<p>squaregirl: did you receive your financial aid package?</p>
<p>Not yet, but online it states that I've been granted a Pell. Hopefully the package itself will be really good! :)</p>
<p>If you qualify for a Pell grant, I'm guessing that they'll be fairly generous with aid.</p>
<p>I'm hoping! :D</p>
<p>I was accepted with a STRIDE! :D Here are my stats:</p>
<p>High school: Public in Idaho, but actually a fairly good school--usually one or two students to top schools each year
4.0 GPA (UW)
Class rank: 1/182
2340 SAT (800 CR, 790 Math, 750 Writing)
35-36 ACT (two different tests--I sent both b/c my essay score on the 36 was terrible)
Can't remember whether I sent my SAT IIs, but those were 800 Math II, 800 Literature, & 790 French w/ listening
2 APs, both this year (I only had the opportunity to take one more)
5-6 honors courses, depending on what they count (once again, only had the opportunity to take one more)
National Merit Finalist</p>
<p>Extracurriculars:
Ballet (last 5 years)
Environmental Club: member 3 years, treasurer sophomore year; raised money to go on service trip to Mexico last year--worked with sea turtle conservation biologists
International Club: treasurer last year; went to Model UN last spring
Human Rights Club: member since last year; this year president
City Human Rights Commission: first high school student appointed to a city commission (last spring); currently secretary
National Honor Society member
Various other stuff that I'm forgetting...</p>
<p>I love Smith!!! I'm just hoping that my financial aid package is doable, b/c the one from Mt. Holyoke wasn't so great (wanted us to pay almost 20% of our income). I hope to see some of you girls at Smith in the fall. :)</p>
<p>Whoohoo for Idaho! Northwesterners unite! (Is Idaho still considered the Northwest?)</p>
<p>High school: Public in Ohio. Almost everyone stays in-state.
GPA: 3.98 UW
Rank: 3/152
ACT: 29
Course load: Three AP's and 2-3 honors maths</p>
<p>Extra-curriculars:
Marching and pep band & 1st chair clarinet in concert band - 4 years
Drama club (student director, backstage manager, lighting, actor) - 4 years
Newspaper (news editor) - 2 years
National Honor Society (treasurer) - 1 year
Science challenge - 4 years
Land of Grant Honor band - 3 years
Varsity Soccer - 3 years
Volunteering (genealogy, christmas band, freshmen mentor)
OMEA Solo and Ensemble (clarinet) - 4 years</p>
<p>My essay was about how my family's sense of humor and how comedy in general has affected me and helped me to grow</p>
<p>Yay elainen3! Idaho is most definitely part of the Northwest. ;D I think almost all of the Smithies/applicants from the NW are from the west side, though; honestly, my town would fit in a whole lot better over there. But hey, at least I got geographical diversity points!</p>
<p>@xoxo_pr0ud - That was somewhat like my essay! =P Hah!</p>
<p>Squaregirl - Ha. Really? I didn't think anyone else would write about humor :)</p>
<p>If you guys attend, what are you going to major in?</p>
<p>Theatre for me.</p>
<p>Poli Sci/Government! =D</p>
<p>Gov majors are the best.</p>
<p>Probably comparative literature with a minor in dance--but we'll see! :D</p>
<p>Wow, I just had a lengthy phone conversation with the alumnae coordinator for my area, and I want to go to Smith more than ever!! I love that Smithies are so enthusiastic about promoting their school. There's obviously something good going on there. :)</p>
<p>@SmithieandProud - HECK YEAH!</p>
<p>I went to a Smith Tea awhile ago and met some of the coolest women EVER. The host of the tea actually was a member of the class of '70, and we bonded instantly over Hillary Clinton, international politics and a mutual obsession with coffee. She was SO AWESOME. And gave me loads of info on Smith; I pretty much worshiped her by the end of it. =P</p>
<p>My stats are pretty average but I got accepted.</p>
<p>High School: Public (the only high school in my town), not a great school...usually our top students go to Rutgers/Penn State.
GPA - Weighted: 3.75
Class Rank - 5/136
SAT I: M 600, R 500, W 550 (<em>I did not send in my SAT scores)
SAT II: Literature 460, Mathematics Level 2 520, U.S. History 470 (</em>I didn't send in these either.)</p>
<p>Extracurricular: President/Founder of Asian Club (1 year), National Honors Society member (2 years), Captain of the Girls' Tennis Team (2 years), JV Girls Soccer Team (1 year)</p>
<p>Classes: TeenPEP (Teen Prevention Education Program in NJ - elective chosen in place of a regular health class), AP English, AP History, AP Calculus, Honors classes 99% of the years in high school</p>
<p>Recommendations: 3. One overenthusiastic honors history teacher who had me freshman and junior year. Freshman year, I wasn't a great student, skipped school a lot, didn't do work. Junior year, she had me again and saw me as a changed person. Another is from math teacher I had for two years. The last one, is from a counselor that knew me for four years, ever since I went off track Freshman year.</p>
<p>Essay: It's about an issue with my penpal and how it has affected the way I see things now.</p>
<p>I received an okay financial aid offer from Smith. Made it somewhat affordable to me. However, I still need to take out loans.</p>
<p>Here's an abbreviated version of my stats, for those who asked...</p>
<p>HS: really competitive public, in the USNWR top 100; upstate New York holla!
GPA: 91.81/98.0 UW
ACT: 33 (35 English and Reading, 32 Math, 31 Science, 8 Writing)
APs: Euro, 4; US, 4; Lang, 4; Art History, 5. This year I'm taking Economics (micro and macro), Psych, Lit, Stat, and Spanish. I was taking Bio, but I dropped due to extenuating circumstances.</p>
<p>My main EC was the literary magazine; I'm the editor this year and have been submitting things since I was a sophomore. I've also done a lot of other writing-related stuff--took some summer courses and recently won a regional gold key in the Scholastic Writing Awards (though I guess Smith doesn't know that :p).</p>
<p>They gave me AMAZING aid, by the way. $37,000, $32,000-ish of which is pure grant money. I was worried about the aid because I really like Smith and had received a really enticing offer from American, but all told Smith gave me $10,000 more than they did... so Northampton here I (quite possibly) come! :D</p>
<p>kokakola & mangakjd - How do you know your financial aid???</p>
<p>mangakjd - Do you think you'll attend despite the loans you'll have to take?</p>
<p>Accepted
High School: Public
High School Type: high graduation rate, selective enrollment
GPA - Unweighted: 3.1
SAT I Math: 620
SAT I Critical Reading: 750
SAT I Writing: 750
ACT: 29 (didn't like, didn't send.)
SAT II Bio: 650
SAT II US History: 660
ECs: Model UN (founder/prez), Scholastic Bowl (captain), Breast Cancer Awareness Club (secretary), some community organizing</p>
<p>Essay: I wrote about my experiences at this summer program i participated in last year. it was my first essay of the year, and my ap comp teacher gave me an A on it, so i guess it was decent.</p>
<p>Other: all classes taken were honors/ap (except for gym, art, and piano), URM, legacy, national merit semifinalist, national achievement semifinalist, honor roll</p>
<p>i got some mediocre financial aid though, and even though i like it a lot, i probably won't be able to go. =[</p>
<p>I got accepted, and I got my letter today (I'm an international student)... as far as I know, no scholarships. Would you be told if you got merit aid in the acceptance letter?</p>