I will be applying to Hillsdale College this year under Early Decision and currently have an SAT score of 1770 a weighted GPA of 3.7 as well as have taken numerous AP classes in my high school and honors courses. I am graduating one year early. I am taking some college courses at a community college to gain credits. On top of all this I am currently interning for Republican Congressman Paul Cook. Oh and yes I will be getting my AP Test score in July for the AP classes I have taken. Can any one tell me my chances of getting into this great school as well as tell me about their experience and give me some advice on the interview.
Also who are some good professors for some of the Core Curriculum you have to take at the school. Thanks Everyone.
I was accepted in 2005 (attended 2005-2007, but left to attend a state school closer to family). My unweighted GPA from high school was 3.6, but I had graduated at 16 and had 2 years of college level work at Kent State with a 4.0 and 33 accumulated credits. My SAT score was much lower than yours. I had strong recommendations from professors though. According to my admissions counselor, I was accepted without a personal interview based on my Kent State academic record, professors’ exceptional recommendations and my strong writing samples and undergraduate experience with literary studies conferences (I applied as an English major).
If Hillsdale still requests/accepts writing samples (or personal essays, I know some in my class wrote those alone without additional writing samples) those may have more weight than the SAT scores or high school GPA. The college courses will go a long way if your GPA in those is high. The internship, particularly if you also request a letter of recommendation from him, will likely be extremely helpful.
I’m not sure how large Hillsdale’s applicant pool is now vs. their acceptance rate. We were told during my orientation in 2005 that our pool was large and the accepted class the smallest they’d every had. They’re discriminating, but if they were that discriminating and I made it, you will likely make it as well.
For core classes: you want Justin Jackson for your Rhetoric & the Great Books (their version of freshmen composition). He will be brutal on your writing and research. Obey structures and conventions for research and communication in the literary studies genre and you’ll do well. I enjoyed my class with Stephen Smith as well (Great Books II), but he was far more permissive than Jackson. The core composition classes at Hillsdale (when I was there) rely heavily on literature and literary analysis. Technical writing, modern rhetoric and rhetorics and strategies are ignored because most of the English faculty have backgrounds in literature not rhetoric and composition. Stay up to date with those readings! And visit office hours FREQUENTLY if you’re confused or worried about a paper. Both semesters the professors required 5 literary analysis papers, several of them required research and a critical imperative.
Take Spanish! If you need foreign language credits, take Spanish and try to get Carmen Wyatt-Hayes . She’s amazing, a brilliant teacher, and clearly cares about all of her students. She was my advisor temporarily, and helped me through some difficult times adjusting to the atmosphere at Hillsdale. Olga Muniz is quite nice, but if languages are not your strong suit she is less skilled at instructing students who can’t pick up language rules quickly. I had friends in her class who struggled but grasped things much more easily with Wyatt-Hayes.
I forget the names of my physics and chem professors, I think one might have been a “Miller”? The chemistry professor was very good, the physics professor was close to retirement and really worked better with students who were in the field.
I enjoyed the coursework at Hillsdale while I was there. It was a quiet atmosphere, the classes were small-ish (about 17 students in my rhet/great books classes, 35 in the literature, Spanish and history classes, maybe 70 in the science courses).
I didn’t find the courses more challenging than what I took at Kent State, and when I left Hillsdale and finished at a larger state school, I found the latter institution’s expectations/standards were even higher. The class sizes were that different either.
Hillsdale provides a great many connections for government based internships. If that’s your track, get in, work really hard, develop good relationships with your professors and get those internships! My friend who graduated three years ahead of me from Hillsdale worked extremely hard to make sure she maintained a 4.0, acquired pretty much the highest amount scholarship wise, received multiple internships and has been quite successful working in local government post-graduation. That seems more like the track you’re on, so Hillsdale will definitely be a good choice (not the be all and end all if for some odd reason you don’t get in though). I was a lit major, and it ended up not being worth the money. Their English faculty is good, but not the best. They’re more known for history and political science.
Good luck!