Final list

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Alright, I've posted on here with my stats before, but my college search is now almost over. The problem is, I don't really know where I want to apply early, and I just want to check that my list is complete...</p>

<p>I'm currently a senior at a very competitive public school in the northeast that sends tons of kids to the ivies every year (maybe 40 out of 400...i know its a lot)..no important legacy to speak of..school does not rank</p>

<p>ACADEMICS
First 3 years- 3.48 academic GPA with a huge upward trend (hoping for 3.6 after first semester senior year)—this is weighted, my school doesn’t weight very much though, so my UW is basically the same
FRESH- 5.5 academic credits- 3.067 GPA, 2 honors, highest english
SOPH- 5 academic credits- 3.467 GPA, highest english
JR- 7.5 academic credits- 3.81 GPA, 2 AP, advanced english
SR-signed up for 6 academic credits including 4 APs, advanced english
If French is taken out of the GPA picture, it jumps by about .2 to a 3.7 academic after 3 years.</p>

<p>ACT Composite- 33 (hoping for 34 on retake)
SAT Reasoning Test- 2200 (750 M, 740 CR, 710 W) (hoping for 750 M, 780 CR, 770 W on retake)
SAT II's- Math IC- 740, US History- 630...I know, long story. Taking Physics, Math IIC and Lit in the fall, all should be over 700.</p>

<p>AP Courses taken
JR- AP Gov--4
AP Econ--4 macro and 4 micro
SR- signed up for AP Calc AB, AP English Lit, AP Physics C, AP Stat</p>

<p>National Merit Commended Scholar—will not be a semifinalist</p>

<p>Basically, my GPA is so low because I don’t really try in school. It’s kind of a problem that I’ve been working on (as shown by the upward trend), it’s just I developed bad study habits in middle school for a variety of reasons after being a ‘wonderkid’ when I was younger.</p>

<p>I've taken 4 French courses, 4 science courses (1 AP, 1 honors), 5 math courses (2 APs, 1 honors), 4.5 SS courses (2 AP), 7.5 English courses (1 AP, others highest possible)</p>

<p>Based on my school, I'd say my course load is somewhere in between Very Competitive and Most Competitive. Taking 6 academic classes a year with 8 scheduled periods, gym required, and necessary electives is pretty rare.</p>

<p>EXTRACURRICULARS
Volunteering-
Senior Center--been called the "best volunteer ever" by the person who runs all the programs--done this for two years on occasional weekends, lots of hours
Public Library--I taught a chess workshop to kindergarten and first graders for a year (I was a chess champion when I was younger)
Local Beach Playground--worked in rebuilding the playground area at my local beach over one summer
ABC Foundation--volunteered by waitering for two years during fund raisers for a local organization that brings students from lower income families across America to my high school</p>

<p>Jobs-
Basketball referee for Parks and Rec (9,10,11,12)
Babysitting (9,10,11,12)
Teaching tennis (11 summer,12 will do)</p>

<p>Sports-
Tennis- JV as Freshman, Varsity (10,11,12)--team has won 7 of the last 8 state titals
Basketball Association Rec League (9,10,11,12)
For fun, I play volleyball and golf, and I’m pretty good at both</p>

<p>Summers-
Took an accelerated English course over one summer
Attended Johns Hopkins Camp one summer
Attended Camp Encore-Coda for piano and guitar
Attended local volleyball camps
Took a trip to China with my dad and brother
Attended Kent Writing Camp for two years</p>

<p>Music-
Jazz piano (will send CD to schools)—this will hopefully help my app a lot, could be a BIG boost at some schools.
Guitar—not nearly as good as piano</p>

<p>Arts-
Photographer
Cartoonist (will send)
Photoshop editor (will send a portfolio)—this is by far my strongest art</p>

<p>In school-
Jazz Band (11,12)--winner of many awards
Radio Club (10, 11, 12)--have a show
Badminton Team (9,10)--team broke up
Creator and President of the Sports Analysis Club (10,11,12)
--club at my school that my friend and I created...we analyzed statistics and such to predict outcomes in sports...became a very popular club at my school
School newspaper--won the Columbia gold medal for excellence every year I've worked their--Staff Writer (9,10,11,12), Cartoons Editor (10,11,12)—my section got specifically mentioned by Columbia in our recent ‘Gold medal with merit’ award</p>

<p>Other-
Will enter the Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards next year for 3 pieces--a personal narrative, a humor piece and a journalism article
Working on a fantasy novel (150+ pages complete)
Just began work on a second historical fiction novel about the Praetorian Guard
In the process of publishing 5-7 articles</p>

<p>RECOMMENDATIONS-
Guidance Counselor—I’m one of her favorite kids
Senior Center Advisor—Ditto
Piano teacher since I was 10
English Teacher who loves me and thinks I’m brilliant
Economics teacher who loves me and thinks I’m brilliant</p>

<p>I like to think of myself as a very good writer, so I hope my essays will be unique and insightful</p>

<p>Thats about it....its pretty thorough i think...if i left anything out please let me know</p>

<p>Now, to the meat of the matter. If you just skimmed over all of that, well...that's fine. Here's the list.</p>

<p>Basically, I'm going to apply ED to either Brown or Pomona. My uncle works at Brown and my cousin works there, so that should help a bit. All the other schools I'm looking at (alphabetically) are.....</p>

<p>SAFETIES
Boston University
U Miami
Skidmore--can probably play tennis here
Michigan (more of a match/safety, but w/e)</p>

<p>MATCH
Hamilton--can probably play tennis here
Emory
Claremont McKenna
Northwestern (more of a math/reach, but again, w/e)</p>

<p>REACHES
William and Mary
Cornell
Vassar (visiting next weekend)--can probably play tennis here
Brown (possible ED--uncle works there, cousin attends)
Wesleyan--can probably play tennis here (possible ED)
Pomona--can probably play tennis here (possible ED)</p>

<p>Do I need more matches? Any ED help? Is it a good final list?
As you can see, I'm all over the place.</p>

<p>Thanks for reading this LONG LONG thing!!!</p>

2

<p>Personally, I'd scratch Miami and Boston U. They're good schools, but nothing at all like the rest of the schools on your list. If you love Pomona, Brown, and Wesleyan, you'd probably feel better about safeties that are more similar to them. Why not Occidental, Pitzer, Bard, Lewis and Clark, or Denison?</p>

<p>Also, I wouldn't recommend telling colleges that you "don't really try in school". They're not going to see that as a legitimate excuse. In fact, it may actually hurt you if they think you're smart but lazy.</p>

<p>As for the ED dilemma...well, none of us can tell you what to do. If you yourself are not 100% sure, don't do it. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

3

<p>I agree with world changer, Miami and BU seem like odd choices for safties. Skidmore makes a lot of sense, and the schools world changer listed all might work too. Also, maybe Dickinson. </p>

<p>If you wanted to add some more lower matches, I'd look into Kenyon, Oberlin, Conn College (might even be a saftey?) and Bates. </p>

<p>Also, if you are not 100% sure that a school is your top choice (and to be 100% sure about that, you really should visit all of your possible top choices, and preferably stay overnight), you should NOT apply ED. Do any of your schools offer EA or rolling admissions? If so, maybe you could apply to those schools early, and maybe get some acceptances under your belt to make the RD process nicer. But really, DON'T apply ED just to apply ED: you need to really want one school more than the others.</p>

4

<p>Apply ED to the school that you like most and that you're sure you want to go there. Don't apply just for the sake of applying. Get a feel for the intellectual and social atmosphere of the college and see if you are a good match for it. Remember, ED is binding so you'll have to go once you are accepted.</p>