I save you the trouble and chance myself!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Middlebury College
1

<p>I'm an Early Decision white male from Northern Virginia. If you choose to chance me yourself, be brutally honest. (My own verdict is on the very bottom of the post.)</p>

<p>STATS
GPA: 3.78--and that's weighted. (However, our school awards no bonuses for honors classes and only .5 for APs, so my unweighted GPA wouldn't be much lower.)
SATs: 770 CR, 760 M, 780 Writing
SAT IIs: 740 US Hist, 780 Lit
Rank: My school doesn't rank kids, and I'm proud of that.
APs: Eng. Lang--5, World History--5, US History--4</p>

<p>CLASSES (the more important ones to me)
4 years of Honors/AP English
4 years of Journalism; Editor in Chief junior year, Managing Editor senior year
5 years of German; AP German this year
4 years of math; AP Calc AB this year
4 years of honors/AP History and Government</p>

<p>EXTRACURRICULARS:</p>

<p>Tutoring: For four years, I've gone in to an inner-city school to tutor students in whatever subjects they needed. (The school is MacFarland Middle in Northwest D.C.)</p>

<p>Episcopalian Youth Council: I've been a member of our church's youth group for four years, and am currently president this year.</p>

<p>Writing--I have written six books during my time in high school (though they are self-published, not published). Each is fictional and about 80,000 to 100,000 words in length. I also do a sizable amount of writing and designing on my own; for some examples, you can visit Schreiben Depot .</p>

<p>Newspaper--Worked as a writer and designer for three years; as I mentioned earlier, editor in chief junior year, managing editor senior year. The paper has a circulation of 2,000, comes out 11 times a year and usually weigs in at 16-24 pages an issue.</p>

<p>Literary Magazine--I am a co-editor in chief on our school's literary magazine, the "Tartan."
Tennis--Varsity tennis freshman, sophomore year.
Skiing--something I love to do.
Finally: I've had some fun designing and mapping out a fictional city called "Albeit." </p>

<p>Awards and Honor Societies:
NCTE Achievement Awards in Writing 2008--winner
German Honor Society for three years
National Honor Society for two years
Quill and Scroll Honor Society for three years
Winner of our school's "Randolph Macon Book Award" for my English-related work
AP Scholar for my grades on the 3 AP tests I have taken as of the end of 11th grade</p>

<p>Interview: Talked with an admissions person about my writing. I could have used more composure, but it went better than I expected.
Recommendations: should be fine
Essay: It's not going to win a Pulitzer, but I'm satisfied with it.
Graded essay: The essay itself is good, but my teacher barely made any comments on it.
Supplemental essay: Dry in spots, but it gets the job done.</p>

<p>Finally: I sent Middlebury a 1.5 pound package that includes an article I wrote on the Holy Spirit, a copy of my last book, an issue of our school newspaper (which includes some of my work) and one of my fictional maps. I also included a note on our school's notorious grading scale (A = 93.5). </p>

<p>~~~My Verdict~~~
It's a reach school, given my GPA, but my writing extracurriculars (the books, namely) have a chance to bring it over the top. The supplement package that I sent should also help.</p>

2

<p>I think the supplement package is what is a little over the top. </p>

<p>But isn't this moot? Don't EDers already know if they were accepted?</p>

3

<p>No; this is early decision II. </p>

<p>I sent the supplement package because I know how tough Middlebury is to get into, and if I can show them a side of my interests that the application can't display, why not? When it comes to Middlebury, nothing is "over the top."</p>

4

<p>i support your supplement package.</p>

5

<p>I think you have a good chance. Your scores are in Midd's top 25% and the whole writing thing shows passion etc. I kind of agree with modadunn though, the supplement package seems slightly excessive (just because there were multiple extra things) but I don't think it would hurt you...</p>

<p>And if you can't get in, i'm screwed!</p>

6

<p>Don't worry. We're in this together!
(Nothing like college confidential to make applications emotional. :-)</p>

7

<p>I know. I swear, this site stresses me out so much! (So many crazy smart people...)</p>

8

<p>i think you definitely have a decent chance, but i kind of doubt they'll really look at all the supplementary materials you sent. it can't hurt your app, but they really don't have time to pore over stuff like that!</p>

9

<p>Well, it is that lull period between ED I and RD/ED II, so they might have a little time to look over it. Besides, the admission site says they welcome supplementary materials, so it's not like the stuff is showing up uninvited.</p>

10

<p>I agree with several things said and one is the "crazy smart" reference. I can only be glad I didn't start reading this thread three years ago or I probably would have alienated my son AND destroyed his self esteem in the process! And he is undoubtedly a pretty smart kid.</p>

<p>Didn't see where they welcome supplementary materials, but in fairness hadn't looked for that info. And if they asked for them, then they must look. Point of fact, my daughter did a huge community mural art project about core values. She ended up serving as an intern artist and made a semi flyer that kind of laid it all out with a few pictures, etc... plus she got an additional recommendation from the superintendent of schools and the lead artist of the project. Neither her grades or her scores were stellar (28 ACT and B average) but I know this project tipped the scales in her favor at almost every school she applied.</p>

<p>Point being: do not ever underestimate the value of having a passion for something.</p>

11

<p>The thing is, I'm not crazy smart. My GPA says as much. It's just that I like to write, and want to go to a great English college (a la Middlebury). </p>

<p>As for the question on supplements, here's what Middlebury's "Applying" page has to say:
"To demonstrate special abilities in the arts, writing, athletics, etc., supplemental materials are welcomed as part of your application."
You can read more about their specific guidelines here: Requirements</a>, Fees & Deadlines</p>

<p>"Point being: do not ever underestimate the value of having a passion for something."
Indeed! And this isn't just true in college applications, but in life.</p>

12

<p>
[quote]
"Point being: do not ever underestimate the value of having a passion for something."
Indeed! And this isn't just true in college applications, but in life.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Astute and insightful of you.</p>

<p>OK.. Here's my take on the GPA.. and it's just opinion: My son took a pretty hard curriculum and basically had a teacher or two along the way who NEVER gave A's and if you got an A- or B+ in the class you were rockin'. BUT my son always got stellar grade report comments, especially regarding what he brought to the class in terms of leadership, discussion and interdisciplinary insight. In fact, I seriously wanted to frame some of them (and certainly have saved them all). </p>

<p>I just think a kid brings to a classroom SO much more than his GPA or test scores. Recommendations help reflect these things. I hope they do anyway!! :)</p>

13

<p>Agreed! I495 I'm kind of jealous of your supplementary materials (despite the fact that there are a lot of them :D)</p>

14

<p>I495 - </p>

<p>My son (Class of 2012) is also from Northern Virginia - although he went to a private school in Maryland.</p>

<p>Your credentials look pretty good and I'd think you have a good shot at getting in. Based on what I'm reading, be thankful that you're not from New England. Middlebury seems to really strive for geographical distribution in its student body and there seems to be a lot of really qualified kids from New England who aren't accepted.</p>