Feeling doubtful

Colleges and Universities A-Z Bowdoin College
1

<p>Intended major: Animal Science, Biology</p>

<p>Feeling doubtful about my application to Bowdoin and Bates. I’m worried my junior year (see below) might ruin me :/. My hope is that I have enough other things - being Moldovan/having citizenship there, and my EC’s - to make up for that, and of course my sophomore and freshman year grades. Looking at my transcript only - my chances of getting in are pretty slim. I hope they look at other parts of my application and realize that I can bring a lot to the school. </p>

<p>Mom is a special Ed teacher, don’t have a dad. Adopted from Moldova, and have dual citizenship </p>

<p>Income is only about 51k</p>

<p>Unique situation during my junior year…</p>

<p>90 gpa in 9th grade, 1 B in math and a B in art</p>

<p>92.59 gpa (sophomore year) B in math, B in env science</p>

<p>Junior year - had a severe case of mono, combined with hypothyroidism caused me to miss 3 months of school (could hardly watch TV, it was a nightmare), as a result, I was forced to drop some of my classes and catch up as quickly as possible so I wouldnt have to retake the 11th grade. 87 in AP english and comp, 89 in chemistry, and 72 in geometry honors <em>cringe</em> but I made it. Will mention this in my essay so they don’t think i just screwed off junior year.</p>

<p>Senior year schedule will be AP bio, lit, human geography and stats, and spanish III</p>

<p>Not submitting standardized test scores.</p>

<p>Volunteer work: (shows determination and focus) </p>

<p>Global impact apprenticeship: co captain freshman year. Worked with several schools overseas to improve water quality, wildlife and other things, all while documenting and presenting a video to broadcast with te other schools participating. This got lots of press, was in the news paper just about every month in my town, and when I search my name, half the results are from the GIA program</p>

<p>Ambassadors group member</p>

<p>Ran XC fresh year </p>

<p>Shadowed/assisted a horse vet over the summer: ~30 hrs</p>

<p>Worked on a dairy farm feeding calves twice a week : ~ 20 hrs</p>

<p>Green Mt Horse Association jumping crew, vet assistant/scribe and other various jobs: ~15 hrs </p>

<p>Shadowing/ assisting various vets every Saturday morning 9-12: 15 hrs </p>

<p>Volunteer at The Vermont Institute of Natural Sciences, orphan baby bird feeder</p>

<p>Attending Cornell Summer College Course in Captive Raptor Management junior year</p>

<p>Job as a dog sitter on an as needed basis</p>

<p>Strong essay writing skills. </p>

<p>Attended Adventures in Veterinary Medicine sophomore year.</p>

2

<p>Bump…</p>

3

<p>Wondering why you reposted. I think that the guidance trekslxchick gave is very good. If you want to apply to a reach school, I think perhaps Bates might be a better option. your rapport with your guidance couselor and their recommendations will be very important, as well as the teachers you choose. </p>

<p>Remember that the important thing as you look for schools, is that for getting into Vet school (or medical school, dental school, law school) they are looking for the top students from each school. I would suggest you try to find out what schools applicants to the Vet school of your choice (or several) are coming from and look at these schools as well. S1 was very interested in medicine, but we didn’t realize early enough that there were schools that had direct links to medical schools. There may be similar situations for Vet Schools.</p>

<p>Also wondering whether you have developed a good rapport with any Cornell staff. Their recommendation might bring value and you could look at their agriculture school. </p>

<p>But bottom line you need to look for schools where you will excel once you go there, not be just middle of the pack.</p>

4

<p>Thanks! I was at one time very interested in Cornell, because of my ties there, but the atmosphere is way too competitive, and if anything, I would be in the bottom of the pack. Cornell, from what I’ve heard (and I’ve heard of a lot), is very intense, the grading is hard, and the students are really competitive. Not exactly a learning environment in which for me to thrive.</p>

<p>As much as I like my state school - UVM - I like the idea of liberal arts colleges, they have smaller classes and more accessible professors.</p>

<p>I reposted to get other feedback.</p>

5

<p>Have you looked at Skidmore? Good LAC in Saratoga Springs and I believe they even have an equestrian team. Maybe there are some possibilities for one with ambitions in the large animal vet world. Otherwise, I believe the advice toward UVM is good.</p>