<p>Asian male, NorCal
School doesn't offer class rankings, but in top 10 out of roughly 500
Weighted GPA: ~4.6
SAT I: Math 750, CR 760, Writing 800 = 2310
SAT II: Math IIC 800, US 710, Lit 700 (will be taking Spanish and retaking US in October before ED)
AP: Euro 5, US 5, English Lang 5, Spanish Lang 5, Calc AB 5, Chem 4</p>
<p>ECs:
Speech and Debate, 4 years (11th at State in National Extemporaneous, 4th at Stanford National Invitational, President of team)
5-time winner of Presidential Volunteer Service Award
President of Youth Action Council, previously VP
Vice President and co-founder of school American Red Cross club
Vice President of Membership of school California Scholarship Federation club
Piano, 7 years (completed Certificate of Merit, will be submitting Arabesque no. 1 by Debussy, Fantasie-Impromptu by Chopin, and Liebestraum by Liszt, if anyone's familiar with those)
Ping-pong, 5 years (have won events at Nationals and U.S. Open)
Instructor for school district at speech camp
Black belt in taekwondo
2nd in local Rotary Business Association web design/business competition
Candidate for National Merit</p>
<p>Thanks for your time! The list of ECs might be incomplete for right now, but I think that should be sufficient for an evaluation. This will probably be regular decision.</p>
<p>You're academically in range for Swat, and could certainly have a good shot in that regard, but so are 90% of applicants. In your application, you need to highlight something that makes you special--a way that you would contribute to the Swarthmore campus. What I see in the list you just gave is basically a bunch of unrelated random activities. That's not what you want the admissions officers to see--you want them to see the real live person behind all the activities.</p>
<p>etselec: Thank you very much for your response. Like I said, I did not finish my list of ECs, and to clarify, my passion is economics/political science, and I would not be surprised to see myself majoring in sociology in college. Hence, my resume is filled with a lot of community service exploits and leadership things, most obviously speech and debate. But again, I will be sure to package my ECs correctly to indicate that, and thanks again for the comment.</p>
<p>General question to all: I got an invitation to the Discovery Weekend thing... I'm not sure if I should be honored to have gotten one or if it's one of those things the college sends to everyone and his grandmother. Would it increase my chances of getting in to Swarthmore if I submit an application to DW and get accepted? Also, would DW give me a good idea of what living at Swarthmore is really like, for anyone who's actually done it before? Thanks, much, again.</p>
<p>Absolutely. If you got invited to Discovery Weekend, you would be nuts to not take advantage of the opportunity. It will give you a really good taste of what college life at Swarthmore is like.</p>
<p>Ok, thank you. I'm currently arguing with my mom about letting me go (she's kind of adamant on me staying in California...). Any other responses? Thanks again!</p>
<p>
[quote]
Ok, thank you. I'm currently arguing with my mom about letting me go (she's kind of adamant on me staying in California...). Any other responses? Thanks again!
[/quote]
Just go to Pomona instead if it would be a huge hassle to go to Swarthmore.</p>
<p>Thanks, I'm currently doing research on Pomona as well. I just didn't want to spam the boards with multiple copies of the same thread, so I just posted in the Swarthmore forum. For those who seem to be educated about both schools, would I have the same chance of being admitted to both schools? Thanks.</p>
<p>From post 12..."would I have the same chance of being admitted to both schools?"</p>
<p>Admissions standards are very high at both schools. </p>
<p>They are both among the most difficult colleges in the country when it comes to being accepted…they are also among the very best colleges in the country when it comes to getting an education…..</p>
<p>Oh, of course, tommybill. If it appeared that I was implying that the standards were low, then I'm afraid there was miscommunication involved. What I meant to ask was the following: are the admissions standards at the two schools roughly the same? Sorry for the mixup, and of course I am not so arrogant as to think that I would not get an excellent education at both or that I consider either school to readily accept me. I would just prefer not to post a chances thread on another forum if I would get the same answers at both. Thanks again.</p>
<p>Pomona is actually a little more difficult to get into, but I think your chances of getting accepted there are also very high. Maybe not quite 91%, but something close to that.</p>
<p>And besides, if you come to Discovery Weekend you get to meet all the AWESOME and AMAZING and FANTASTIC and INCREDIBLE kids in the class of 2011! :D ;)</p>