<ul>
<li>Male (Rising Senior)</li>
<li>New York </li>
<li>African American (URM)</li>
<li>First Generation</li>
<li>Low Income </li>
<li>GPA: 3.8 (unweighted)</li>
<li>ACT: 20 (don't plan on submitting) </li>
<li>Class Rank: Top 10%</li>
<li>AP/Honors: (my school only offers AP Bio and I'm taking it this year) </li>
</ul>
<p>Activities:
- internship in pre-college office at school (90 hours)
- co-founder/organizer of the music club
- senior representative of the student council
- played guitar for 3 years
- played soccer for 2 years
- College Now @ Baruch College - "Introduction to Business" (worth 3 credits)
- Junior Scholars Program (a neighborhood honors program; applied last week)
- after-school volunteering (8 hours, plan to complete more)
- community service (10 hours, plan to complete about 70 more)</p>
<p>Additional Info:
- I want to major in something related to entrepreneurship and graphic design.
- I may tryout for track in the winter.</p>
<p>You would be better off skipping the 70 hours of community service that you are planning of completing this fall and using that time to take a test prep class.
Are you planning on only applying to schools that are test-optional?
Have you taken the SAT?</p>
<p>Siliconvalleymom may not be aware that Bowdoin does not require you to submit test scores; many successful applicants to Bowdoin don’t submit them. I think you do have a pretty good shot there. Keep up the good work, see if you can improve your GPA, and work hard on your Common App essay. That said, other schools do look at test scores, so it would behoove you to raise your scores to increase your chances for admission to other schools. Good luck.</p>
<p>Bowdoin is ACT/SAToptional thats why I indicated that I wasn’t submitting my score. As for the prep, I will have time during the week to do so, but I can’t sacrifice my community service for the sake of my applications and upcoming scholarships such as Gates. I have taken the SAT, but I scored basically the same as the ACT and I don’t like the format of the exam.</p>
<p>@Pootie,</p>
<p>Thanks your for your thoughts on my chances!I well understand that many other schools require standardized test scores and I do plan on retaking the ACT in September and October. As for the GPA, I can probably boost it a bit during the beginning of senior year. I will definitely do my very best in terms of the common app essay, I actually have to see what the topic is.</p>
<p>the SAT isn’t required so I wouldn’t waste your time.
Invest your time in more leadership opportunities, and if you are from a diverse geographic region i.e. outside NE, you are problably in</p>