Chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Middlebury College
1

<p>Basically, I incredibly underperformed in high school, didn't do my homework, but sat home and taught myself french and german to the point of near fluency (fluent in reading and writing, certainly), and spent hours writing literary and philosophical essays. I intend to major in french. I am already graduated and in my gap year.</p>

<p>GPA (weighted), 93.03
Top 25 percent, but not top 20 percent
SAT I; Math 680, English 660, Writing 630 (didnt study, didnt care at the time)
ACT Composite: 36
SAT II's will be taken in october, in English Lit, Bio, and French
On practice tests, I'm averaging about a 680-700 in french, and around 600-650 in the other two.
AP scores
AP World-5 (failed class), APUSH-3, Bio-3, English-4 (on both), Env. Science-5 (didn't take class or study, used as a test of my skills in deductive reasoning), Euro-5 (didn't take class), German-3, Econ-4 (on both, but only took macro in school), French-4, Human Geo-4 (didnt take class), Govt US-5, Govt comp-4, Psychology-5</p>

<p>Senior Course load
AP German IV
AP French IV
Ap stats
Ap US govt
AP comp govt
AP macro economics
Speech
Theatre
AP psychology
AP English IV</p>

<p>Things of note;
skipped German II, went from german I to German III pre-ap
Skipped from French I to French IV AP with a year off in between
AP scholar with distinction
Held highest grades and honors in all foreign language classes i've been in since 10th grade.
Two glowing recommendation letters from my German Teacher and My senior french teacher, a haitian national who thought i was a native speaker when he first met me.
President of German club
President of French Club
Founder of Guitar Club
Also contributed and helped organise a monthly DIY art collective </p>

<p>three well written samples of writing, one on the methods of Oscar Wilde, one a reflection on my high school career (the reasons for blowing it off in pursuit of my extracurricular studies), and one as an example of the extracurricular essays I would write for myself while not caring about school, a 5 page and sourced comparison of the Tragic Hero's archetype and endearing traits, using House of Leaves and Moby Dick. My essays were strong.</p>

<p>Also included was a list of works that influenced me, including multiple works from well known authors in English, French, German, and Latin (I read De Re Publica by cicero as a translation excersize). All works were read in their original tongue, and I wrote papers on most of them for my own review. Also included in this list were my music Preferences and artists (Free jazz and 60s electric blues), my visual art inspirations (Basquiat, Matisse, and Haring), and my prefered Poetry (auden for english, Rimbaud and Verlaine for french)</p>

2

<p>You seem like such a cool person! Apply to anywhere you want :)</p>

3

<p>Thanks, I’ve actually already applied to midd!</p>

<p>Oh, and typo, the French SAT is 780-800, my brain isn’t functioning properly right now:P</p>

4

<p>I think frankly that if you get accepted it will be a slap in the face to people who have been working their tails off. But who knows what the adcom will think. Clearly you can do the work, if you decide it’s worth doing.</p>

<p>I suggest some serious safeties. Many schools frown on underachievers as “lazy” and a risk of dropping out, flunking out, or going down in flames.
Why not Hampshire College, Bennington, or even St. John’s?</p>

5

<p>Believe me, i understand your point of view. I understand this is a long shot, frankly I don’t expect an acceptance letter in the mail. I’m ashamed of my gpa. However, there are some things I would like to clarify.</p>

<p>I did work very hard, just not necessarily in school.</p>

<p>I have easily 70+ essays of various natures saved on my hard disk that I would write for myself. These were time consuming, but they helped me become a better writer, so I wrote them.</p>

<p>I have around 100 paintings stored around my attic, house, and my room. these werent easy for me, I’m not a natural at anything, but they made me a better painter, so I painted them. I’ve been featured in art shows and small galleries.</p>

<p>I’ve read the majority of collegiate level physics textbooks, my favorites were Feynmen’s The Strange Theory of Light and Matter and Penrose’s The Road to Reality. Physics wasn’t easy for me, but it interested me, I wanted to learn it, so I worked through these books. Math wasnt my easiest subject, the road to reality was especially difficult.</p>

<p>I taught myself French. I spent hours pouring over French Grammars, review books, french literature, Textbooks, and spoke more to a penpal than I did actual/local friends. I knew I wanted to be a French Professor in sophomore year, and though it was hard to learn it and german simultaneously, I spent hours on it each day.</p>

<p>I’ve had atleast one job since I was 16, sometimes two. My mother is a single parent low income educator, she worked as special ed teacher in the day and as a math tutor at night. House payments aren’t cheap. I had to help out.</p>

<p>And I underachieved. I failed 2 classes. I am ashamed of it. One of the essays I submitted was a mea culpa of sorts. But, even at my lowest, my grades were still usually high b’s and low a’s unweighted, with language classes usually being above 100.</p>

<p>And I do have a safety. I’m in to the both the music school and the college of arts and sciences for UNT. I’d be going in with 67 hours of ap credits, and plan on double majoring in French and Jazz studies, and a minor in Portuguese if they offer it at the time. But I’d like to shoot higher.</p>

6

<p>Look, not disrespecting all you’ve accomplished, and note I did not advise against trying.
I’m happy to hear you have alternatives, and I hope if you get in to a selective school, you find it to be worth it for you.
I would still look at some more “alternative” schools.</p>

7

<p>I was pretty much exactly like you but with slightly worse stats both in GPA and test scores. I got rejected by three out of the four LACs I applied to, including Midd. Obviously since you have better stats than I did you’ll probably fare better, but still, you have to realize you’re not guaranteed to get in much of anywhere with a large discrepancy between test scores and GPA. An applicant like that can get rejected at a safety and accepted at a reach, like I did. My advice would be to apply to lots of schools and fall in love with one of the ones you get accepted to.</p>

8

<p>Your taking 10 classes your Senior year??? How is that possible</p>

9

<p>@kudryavka, what school did you end up going to and which did you get accepted to?
Also, what did you write your essays on?</p>

<p>Oh and yeah, some were one semester, some were full year.</p>

10

<p>Also, how were your ap scores? I’m sort of hoping that will help balance it out, but you never know:/.</p>

11

<p>

</p>

<p>Look at Kudryavka’s “location” for a clue to where she/he ended up. Hint: Grinnell</p>

12

<p>Grinnell is a very nice LAC I thought? I’ve heard really, really good things about it.</p>

13

<p>Take a look at Reed. You sounds like you’d be a good fit: Very intellectual, but highly angular and self-directed kids. Portland is a great place too (if you don’t mind rain). Surprised a bit that you are so keen on Midd - it wouldn’t have struck me that that would be a great fit. It’s a bit mainstream and preppy which isn’t what you sound like. I agree with Kudryavka that Grinnell would be more up your alley.</p>

14

<p>Nothing wrong with Grinnell at all. I just liked Midd more.</p>

<p>I wrote one essay on my personal circumstances that led to my low GPA and another was about my passion for foreign languages. I thought they were very good and the teachers I showed them to were impressed, but I’m still not sure whether I was right to write an essay that basically highlighted my faults and may have come across as a bunch of excuses to some of the adcoms. I mean, I had very good reasons, but still, they were excuses nonetheless. You might want to focus on the positive in your essays.</p>

<p>I actually didn’t have any AP classes. My school didn’t offer them any. I took the hardest courseload it was possible to take at my school, and I don’t think my course rigor was looked down upon.</p>

<p>For the record, so you can kinda compare my stats and decisions, I had a 34 ACT and 3.0 GPA (top 33%). I was rejected at Beloit, Midd, Vassar, and Hamilton. I was accepted at Grinnell, UW-Madison, MiamiU, and OSU.</p>

<p>By the way, I don’t think you need to take the SATIIs if you submit an ACT score. You should doublecheck yourself, but I don’t think you need it, and since your ACT is so good, there’s really no reason to submit anything SAT.</p>

15

<p>Yeah, I don’t need the sat IIs, but they can’t hurt? I’m good at studying for tests.</p>

<p>And middlebury isn’t my dream I’d say, it’s one of my reaches, but I prefer Wesleyan. And thanks, I’ve heard of Reed, it sounds very appealing, I’ll probably send in an application there and university of Boston for a safety. Think I could get in?</p>

16

<p>hey dude- i admire your choices. you seem like a smart, interesting person. i have one question for you and a couple of ideas</p>

<p>1) are you including your writing samples as responses to the application essays, or are they just added on as your own supplements? i’m very interested in your answer, since i’d like the opportunity to explain myself on my own apps–and perhaps to show admissions officers some academic essays i’ve written, too–but i’m not convinced the ad coms would like the extra reading, regardless of its quality. if you’re just attaching your essays as extras, how are you approaching it? like, are you indicating somewhere else on the app to “See included writing samples,” are you filling out a formal arts supplement, or are you just throwing them in the envelope? i think all of your topics merit inclusion, since they seem important for your story and impressive, and i’m wondering how you’re going about things, mostly for my own purposes.</p>

<p>and the suggestion i had was this: maybe you should spend a year at community college before applying and focus on getting A’s in all of your classes. you can prove youre a serious student- fully capable of academic success when motivated- instead of simply hoping that theyre moved by the sincerity of your intellectual pursuits. also, like another poster mentioned, i dont know if midd is the best fit in spite of its strength in languages- the student body a bit mainstream and preppy to use her words and might not be the best place given your curiosity in philosophy and literature.</p>

17

<p>Use every opportunity available! I touched submitted a more formal essay as the official spot and a much more personal (but well written and formal note) in the additional info. I’ve also sent an example of the papers I would do (just threw it in the envelope with an explanation of what it was) along with the reading list of the books I used to educate myself. I also spent time on the supplements and approached each question a few times, making sure to write it in a very unique way as to stand out. I tried to carry a central theme throughout my application.</p>

<p>And I’m actually about to start an internship with Apica Cardiovascular, a medical device startup in Galway, Ireland, but i really wanted to take classical guitar and studio art at the local cc in the time off!</p>

18

<p>When did Middlebury get this reputation as “mainstream and preppy . . . not the best place given [a] curiosity in philosophy and literature”? </p>

<p>Middlebury is one of the best places in the country to study literature. There are a number of prep school graduates (less than 50% of the student body) attending Middlebury, but any top school has a lot of kids from top high schools. </p>

<p>I’d like to use the fact that so many people think of Midd as “mainstream and preppy” when people claim that it’s filled with granola, hippy, enviro kids, or liberal bleeding hearts, or jocks, or whichever stereotype you choose. </p>

<p>You can’t characterize the student body at Middlebury with catch phrases . . . except maybe, “smart” and “academically successful”.</p>

19

<p>like 60 percent of the campus is on a sports team which means somewhat reduced admissions standards and people that prioritize athletics. a symptom of being one of the top d3 sports programs in the country is a seeming preponderance of jocks who do not necessarily read for pleasure.</p>

20

<p>i’m sure you’ll provide a well-worded rebuttal explaining how being athletic and intellectual are not mutually exclusive- they’re not, of course, and i truly feel silly for advancing that stereotype and for otherwise suggesting that midd is a poor place for someone who wants to focus in the humanities- but it’s just the sense i get from having spent time a lot of time there. lot of athletic dudes who fill out their polo shirts and go drink beers on the weekends. nothing the ****'s wrong with that- i wish i was one of them, for god’s sake- but if youre looking to discuss notes from underground over a cup of coffee youre not gonna be able to do so as readily as you would at, say, swarthmore. its just true.</p>