chances??

Colleges and Universities A-Z Swarthmore College
1

<p>interested in applying to swarthmore, will it be too hard to get in for me?</p>

<p>Asian male</p>

<p>UW GPA: 3.78
W GPA: 4.477
ACT: 34
SAT: 690W/740CR/800M
was ranked 1/750+ during freshmen year but they took rank away...my rank dropped a bit since then I would think, 10 B out of 42 classes </p>

<p>SAT BIO: 730
SAT US history: 740
SAT literature: 650 (most terrible test ever)
Plan on taking math, bio again, chem</p>

<p>Senior year
going to take AP comp, AP macro/micro, AP stats, AP lit</p>

<p>Junior year
AP chem: 5
AP calc BC: 5
AP US History: 5
AP Env. Science: 5
AP Language: 5</p>

<p>Soph year
AP gov: 4
AP bio: 5</p>

<p>ECs
state math team 9
national latin exam 9-11, gold, silver, cum laude
cross country 10
science olympiad 11
JETS team
USABO semifinalist
Volunteer at hospital 150+ hours
Key club 100+ hours</p>

<p>also I want to do premed there... any advice? Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Your academic transcript and test scores are fine. No problem there. You would be solidly in the pile for consideration.</p>

<p>The key is going to be how well you flesh out your ECs and interests so that the admissions committee can see a three-dimensional, living/breathing teenager who would contribute in some vibrant way to the Swarthmore community.</p>

<p>You are certainly a plausible applicant. It's hard to go much beyond that with estimates of "chances" based on the standard laundry list stuff. For example, hours volunteering at a hospital wouldn't mean as much as an essay that brings that experience to life in a thoughtful, interesting way. </p>

<p>For the most part, successful Swarthmore applicants often have something that would make anyone reading the application say, "Hmmmm, that sounds like an interesting kid." There are a million ways to be "interesting" so it's really hard to generalize.</p>

3

<p>I estimate your chance of acceptance to be 83%.</p>

4

<p>Heh, you have a good shot. I dunno about 83% though; let's not be hasty. Maybe 82.7%...</p>

5

<p>I think you're going to have to find something that really stands out and focus on that intensely. Your grades and scores are all fine, but Swat's always looking beyond that: what makes you a good fit, and what makes you stand out from all the other perfectly qualified applicants. You seem like a fantastic student, but in order to get in, again, you have to find something that makes you special...many applicants will have a similar application. :]</p>