<p>i feel so weird doing this, but i really know nothing about this whole process so ill roll the dice here. i go to a reasonably prestigious catholic high school in massachusetts. i have a 4.2 weighted cumulative gpa, and probably like a 3.8 or so unweighted. we don't rank, i guess because its unchristian, but i'm in the top 3% of my class. i got a 2360 on the sats (800-v, 780-m, 780-w) and 800 on french sat ii, 800 on lit sat ii and 780 on math iic. i take all aps and have three 5s and a 4 in the bank. im a four year member on the student council and vp this year, 4 years and editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, 4 years and assistant secretary-general of model un, amnesty member, nhs, senior mentor, editor of the ap magazine and young democrats president. i went to costa rica on a service trip and wrote my essay about that, it was actually great (the trip, not the essay, which may be ok). i also tutor kids in like the "inner city," and i realize that sounds awful and upper-middle classish of me. but thats how the programs set up. i work on conservation every summer in the chesapeake bay, and i go to dublin for a month for legal and political classes at trinity college and dublin city university. i also work as a tour guide at the massachusetts state house and was an intern on both the kerry (disappointing-realize he's wooden but when you meet him in real life he says stuff like "hey man, whats shakin?" i swear) and dorcena forry (massachusetts congresswoman) campaigns. i took two classes at harvard over the summer. um. im president of the french club, i work as a soccer ref and an usher at a concert hall, and have for three years. i realize im probably not exciting but is this stuff like decent? i like columbia a lot, university of san diego, usc, umass amherst, amherst and swarthmore.<br>
p.s. do you pronounce the first "r" in swarthmore? because the dean said "swathmore" but the student who gave the tour said "swarth" as in "swarthy". bonus points if you know that.
thanks for your time, gurus of higher education.</p>
<p>I think youre a shoo-in at USC and Swarthmore and that you would be an excellent ivy league applicant. Your tests scores are outstanding. However...i would suggest changing your essay before its too late. I know that trips to other countries for relief and home-building has become quite the cliche among college applications. Try to diversify and stand out from the group. You seem to be interested in the French language so write about that. Or even about your experience as an usher at a concert hall. The essays dont have to be about something astounding but you simply want your voice to come across and want adcoms to read who YOU are and not who some kid on a website told you you should be because thats the kind of person they are looking for.</p>
<p>I went to a presentation at which Swarthmore was represented, and the lady who gave the speech (she was someone rather highly placed in admissions, I believe) pronounced the initial "r" </p>
<p>that swarthmore thing has legitimitely bothered me for like months. tons of people actually say swathmore. anyone else have contributions? swath or swarth? its the question of the century.</p>
<p>I'm attending Swat this fall - I visited last year, and noticed that the natives of the area tend to pronounce it without the "R." As for me, I say it - heck, it's spelled that way, isn't it?</p>
<p>You have a pretty good chance at any of the schools you listed - your essays are what's going to make you stand out now.</p>