<p>Hello all,
I'm applying to Hampshire EA this fall, and I'd like to know what you think my chances are to get in. Here are some factoids about me:
1) Planning to study history with a 4 on the APUSH test and 760 US History SAT subject test.
2) Long list of community service/activism (I started a Gay-Straight Alliance at a pretty homophobic school).
3) I've visited campus twice and interviewed, and the interview went on for an hour and 15 minutes because we were having a really great conversation and I came prepared with lots of questions.
4) Got a B in my APUSH class last year, and I'm taking 3 AP's this year. (Lit, Stat, and Bio)
5) My grades have had an upswing from 9th-grade on.</p>
<p>My interviewer emailed me this after my interview:
Hey iraglasses!</p>
<p>This is Admissions Kid from Hampshire College, and I'm writing you to say thank you for
coming to visit Hampshire and to speak with me. I so rarely have such an
involved and in-depth discussion with a prospective student. It was incredibly
exciting for me to be able to address and discuss all of the questions you had,
and especially enjoyed talking with you about how you can be engaged in
Hampshire, and address your questions about academic support. You asked a lot
of pertinent and important questions, and I applaud you for your mature
approach to the college process.</p>
<p>That being said if you have any questions about the Hampshire application or
admissions process, the Admissions Counselor who currently covers the state of
Connecticut is Ting Chu-Richardson. You can e-mail her at (email address). If you have any other questions about Hampshire in general, feel free to e-mail me.</p>
<p>Again, I had an enormously enjoyable time talking with you, and I really hope
that you apply to Hampshire. Good luck on the rest of your college search, and
your journey at large.</p>
<p>I’ve only taken SAT’s once, (taking them again next week) but my first time SAT/AP’s look like this:
AP US History:4
SAT Critical Reading: 640
SAT Math: 500
SAT Writing: 510
SAT Subject US History: 760
SAT Subject Literature: 540</p>
<p>In terms of my GPA, our school is re-weighting the Honors/Advanced/AP classes, so I don’t know yet.</p>
<p>For the class that entered Hampshire in 2011, the average High School GPA was 3.31</p>
<p>For the approximately 72% of entering students who reported SAT scores, the Middle 50% of SAT scores for each test was between:
Critical Reading 590-710
Mathematics 540-640
Writing 580-680</p>
<p>According to Hampshire, the factors that they consider for admission are:
Rigor of the high school program
Academic performance
Evidence of a critical and analytical thought process
Quality of writing
Passion for learning
Demonstrated initiative and follow-through
Activities and community involvement
Ability to enrich our College community</p>
<p>So, your current Math and Writing SAT scores are below those of the middle 50% of entering Hampshire students.</p>
<p>In particular, that writing score is concerning, because it implies that writing is not one of your skills. One thing that Hampshire really values is an ability to express oneself, particularly in writing. So, hopefully that SAT score is not truly indicative of your writing skills. If that score does accurately reflect your writing ability, then I would think that would negatively affect your odds of getting into Hampshire.</p>
<p>The Math score is also low for admitted Hampshire students, and if it accurately reflects your math skills, then that may be a problem as well.</p>
<p>If your GPA is 3.3+, then that would be helpful, but it is difficult to give you any well-informed judgement on your chances of admission without any knowledge of your overall high school performance, particularly in the light of lower-than-average math and writing SAT scores.</p>
<p>You will improve your admission chances if you submit an awesome example of a paper that you wrote in high school, and also write fantastic essays on your common and supplemental applications.</p>
<p>During my interview, the interviewer said that they were considering getting rid of SAT’s for admission all together, he indicated that it was really low priority for them. In terms of the writing, I’d consider myself a better writer than a 510 SAT score. My stepmom’s a writer, and we’ve been working on my essays, to the point where everyone I’ve talked to has said very positive things about it. Here’s a link: <a href=“commonapp essay - Google Docs”>commonapp essay - Google Docs;
<p>My interview went really well, so I think that’ll help me quite a bit. I’ve just got to kick ass on the “Why Hampshire?” essay and the writing sample. Thanks for the help.</p>