Chances, please?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Pomona College
1

<p>Washington State
Neither of my parents graduated from college
Rural farming town
Have spent my entire high school "career" at the local community college because my high school has terrible academics, so my GPA and rank include my college classes, but the school doesn't weight so...</p>

<p>HS rank: 8/200 (unweighted)
HS GPA: 3.88 (unweighted)
College GPA: 3.87
College Rank: Doesn't rank but I've been on the Dean's List every quarter since I started taking classes in 8th grade.</p>

<p>Class schedule:
Toughest classes I can take...I'm in the Honors Program at the community college
POSSIBLE PROBLEM: Haven't had and will not have any physics...will this hurt me?</p>

<p>SAT: 2100 CR: 770 M: 670 W:660</p>

<p>SAT IIs: Bio-E = 660, U.S. History = 700, Literature = 780</p>

<p>Good essays (my English teacher suggested I submit one to be published in the college's yearly student writing anthology, so I guess they're pretty good). They describe me well, so that's the most important part.</p>

<p>Really, really great teacher recs (one talks about how I'm in school for the learning, not just the grade, and the other talks about how I'm one of the best students he's met - yay!)
Super counselor recommendation in school report</p>

<p>Extra Currriculars:
20-25 hrs. per week at local performing arts guild performing (I've had several lead roles, chorus roles, I've operated the light-board, sold ad space for the programs, worked as stage crew, and I'm stage managing the children's show this year...I'm also sending a stellar recommendation from my director)
8 hrs. per week Tae Kwon Do (Black Belt and recieved medals at state tournaments...right now I'm taking a break, though)
3 hrs. per week Honor Society vice-president at college
3 hrs. per week International Friendship Club executive committee member
Various volunteer things (approx. 4 hrs. per week) like Junior Achievement, helping out at a pro bono law office, etc. Also helped organize fundraiser for December 2004 Tsunami.</p>

<p>Work:
10-15 hrs. per week Event Coordinating at community college...I'm the chair of the Activities Committee, so I'm sort of the boss of the committee
10-12 hrs. per week Tutoring - I tutor elementary school children</p>

2

<p>i would say that you have as good a chance as anyone to get into pomona. i think that your "intangibles" as you have described them will make you an attractive candidate eventhough some of your raw numbers might be a little below the pomona mean scores. the good thing for you is that the admissions process at pomona is highly individualized and i am certain that they will take into consideration the "whole you."</p>

<p>of course, applying to any highly selective college is a bit of a crapshoot, so you obviously need to make a plan in case you do not get into pomona... but, as i stated earlier, you have as good a chance as anyone else! so, good luck to you...</p>

<p>p.s. my S is a freshman at pomona... fwiw...</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the info :). I know Pomona is crazy-tough to get into, but I think I'm going to try...Any other opinions?</p>

4

<p>I agree with fairburn. Your background will help you a lot.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

5

<p>Thanks a lot!</p>

6

<p>Hi, I think you've done a lot of interesting stuff....my only suggestion would be to not inflate your extracurricular activities...the admissions committee might find it hard to believe that you tutor 12 hours a week, work 25 hours a week, 15 hours of event coordination, etc. those alone are 52 hours a week, or about 7-8 hours a day on extracurriculars. if you really did do all that stuff, good job!</p>

7

<p>Hmm....two hours a day for Activities Committee, 1-2 hours a day tutoring, and 3 hours a day for the play I'm in (not counting weekends because I have 5 hour rehearsals on Saturdays and tutor for four hours over the weekend). All together I usually spend about 6-7 hours a day working and doing extracurriculars. So yes, it is true, although I guess it does sound a bit far fetched. I wonder how I should address this problem?</p>