CHC Chances?

[agrajag]

I can’t seem to find any statistics on the Commonwealth Honors College admission averages. Chances?

Junior from good 'ol Suburbia, MA.
GPA - 3.55 unweighted (might be higher after 1st semester next year), 4.1 weighted (which is the one UMASS seems to use). My freshman year GPA was a 3.1, which is dragging it down a bit; hopefully the CHC admissions are somewhat holistic. Took APUSH this year, will take mostly APs next year.
SATs - 2060 - 750 Writing, 560 Math, 750 CR (hopefully higher; got that 2060 on practice, think I did much better on the real thing)
Extracurriculars -
-Political Awareness Club (4 years; probably president next year)
-Recreational Soccer (4 years)
-Philosophy Club (2 years; helped found, probably president/co-president next year)
-Interact (2 years; volunteer stuff)
-Creative Writing (2 years)
-Newspaper (2 years)
-National Honors Society (will be inducted later this year)
-A few hours of peer tutoring.
-Have 50 or so hours of community service at a library at the moment, should have more in a variety of places before I send the application off.
I can count on fairly strong recommendations from my English and History teachers, and writing essays isn’t much of a problem for me.
Will have a few months work experience by the time I send the application off. In addition, I’m applying for an internship at the MA State House for a few weeks over the summer.

I don’t have much of a sense of what the Honors College requires, so advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

[paws27]

From the CHC website:
"Admission
Freshman Applicants
If you are entering UMass Amherst with an exemplary high school record that includes:

combined (critical reading and math) SAT-I scores of 1300 or higher (or an ACT composite score of 30 or higher); and
a recalculated weighted high school GPA of “A-“ or higher; and
a high school class rank in the top 10 percent (if school provides rank information),
then you may be considered for admission to the Commonwealth Honors College. There is no separate application process; students are notified of their selection with their general letter of admission.

Note that the number and quality of applications for freshman admission affect the selectivity of the Commonwealth Honors College review process, which means that meeting the minimum criteria is not a guarantee of admission. If you are not admitted as an incoming freshman, you may apply online as a current UMass Amherst student after you have completed one full-time semester with 12 or more graded credits at UMass Amherst. This online application process uses different criteria for acceptance, which are based on your college career at UMass Amherst."

It looks like it is a possibility for you, but it is getting harder and harder so I would try to get your GPA up. And even if you don’t get in, you can always apply after your first semester/ whenever. I was admitted to the honors college when I was accepted last year and while I definitely will try to stay in it, it isn’t as special as they make it out to be don’t worry and just keep up the good work!