ED Denials are making me painfully anxious

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hi!

I’m a junior in HS, and I have a lot of close friends who are seniors, and are getting denied/referred from their ED 1 schools that they were fairly confident they would get into, and I now feel that I need to lower my expectations SIGNIFICANTLY.

Female from NY, non-minority
GPA (Unweighted) - 3.85 (93 avg that is creeping up to a 94)

ACT - 33 (tested early) (36 R, 36 E, 32 S, 29 M) 10/12 Essay
SAT II - World History, 740
(will take Lit)

APs - AP Human Geography: 4
AP World History: 4
(both self-study)

Course Load In School: *Considered Rigorous f
-8th Grade (on HS Transcript) Accelerated Algebra I, Accelerated Earth Science, French I
-Freshman Year: Theater Arts, Chorus, Biology, World History I, Geometry, English 9, PE, French II
-Sophomore Year: Self-Studied AP Human Geo and AP world, took Chorus for credit outside of school, Anthropology, Intro to Psychology, Chemistry, Algebra II/Trig, World History II, English 10, Health, PE, and French III
-Junior Year: English 11 Honors, AP Environmental Science, Pre-calculus, French IV Honors, SUPA (Dual Credit with Syracuse University) American History, Science Research, Self-studying AP Comp Gov and US gov, PE, taking Chorus for credit outside of school, digital photography
-Senior Year (Planned) - AP Euro, AP Psych, SUPA English, AP Bio, Statistics, Science Research, Chorus, PE, Economics (might take AP), Sociology, (maybe Physics instead of bio? idk math is really hard for me)

Extracurriculars
-Founder and editor-in-chief of a website where musicians and other creative people are interviewed about mental health to propel an active and inclusive conversation on the topic, will apply for not-for-profit status
-Intern at a Climate Change prevention organization
-100 hours of community service, volunteer tutor and peer mentor with the special education department
-Singer-songwriter with a single on Spotify
-Secretary of Academic Challenge/Quiz Bowl Team
-Treasurer of Hexadecimal Society of America

  • Model UN
    -Secretary of Do Something Club, a charity outreach club
    -Intern at a local music venue
    -Highly Involved with school and local theater
    -Helped with a middle school geography education program
    -Member of select choir (10th grade-present)

My current holy trinity is Wesleyan, Vassar, and Skidmore, with Kenyon, Connecticut College, Dickinson, Bryn Mawr, Bates, Brandeis, Tufts, Oberlin, Whitman and Hamilton as other schools and UVM as a safety. Do I need to move down to College of Wooster, Knox, Kalamazoo, etc?

Thanks!!!

2

In my opinion, you’d be generally predictably solid beyond about 50 here:

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-610-smartest-colleges-in-america-2015-9

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-50-smartest-colleges-in-america-2016-10

I wouldn’t recommend more than minor adjustments with respect to the range of schools you have chosen.

3

Truthfully believe you’d be safe at any of the schools you listed. Highly encourage you to visit. I did not like Hamilton or Vassar. I have my reasons if you’d be interested in hearing them. Wesleyan was initially considered, but I didn’t apply. Same with Tufts, Dickinson, Bryn Mawr, Bates, Kenyon, and Oberlin. I applied to Brandeis but it is relatively low on my list. And PS, you have nothing to worry about as long as you are proactive in writing your essays and obtaining excellent recommendations. Take it from me, a current senior, that has already received about $300,000 in scholarship money from 3 schools alone.

4

I don’t think you need to worry. You have a good shot at most of your schools and almost a guarantee at a few others. For what it’s worth, I was just accepted ED to Vassar with very similar stats to yours.

5

I think you look pretty good!

Everyone needs a safety or two (that you would be happy to attend), but I’m betting you’ll get into one or more of your listed schools. Great resume, keep it up!

6

You are a junior, your list will evolve – relax!

Wth that in mind, you are a qualified applicant at the schools on your list, but as you are starting to appreciate, that doesn’t necessarily translate into acceptance, especially at the ED stage. I’d consider Dickinson and Bryn Mawr as matches, and the rest as reaches, largely because holistic admissions makes acceptance unpredictable. You may want to have some LACs on your list as true safeties, so that if nothing else comes through (and is affordable), you have choices other than U VT. We visited most of the schools on your list, as well as Kalamazoo, Knox etc. Kalamazoo and Knox and Wooster don’t carry the “punch” of the east coast names, but there is great stuff happening on those campuses. If your schedule allows you to make a swing through the midwest, then I’d encourage you to visit some additional schools in the spring. Denison would be a school to add in the match/safety range – diverse, range of kids from blue hair to Vineyard Vines, a charming village but close enough to Columbus for internships, and music/arts etc.

7

I just got into Hamilton with stats not as good as yours. This shows that these schools care more about just stats, they care about how you are as a person, as I believe it was my interview and essay and got me accepted. I think that if you do well on those two things, you have a great shot at getting into any of those schools.