<p>I go to a public school
I will be applying for financial aid
1st in my class ( 1 out of 160)
4.0 GPA (unweighted)
4.5 GPA (weighted)</p>
<p>I've taken all honors through high school and 5 A.P classes (A's in all classes)</p>
<p>SAT- 1520
ACT-25
(I'm retaking both this fall and also taking the SAT subject test)</p>
<p>SADD club- all 4 years
NHS-3 years
Yearbook-Freshman
Junior Class President
Academic Challenge-Junior year
Big Brothers Big Sisters-Sophmore year
Volunteer at the YMCA- for the past three years
I also have a job that I have worked at for the past year</p>
<p>Based on your ACT score I assume that your 1520 is a total for the three sections? If so, you are a long way from getting to a level that “unhooked” applicants would need to be considered for admission. .</p>
<p>It’s hard to know since one public high school varies so much from another. If it’s a pretty good high school, then your academics are impressive. Your standardized test scores may not be quite as good, but retaking them once or twice frequently raises them so I would not be too concerned. </p>
<p>Colgate does not look only for the very topmost students. It looks for very academically successful students who also do many other things – athletics, of course, but also travel, clubs, foreign languages, leadership skills. My daughter now at Colgate had about a 3.7 but at a fabulously difficult private high school where she took lots of AP’s. She is a top writer, had strong foreign language interests, had travelled a great deal, had played athletics for years (but did not apply as an athlete), had excellent recc letters, and so on. That all helped. </p>
<p>Figure out what makes you different from hundreds of other good students with high grades. Then focus on that as a student and in your application. Make your application excellent – with a very well written essay, for example, and top recommendations. Yo do have a chance of being admitted, and I would definitely apply – or you’ll never know and always wonder. Right?</p>