Chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Georgetown University
1

<p>I want to know if I have any sort of chance at Georgetown. Please be honest.
I'm a junior at an extremely competitive private high school.</p>

<p>Citizenship: German (my first language is German, my second language is English)</p>

<p>GPA:
3.93 unweighted.
My school does not rank, but I would be in the top 10%.</p>

<p>Rigor of classes:
Toughest curriculum possible at my school. We have a minimal number of honors and AP classes offered (last year in my history class we got 3 hours of homework a night and that wasn't even honors). We also can't take APs before junior year. But regardless. Honors: Chemistry, Latin IV, American Literature. AP: US History, Calculus AB. PLanned courses for next year: AP Latin V, Honors World Literature, AP Biology, class at Princeton University in history (I need to apply, but usually all applicants from my school get in)</p>

<p>Test scores:
PSAT: 207 (69 critical reading, 68 math, 70 writing)
SAT II: 760 in German
I plan to take the SAT II in Writing, Math II, and US History.
I plan to take the ACT. I got a 30 on my first practice test, and the class is supposed to improve your score by 4 points, so I'm hoping for a 32-34.</p>

<p>Academic Honors:
New Jersey Governor's School nominee (haven't gotten results back yet)
National Latin Exam- 3 time gold-medalist
Red-Ribbon Certificate (akin to Honor Roll) received at end of the year- both 9th and 10th grade
Certificate of Outstanding Academic Achievement: Algebra II, Latin II, Biology, Latin III, English 10 (British Literature), Modern European History
Certificate of High Achievement for National Science Olympiad in Biology
Science Bowl- semifinalists in New Jersey in 2006 competition
We also get many more honors at the end of the year, as my school awards different university and subject awards, and I should get some of those.</p>

<p>Sports:
Tennis- 3 years on junior varsity team, including 2 as number 1 singles and doubles. "Most Improved Player Award" in 10th grade.
Tae Kwon Do- 1st Degree Black Belt.
Skiing- 13 years.</p>

<p>Music:
Clarinet- 6 years.</p>

<p>School Clubs:
Model UN
Red Cross Club (vice-president)
Science Bowl
Summer Reading Committee (co-chair)
Young Democrats</p>

<p>Academic Activities:
Academic Summer Associates Oxford Session (1)- 1 month program at Oxford, classes taken in Western Civilization and International Relations (got straight As and can get excellent recommendations from professors if needed)</p>

<p>Community Service:
Volunteer at Mercer County Geriatric Center- 2 summers (total of about 80 hours)
Volunteer at Summer Stars (outreach program that works with young children)- 2 summers (total of about 60 hours)
Volunteer at Loaves and Fishes (soup kitchen)
Volunteer at StuArts (program that works with young children)- 2 summers (total of about 50 hours)
Walked and raised money for New Jersey Alzheimer's Walk. Team won the "Most Spirited Team Award". </p>

<p>Financial Aid:
Not planning to apply.</p>

2

<p>Oh, I should mention that I want to study history. Thus wanting to take a history course at Princeton next year in addition to International Relations (my school is being stupid and isn't offering AP Euro)
I figured I should post an explanation of my extracurriculars.
Tennis, Tae Kwon Do, and skiing are pretty self explanatory. So moving on:
Model UN: prepare for and attend Rutgers Model United Nations and Rutgers Model Congress events. The preparation includes researching a country or state and it's views on a particular topic and writing a position paper about each (I've at this point had nuclear weapons, landmines, extraordinary rendition, and transparency of the budget). It's hard to win awards there as you only get them for getting the most resolutions passed. While I have helped write some resolutions, I've had bad luck in my country and state for the two times I've attended (other things such as college trips have conflicted the other two times)- Syria for the nuclear weapons and landmines, and New Hampshire (a Republican state) in a committee dominated by Democrats. Thus, there was not really an opportunity to distinguish myself there.
Red Cross- I teach first aid to young children, am on the fundraising committee of the Youth Council, help raise awareness for the club in my school by putting up signs and talking to people, am my school's representative for this year's Dance-A-Thon (the New Jersey youth council's biggest event), and help coordinate numerous other smaller events.
Science Bowl- I practice for the Science Bowl competition, make notes for my fellow teammates on special topics to prepare for the competition, and participate
Summer Reading Committee- put together the entire high school summer reading list, research each book, categorize each book, write anotations, come up with summer reading projects, and presented the new book list to the high school last year.
Young Democrats- this is my new club this year, and we really haven't done much- we discuss current political issues, and we had all these protests and vigils and so on planned, but somehow they haven't materialized yet. The president is my best friend, and I hate to be mean, but she is more of the person who does things that look great on the surface (such as being president) but then never actually does much beneath the surface.
Mercer County Geriatric Center- I can get a great recommendation here. I talk to the residents (I've even skipped my own lunch hour on many occasions to talk to the residents and comfort them), feed Alzheimer's patients, play games, lead them in aerobic exercises, lead Mass and prayer services and even do the sermon on occasion, and I'm currently planning a clarinet concert for the residents.
Summer Stars- I taught young children from Trenton math, reading, science, art, clarinet, etc.
StuArts- assist teachers in teaching young children art, music, drama, tennis, etc.
I think the others are pretty self-explanatory. I just found out today that we won the "Most Spirited Team Award" on the Alzheimer's Walk.</p>

3

<p>Oh, and if it makes a difference, because it is a Catholic university, I go to a Sacred Heart (Catholic all-girls) school, and I am Catholic.</p>

4

<p>They know what MUN is, the explanation probably did no need to explain what it was. It also was not a particularly good idea, since all it seems to do is draw attention to your failure to distinguish yourself in Model UN. I've been to RUMUN and it is in deed hard to win there, but still.</p>

5

<p>It was merely an explanation for here. I'm a junior, I haven't applied yet. But thank you for replying, and for the advice, I probably will not explain my lack of distinguishments on my apps.</p>

6

<p>It is hard to say because:
1. You are only a junior
2. You dont have a rank
3. You havn't taken the SAT
4. You havn't taken the ACT
and
5. nobody knows. I know it sucks. I still had to ask, too. </p>

<p>That being said. You have a strong GPA and you go to a great school. It being Catholic should help, although I heard it is much better to have gone to a Jesuit school. Also, I think it will help that you are German, because Georgetown likes being "global" and all. Of course, you are going to want to to good on the SAT. And if you didn't know, they dont look at the writing score. So I say, to answer your question, that you do have any sort of chance at Georgetown.</p>

<p>And that being said. What do I know?</p>

7

<p>Thank you!
We don't get ranks because we are only 40 people in the grade. So only the top 4 would qualify for top 10%, which would suck for college apps, because the number 5 would probably still have an excellent gpa, but wouldn't be top 10%. It would just be bad.
Well, I will have taken the ACT in March, so I'll update then. 32-34 is my estimated score range. Then I'll decide whether to take the SAT.
Thanks for replying, you are the first to give me any sort of feedback, and I really appreciate it. :)</p>

8

<p>Anyone? Please?</p>