Do I Fit Swarthmore's Admissions Criteria?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Swarthmore College
1

<p>Hello to all. I am a rising High School Senior, and I attend High School in Chapel Hill, NC. I am very interested in Swarthmore, but I would like some advice about if it is a reasonable school for me to be interested in.</p>

<p>My SAT Scores are:
710 Math
800 Reading
710 Writing (11 Essay)</p>

<p>SAT II's that I plan on taking:
Math
Physics (June 3)
Latin (June 3)</p>

<p>Over the course of my High School career, I have taken:
7 Regular classes
9 Honors Classes
3 AP Classes (this year, Physics B, Latin Literature, and BC Calculus)</p>

<p>Next year I plan on taking
5 AP Classes (Environmental, Physics C, Statistics, Latin Virgil, and English Literature)
2 Regular Classes</p>

<p>I have received one B, which was first semester of my Freshmen Year in Honors Latin 3. The rest have been A's, which leaves my GPA at 4.657w, 3.974uw, which is 24th out of 435 Juniors. If I continue to earn A's through Senior Year, my GPA will be 4.865.</p>

<p>EC's:
President, Academic Integrity Committee
Secretary, National Honor Council
Vice President, Synagogue Youth Group
Volunteer Tutoring both at School and Synagogue
Serve as Teen Representative on Synagogue Religious Practices Committee
Cross Country, 9-12
Track, 9, 11-12 (injured 10th)
Teaching Sunday School at Synagogue
Mentor for Incoming Freshmen (my school has a Senior-Freshmen mentoring program)
Staff Writer for School Newspaper</p>

<p>Some information about my School:
Average GPA 3.36w
Avg. SAT: 1207 (old test)
23 AP classes offered, the average student graduates with 3
2.9 AP's per Graduating Senior (per Newsweek, 101 on list)</p>

<p>Is Swarthmore reasonable, or out of my league?
Any advice and comments are appreciated!</p>

<p>Thanks,
Noah</p>

2

<p>Hey Noah, </p>

<p>I am a rising sophomore at Swat, who's spent an enormous amount of time working in admissions, so I'll tell you what I think based on what I've seen. </p>

<p>Your academics look great. Just keep the As up at that will be great. SATs are great too. Get above 700 on those SAT IIs and you are fine. High 600 should also be okay. </p>

<p>However, Swat isn't really looking for the person with perfect grades and test scores. They are looking for someone with focused passion who REALLY wants to go to Swat.
If you write stellar essays about your extracurriculars or about what "really gets you excited" then I would say your an excellent fit, especially if you apply ED (shows that you really want Swat). Also visiting, getting an interview, etc, will help out. </p>

<p>Just a warning:
This year's admissions for Swat were unbelievable. WAY too many over qualified people applied forcing Swat to waitlist most of them and accept only those who were amazing. If you really think Swat is the place for you, ED is the way to go. </p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>

3

<p>Yeah... I have a friend who got into Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Penn, and Haverford and waitlisted at Swat, and another Princeton and Brown admit who was also waitlisted.. these two people were supremely qualified, so I don't know what Swat's admissions criteria were this year. Good luck, it's an amazing place : )</p>

4

<p>I should probably add that I visited Swarthmore, and was very impressed. As of now, it is my ED school, and I look forward to applying in the Fall. Everything I have read and heard and talked to students there and advisors here about it makes me believe that it is the place for me. Thanks for all the advice, and any comments and suggestions are welcome!</p>

<p>Noah</p>

5

<p>Noahhm:</p>

<p>Academically, you're good. You would be in the running.</p>

<p>I would echo the advice to really focus on the question "Why Swarthmore?", both in learning about the school and articulating why you would be a good fit. The idea application ties your specific interests and strengths to specific things that define Swarthmore. An example, would be your high school mentoring. Peer-to-peer academic mentoring and passing along wisdom from upperclassmen to freshmen is something I would include as a defining characteristic of Swarthmore.</p>

<p>Second piece of advice: Give some thought about how you could "bundle" your various interests into something clearly identifiable to highlight on your application. For example, you list a number of activities centered around the Synogogue. These might make a "theme" for your application if, for example, it tied into an academic interest in religion or Middle Eastern politics or whatever. It's always best when they can come away from reading an application with one or two striking "bullet points". So take your lists and think about how to tie things together.</p>

6

<p>Noahhm--Something you wrote in your original post intrigued me, so I sent you a PM.</p>

<p>And I vaguely recall reading that Swarthmore (probably like other schools as well) is interested in students with an interest in classics/classical languages.</p>

7

<p>Noah! I feel like Swat criteria is random, so here's what you do:</p>

<p>Show that you LOVE Swarthmore. They like that. Visit, get an interview, make an impression, because unless you do that you will always just be a set of numbers, and from what I understand, they only care about stats so much.</p>

<p>I got into Swat while 4 of my friends, same gender race, about the same grades and my test scores were only slightly better, did not. What was my difference? I made an Impression! Interview, excitement, I asked questions and all of that. Admissions officers are people to. DO you really think that you are the only person in the world with stats like that? Applying to Swat? Think again.</p>

<p>You're great on paper, that'll give you a second glance, but don't bomb it with mild interest. If you want to get in, prove it.</p>

<p>Really work on your Why Swat? essay too.</p>

8

<p>
[quote]
If you want to get in, prove it.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Bravo. That is the most succinct statement of how to get accepted at Swarthmore I've ever seen. Perfect.</p>