin, father is American (Can I say that I am latin on my App?)
I go to one of the best public schools in the nation
GPA: 3.65 in all highest classes (my school doesn’t weight GPA)
ACT: 34 (one sitting)
Extracurriculars:
4 year 3-season varsity athlete: cross country (fall), indoor track (winter), outdoor track (spring)
Captain of cross country, indoor and outdoor track my junior year (and most likely my senior year as well)
President of Feminist club
Member of Midnight Run club
Volunteered at hospital freshman year
Volunteer working with children with disabilities for 3 hours every Sunday morning (sophomore and junior year, will also continue through senior year)
Work experience:
Babysitting
Lifeguard during the summers
I have been in contact with and have met with all of the track coaches at these schools. They all seem at least somewhat interested at this point. Their level of interest depends on how I perform this spring season.
It would be great if people could give me an idea of which of these schools are reaches or targets (they are probably all high high reaches given the very low GPA, but ACT should be fine). Also, how much pull do coaches have in the admissions process at these schools? Thanks for the input!
Based on your GPA, your chances at Williams and Haverford (which seems to emphasize GPA in selection) would appear to be the slimmest. Your chances at the others would be somewhat higher, I’d think, (though Vassar can be a vey tough admit for female applicants) and might roughly correspondence to these schools’ standardized testing profiles:
chances are slim at all of them based on GPA (speaking from experience as someone with similar stats but not an athlete). a lot depends on your recruitment i guess. unimpressive extracurriculars.
As for my “weak” extracurriculars (I agree that they are pretty weak), I have been focusing on track, because ultimately, that is what will get me into one of these schools.
Middlebury ED would be a match probably: your GPA is below average but your ACT is above average. GPA is more important, so your chances might be slightly less than that 51%… but still in the match range.
The other LACs listed are probably low reaches.
BU and NYU are probably high matches.
All chances are improved somewhat if you identify as Hispanic. (URM hook)
And they are further improved if you are a recruited athlete. (athlete hook)
Thanks for the reply prezbucky! Do you think Binghamton is a safety? I am kind of counting on it as one of my only safeties. Which other schools could you recommend for me that would be safeties or matches?
If you are from New York, then yes, Bing is probably approaching safety status. It would probably be a low match, anyway. Maybe pick another SUNY you like and can afford to be a bit more safe.
@lalala55, All of the schools, except BU, Binghamton and NYU, are reaches for everyone. That said hooks help as every school has priorities when they are rounding their classes, but it is still just a hook - schools pick you, you don’t pick them.
We just went through the xc/track recruitment process with our DD. She may be like you in that she kept getting considerably faster through her Junior and Senior year so interest increased over time. While she is still finalizing her decision, she will likely attend and run at at great NESCAC school so it worked out great for her; I am sure it will for you as well
After Spring track wraps up, you’ll want to start asking the coaches if they will support you with a pre read with admissions. NESCAC can’t start until July, other conferences will do them earlier. In all cases it will give you a better sense of the level of support the coaches will give you. Its easier for coaches to find mid distance and distance athletes so if you are a sprinter or a field athlete that will help get their attention.
@Chembiodad Thanks for the reply! I am a distance runner. Do you mind telling me which school your daughter attends and what her junior spring track times were? Yes, I have an upward trend in both grades and track times. My current pr’s are around 19:30 5k (xc), 10:50 3,000m, and 5:09 1500m. Any idea if these are good enough for the schools I listed?
Yes, those times will start to get their attention. Continue to focus on pushing up your GPA to make it easier for the coaches to support you with a tip and not a slot. Every school is different; look at the current times to see if you are already a top-2-4 runner on their team as they’ll want to use a slot on a scorer. If not, you’ll want to make sure you can be someone that would likely be admitted without being a student athlete and then the student athlete tip will help put you in the accepted pile. Stay healthy and good luck with your Spring season!