Hi! I’m a rising junior and I really have to start thinking about college. My top choice is Colgate University and here are my stats:
GPA: 93/100 unweighted (both freshman and sophomore year)
*nervous because by the end of high school I would have taken 4 regular classes, the rest honors and AP classes though
APs: AP World (sophomore year)
will be taking: APUSH, AP English, AP Lit, AP Bio, AP Gov, AP Stats and self studying AP Macro by the end of high school
ACT: aiming for 32-33 (hopefully)
Ethnicity: Asian (from New York)
Recommendation: I can get pretty good ones
EC:
-secretary of Red Cross for 2 years (10th & 11th)
-Vice President of Red Cross (12th)
-DECA
*qualified to states
-Key Club
-National English Honor Society
-National Math Honor Society
-National Science Honor Society
-National Global Honor Society
-National Business Honor Society (will get some board position)
-Mathletes
-Environmental club
Achievements (not that impressive):
Published poem
Semi-finalist in Stonybrook Japan Writing Contest
The 3.8 GPA is for Colgate’s admitted applicants. The enrolled-student GPA will likely be lower.
Your academics look like they could be competitive for Colgate. When it comes time to actually apply, however, it may be advisable to make it clearer what your academic and extracurricular passions are. Reading your post, I didn’t get a sense of why you think would be a good match for 'Gate. If Colgate is truly your dream school, you should be able to make that abundantly clear.
Although I think it’s a little early to tell (a lot can change junior year), I think you’re on the right track. Make sure you get those leadership positions and high test scores! Demonstrated interest is also always a good thing. Good luck!
@airfire1928: Showing it as a strategy is something that will ideally be unnecessary. But, if you start to learn more about Colgate, you will have opportunities to intersperse what you have learned in your communications with them. For example, Colgate is building a new Center for Art and Culture. If you think this is cool, then say so somewhere. Maybe you like their authentic countryside location? Again, say so. Then go further and connect yourself academically to the school. Which departments there do you want to explore, which single one do you think is particularly suited to you? As you discover more about Colgate, you will more easily show your knowledge and enthusiasm in your correspondence, interview and application.
A 93 is not a 3.7. I know it seems like it, but you have to convert each grade separately. My S has a 93 avg, but adding each class converted and averaging it, it is a 3.93. Try it.
