<p>please let me know what my odds are:) </p>
<p>GPA: 4.0 (weighted) 3.77 (unweighted)
SATs: (only taken once but I'm waiting on my october score) 700 CR, 700 W, 580 M
SAT II : lit-710 us history-630 (re-taking history and taking bio)
APUSH: 5
Rank: 23 out of 125</p>
<p>I am bi-racial and attend an inner city high school, though my family is not low income and both my parents have pHDs</p>
<p>Anticipated major: double major in Womens Studies and Middle Eastern Studies (dance minor) -I'm hoping based on my interests they won't care so much about my SAT in math</p>
<p>Senior Classes:
IB Math Studies SL
IB Biology HL
IB Economics SL
IB English HL
IB Spanish 9-10 SL
IB History HL</p>
<p>Summer Activities:
3-week dance festival at Sarah Lawrence College w/ faculty from Julliard and Tisch (12th)
Genetics Counseling Internship (12th)
Barnard Young Women's Leadership Institute (11th)
Summer School Counseler in Electronics and Woodworking classes (10th)</p>
<p>Extracurriculars:
Ballet classes and performances (Nutcracker, Snow White etc.)
Teaching ballet to Autistic children
Teen Court (youth restorative justice program)
Biology Tutor
President of the Honor Society
Member of Student Government
Organized a Fundraiser for Heifer International in 10th grade
I've done several other activities that were more minor...</p>
<p>With the usual caveat that none of us here are admissions officers (or even admissions experts), but your stats look great. I wouldn’t worry too much/at all about your SAT in math, because 1) Smith is SAT optional and doesn’t give the overall SAT that much weight in admissions decisions and 2) it’s not that bad. People have been accepted with worse SAT math scores. I was. You’re taking the most challenging curriculum available to you at your high school and you’re doing great at it (congrats!), that’s the most important thing. </p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind is that you can’t double major AND minor, but you don’t need to worry about that right now. As you go through and take classes, you’ll narrow down your interests and be able to make choices about your major. Plus you can always double major and then take a bunch of dance classes on the side, it just won’t show up as a minor on your transcript.</p>
<p>Also, caveat, Smith doesn’t have a Middle East Studies major…only a minor or a 5 college certificate</p>
<p>is a 5 college certificate more like a major or minor? Does Smith allow you to have a major and 2 minors?</p>
<p>A certificate is in between. This particular certificate is 11 courses though: 2 years of study of a Middle Eastern Langauge (4 courses), introductory courses in Middle East History(2), and then 5 additional courses in the subject. </p>
<p>And no, you can only have 2 things on your diploma. Either 2 majors, a major and minor, a major and a concentration, or 1 major</p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind is that, even without a major in Middle Eastern Studies, you can get a great MES education at Smith. For example, I was a government major, but my focus area for my government major was international relations (all gov majors choose a focus area: IR, American politics, political theory, comparative politics). And then I chose to take classes that were focused on the middle east. I also took classes in the history, religion and (briefly) art history classes that were on Middle Eastern topics. I spent a semester in DC and time abroad at a European university that specialized in Middle Eastern issues. And then I set up a couple of special studies classes with friendly professors who agreed to supervise a reading and research curriculum on Middle Eastern topics. And of course, I took Arabic at Smith. </p>
<p>The Middle Eastern Studies minor that they started recently (in 2009) was a way to sort of codify and bring together the various elements of Middle Eastern studies that already existed in the different departments. The Five College Certificate helps guide students to the courses that also exist in the other areas of the system. So the foundation is there, you just have to make use of what’s on hand.</p>
<p>How is their Arabic program? I’d like to take Arabic since I want to work in the Middle East but have zero experience with the language…is it okay to start as a beginner?</p>
<p>Of course! Most people start as beginners, since very few high schools have Arabic programs. I had a great experience with the program. The professor I had was very dedicated, and we had several students from the other colleges who came to take the course at Smith because they got more personal attention and practice in a small class. We used the standard book (al-Kitaab, most US Arabic college programs use it), but my professor was also big on assigning us lots of presentations, video projects, making us come up with skits or research things in newspapers. His wife would make us baklava for special occasions. The professor I had doesn’t teach at Smith any more (he moved back to Egypt), but I haven’t heard any complaints about the professor(s) who replaced him.</p>
<p>If you want to pursue Middle East Studies and Arabic, there are two resources I’d suggest:
1)The Five Colleges. I’m going to disagree with S&P that you can get a great Middle East Studies education at Smith. You can get a great Israel/Palestine education, but that’s about it. The VAST majority of Middle East Studies courses focus there. If that’s what you’re interested in, then have at it! But, if you’re interested in Iran, Turkey, Iraq, Egypt, Tunisia, etc, you’re better off heading out to the Five Colleges. Moho has a great class on Iran, Amherst has a class on Persia, etc. Also, Smith’s department leans towards zionism, so if you want a less biased look at Israel/Palestine, go to Hampshire. </p>
<p>2)Five COllege Center for the Study of World Languages. Yes, you can take Arabic traditionally in the Five Colleges, but if you really want to get good at it, you should look into Colloquial Arabic offered through the 5 colleges. On top of your standard class, you get speaking practice with native speakers. Also, Arabic is not the only language of the Middle East. The FCCSWL offers many other Middle Eastern languages: Persian (Iranian Farsi), Turkish, Hindi, Urdu, and Pashto. These languages are just as vital as Arabic, so don’t discount them</p>
<p>Well, things may be different now. When I was at Smith we had a great history professor who was very dedicated about teaching history and poltiics of the Middle East as a whole. In fact, the majority of my Middle Eastern studies education at Smith was NOT focused on the Arab-Israeli conflict. I was specializing in Turkey, Iran, and North Africa and found plenty of courses to suit my interests. And what I didn’t find, I created for myself through special studies.</p>
<p>True S&P, I guess things have changed over time!</p>