Do I have a Chance?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Mount Holyoke College
1

I’m currently a junior in high school, and Mount Holyoke has been my dream school for the last 2 years! However, I have not gotten the best grades until now, primarily because of mental health issues that I’ve worked on, and are no longer impacting my schoolwork. I currently have all As in my hardest course load of high school years, and I’m hopeful and determined that it will carry on to the end of my high school career. Here are my stats:

Background: African American, Muslim, First Generation student coming from a low-income household and suburban public school in Minnesota

Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment Courses:
Middle School+Freshman Year: Honors Intermediate Algebra, Honors Geometry, Honors Advanced Algebra, Honors English 9, Honors Physics, Honors Precalc, Honors Civics

Sophomore Year: Honors Spanish 3, Honors English 10, Honors Chem, APUSH, AP Stats (missed AP exam, will be taking junior year as self-study),
(I took AP Calc ABC, but had to drop because of schedule changes and low grade, will take the AP exam as a senior)
AP Exam Score: APUSH-3

Junior Year: Honors Orchestra, IB English 11 HL, IB Biology SL, AP US Gov, IB Spanish 4 SL, IB Theory of Knowledge, Honors African American History, AP Euro/IB History HL 11 (counts as the first year of IB History while being AP Euro)

AP Exams: AP US Gov, AP Euro, AP Psych (self-study, not offered), AP Stats (self-study, missed AP Exam)

Senior Year Courses: Honors Orchestra, IB English 12 HL, IB Middle East/African Studies HL 12, IB Spanish 5 HL, College Honors Microeconomics, College Honors Public Speaking, AP Physics 1, Honors Debate II, Physical Geography (@ local CC), Drugs & Health (@ local CC)

IB Exams: IB English HL, IB History HL, IB Spanish HL
AP Exams: AP Lang, AP Physics 1, AP Spanish Lang, AP Calc BC (self-study, missed exam/class), AP Environmental Science (self-study, finish lab requirement)

I will also receive a bilingual seal in Spanish from the state of Minnesota

GPA and Rank: will end junior year with a 3.1/3.2 unweighted (out of 4) and a 3.2/3.3 weighted, still probably in the bottom 50%

Extracurriculars:
Chamber Orchestra (most selective orchestra of my school, rehearsals in the mornings, ensemble contests, and small gigs)
Presidential Volunteer Service Award Gold(3x)
Debate Team (Varsity/Unofficial Captain for 3 years)
Lacrosse (nothing worthy, sophomore-senior year, interested in potentially playing)
Part-Time Job as a Barista (since 2021)
MN Teen Activists (my nonprofit, 501c3)
I’m one of the co-founders and the secretary, started in 2020, raised over 100k for businesses after riots in Minneapolis (2020) and Brooklyn Center (2021), organized a state-wide walkout for racism in schools and for Daunte Wright’s death with over 200+ schools participating! We also plan to create a council with the state attorney general’s office soon and continue to advocate for educational policy reforms and students. I promise we aren’t one of those fake nonprofits lol.

ACT: only taken PACT, with a score of 30, with recent practice tests on my own, I am scoring 32-34 so that’s my goal.

Intended Areas of Study: International Relations (major), Economics (major), Spanish (minor), Computer Science (minor?), Statistics (minor?)

1 Like
2

Hi - I think you have a good shot. You have grades increasing, your Practice ACT of 30 is a good indicator of the test, and your ECs look impressive and will be of interest to colleges.

Keep working hard!

3

If you can get consistently very high grades in junior year and first semester senior year, plus a high ACT score, I think you might have a chance. Three semesters of straight A’s will definitely show that you’re now on the right track, could be seen as outweighing the bad grades in ninth and tenth grades.

Certainly, when the time comes, do apply to Mt. Holyoke. But make sure to apply to some financial safeties, too. Don’t depend on Holyoke offering you enough money to make it financially feasible.

1 Like
4

Thank you so much, I’m super appreciative! I’ll definitely try to keep up my grades and test score.

5

Thank you for the advice! I’m definitely going to apply to schools that have high admissions and give good financial aid for that reason. My main priority is gaining an affordable education that allows me to grow as much as possible, and I’ll be alright if that doesn’t fit with Mount Holyoke!

1 Like
6

You may also want to look at St Olaf’s and Gustavus Adolphus.

I will say that it may be a challenge, since those first two years will be weighing you down.

You may also want to speak with your GC about nominating you for Posse. While there is no Posse city in Minnesota, their new Virtual Program recruits from some cities in Minnesota. Check it out: The Posse Virtual Program | The Posse Foundation

2 Likes
7

St. Olaf and Gustavus have been some of my higher choices for a while, especially with a good chunk of my favorite teachers graduating from both, I’m definitely applying to them!

Posse is definitely interesting and seems like a great program! However, my guidance counselor is somewhat new and has a student load of over 800 students, leading to limited opportunities to converse with her (the conversations have primarily been over low grades and anxiety issues) and I don’t feel that she would think I’m qualified over other students. How do you suggest I go about bringing this up? I have a teacher who definitely would want to put in a good word for me to her if that helps.

8

I’m confused. Your identical other thread says the same but about Carleton but it’s close to home.

9

She has Carleton as a very high choice, but evidently MHC is her “dream school”.

Probably should consolidate them, but posters often figure that having separate threads for specific schools will give college-specific advice.

Just contact her with the information, and then remind her. Also have the teacher reach out. The GC will need to register, so they can verify that she is your counselor. As for qualified - the main qualifications are that the nominee is a leader, and that they are the type of leader who does not fit the standard idea of a “leader”, and are not likely to be able to afford or be accepted to these colleges because of this.

I also think that, with your ECs, you should already be on the GC’s radar for positive reasons as well.

For your cohort, the nomination process will start in June/July 2022.

1 Like
10

I think you have an excellent chance of getting in. You certainly check all the boxes and they do tend to like musicians. If you can interview that will be even more helpful. Your ECs are impressive too!

11

I appreciate your strong desire to attend Mount Holyoke. It is a wonderful school. I am an alumna and loved my four years there. I thought I should warn you that there was an increase in applicants this year of about 25% over last year. So, your chances of admission may fall with the numbers. The college president, Sonya Stephens, told us recently that the number of applications for the Class of 2026, 4885, was the highest in the history of the college.

12

Argh… this year is TOUGH! So many applicants- everywhere!

13

Good luck! If it’s meant to be, it will happen.

1 Like