Chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Swarthmore College
1

<p>I'm a white female from Pennsylvania.</p>

<p>Freshman year:
English 9 Acc. - A
Geography Acc. - A
Geometry - A
Basic Programming/Java - A
Symphonic Band - A
Molecular Biology (advanced course) - A
Keyboarding - A
Gym - A
(Took French II over the summer, but didn't receive credit on transcript, however I was permitted to take French III sophmore year).</p>

<p>Sophomore year:
English 10 Acc. - A
AP Modern European History - B (4 on test)
Precalculus - A
French III - A
French IV (independent study) - A
Band - A
Quantitative Chemistry (advanced) - A
Gym - A
Music technology - A</p>

<p>Junior year:
AP Music Theory - A (5 on test)
AP French - A (3 on test - retaking test this year)
AP US History - B
Band - A
Gym - A
Physics I (accelerated, weighted 4.5) - B
Physics II (also weighted 4.5) - A
English 11 Acc. - A
Philosophy - A</p>

<p>Senior year:
This semester:
AP English Lit - B last 9 weeks, currently an A
AP Government - A
AP Statistics - A
Band - A</p>

<p>Next semester:
Psychology
Band
French VI
Spanish I
Doing a 5 week study abroad to France</p>

<p>SAT: 690M/740CR/750W
SAT II: French 700 (took it after French IV, in retrospect, I should have waited); Math IC 680; Literature 720
ACT: 30
GPA: 4.21W/3.88UW (second decile)</p>

<p>National Merit Commended, AP Scholar, National Honors Society</p>

<p>Hopefully good essays and recommendations</p>

<p>Community service through church (9-12)
Softball (9-10)
French Club (11-12)
Music: Jazz Band (11-12), Ambassador Orchestra (11-12), Marching Band (9-12), PMEA Honors Band (9-12), AV Honors Band (7-12), AE Honors Band (10-12; 10th grade was the first year of the band), Junior District (9), District & Regional band (11), piano lessons (9-12, started at age 5), plays bass clarinet, saxophone and clarinet</p>

<p>What are my chances for regular decision?</p>

2

<p>Your stats are good enough to be a candidate. But you'll need to show some personality in your application to have a shot (from your post it does not come through at all).</p>

3

<p>Dressup:</p>

<p>Your GPA is fine. I'm surprised that you are only in the second decile in terms of class rank with a GPA that high. Second decile is low for Swarthmore, unless you go to a super-competitive magnet school.</p>

<p>SATs are in the middle range for Swarthmore - about average. That will neither help nor hurt.</p>

<p>I think the lack of Calculus may hurt your application a bit. There are exceptions, but they are typically looking for students who have taken the hardest curriculum at their high school.</p>

<p>To get into Swarthmore typically requires some perceived intangible "something". This could be something in your background (first-generation college, low-income, etc.) that helps them achieve institutional priorities.</p>

<p>It could be an athletic hook. Have you visited Swarthmore and talked with the softball coaches?</p>

<p>It could be interest in a particular academic field. In your case, it looks like French may be the ticket. Have you visited Swartmore and met with professors in the French department? Perhaps talked about the Swarthmore-in-Grenoble study abroad in France program? Did you feature interest as a French major on your application?</p>

<p>It could be your music interest? Have you visited Swarthmore and met with the music department professors? Does your music interest extend to activities outside of school, e.g. playing in a rock band? Have you submitted the demo tape that is all but required for music to be considered a plus on your application?</p>

<p>Is there an interesting story behind "community service through my church?"</p>

<p>Did you do an overnight visit to Swarthmore? How did your interview go? Thinks such as I've listed, or other things that demonstrate well-researched interest in the school and/or a good fit are typically the sorts of things that successful Swarthmore applicants have done to one degree or another.</p>

4

<p>Also, (I can't edit now) - I attended a French immersion camp two summers ago (Concorida Language Villages).</p>

<p>I haven't gotten to talk to any professors, but I'm doing an overnight hopefully after winter break. I did have an interview, which I thought went well. If I do an overnight in January-ish, will that show up on my application and such?</p>

<p>I did put French as a major on my application.</p>