In Need of a New England Liberal Arts Education

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi, I am sort of desperate and want to know my chances given my unusual circumstances. Any insight will be extremely helpful and thanks for reading.</p>

<p>Asian-American Male (Vietnamese)
California</p>

<p>Colleges:
Bates College
Bowdoin College
Colby College
Haverford College
Kenyon College
Middlebury College
UC Irvine
UC San Diego
Vassar College
Wesleyan University (Attended the Students of Color Flyout Program on Veteran’s Day Weekend)</p>

<p>Rank: 1/89
Unweighted GPA: 3.9
-Weighted GPA: 4.8
School: 4th Year Charter School (I will be part of the 1st Graduating Class)
Hayward, CA
School will be sending nearly all students to CSU, community college, or UCs. I think I will be one of the only students who will be attending a LAC for many more classes to come.
Demographics: Poor, Working-class minorities: Latino, African-American majority.</p>

<p>Classes: My school is new (and poor) so they only offered 1 AP my junior year and only 2 this year. I have taken all 3. Because I wanted to seem more competitive and wanted to choose some of my own classes, I have taken a number of classes at a community college. There are no math courses for me this year as I have taken Pre-Cal, Calculus I in my sophomore and junior years and passed both with B’s (the only grades to not be an A on my transcript). </p>

<p>Senior Class Schedule:</p>

<p>Semester I
Economics
Art I
AP US Government
AP English Literature
Spanish 1A (Dual Matriculation)
Intro to Psychology (Dual Matriculation)
Cultural Anthropology (Dual Matriculation)</p>

<p>Semester II
Art I
AP US Government
AP English Literature
Spanish 1B (Dual Matriculation)
Principles of Microeconomics (Dual Matriculation)
Intro to Mass Communications (Dual Matriculation)
English 1A: Composition and Analytical Writing (Dual Matriculation)</p>

<p>SATI (One Sitting):
Total: 2000
Critical Reading: 700
Math: 670
Writing: 630
Essay Subscore: 10</p>

<p>SATII (One Sitting):
US History: 750
Math Level II: 660
Literature: 660</p>

<p>AP Scores:
US History: 4
English Lit.: Take in May 2009
Government: Take in May 2009</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Gay-Straight Alliance: Founder and President
(3 Years)
Club helps to make GLBT students feel safer and student body more aware about GLBT issues. We are also trying to implement programs to create acceptance and outreach.</p>

<p>Travel Club: Founder and President
(4 Years)
Club travels around SF Bay Area. Discover culture and lifestyles through museums, nature hikes, etc. etc.</p>

<p>Summer Search: Mentee
(2 Years)
Mentor outreach program for poor, minority students. For two summers, sends students on a full scholarship to a summer program. The first year is Nature-oriented, the second is usually international.</p>

<p>Correlated Trips:</p>

<p>1st year Teton Science Schools
Field Natural History Course
It was an outdoor program which helps high school students to develop skills of a naturalist. We hike, do field observations, sketch animals, learn ecological context of wildlife, and learn more about Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.</p>

<p>2nd Year AFS-Paraguay
2 Months
I went to Paraguay and worked on a farm while living with a host family. I developed my Spanish and lived in a town of 1300. </p>

<p>I plan to continue all 3 clubs in college with Outing Club (if I get into any Maine LACs) and Queer Club (whichever club involves social activism).</p>

<p>Employment:
None</p>

<p>Honors/Awards:
• Outstanding Student of the Year (11th Grade): Award given by a consensus of all the 11th grade teachers
•Outstanding Student in Biology (9th Grade)
•Outstanding Student in English (10th Grade)
•AFS International Ambassador</p>

<p>Recommendations:
• Extremely Strong from Counselor; Discusses Me as a person
• Extremely strong from Teachers; Discusses me as a student, leader in extracurrics, and person (all writers I have a very personal relationship with)
• Extremely strong from Summer Search; Discusses growth and maturity they have witnessed over 2 years (They are writing and sending a supplement to theLACs I am applying to)</p>

<p>Essays:
-Common App: Good; discusses growing up gay in an intolerant and poor family
Other supplemental essays are strong</p>

<p>Community Service:
I help at my school do Homework Hotline. It was a program designed to have students call in to know their homework for the day. The goal was to increase homework completion. I record the homework every school day for the past 4 years. I have about 350 hours.</p>

<p>Other Info:
I had to drop my community college Calculus I class my sophomore year. I had to take the bus there and the bus line changed its schedule. So, I didn’t have enough time to get from my school to the bus stop to the bus to the community college class. I took it next semester and passed with a B.</p>

<p>Poor, gay, First Generation College Student</p>

<p>Weaknesses: Lack of APs, Scores</p>

2

<p>in everywhere</p>

3

<p>Wow, very nice resume. I bet you could get into Harvard with a full ride. Congrats and good luck!</p>

4

<p>a good chance everywhere!</p>

5

<p>Would anyone mind elaborating?</p>

6

<p>1st generation is a good tip. You have good GPA and high school ranking from a low socio economic area. You should add more reaches.</p>

7

<p>Extremely impressive. You should definitely reach higher (Harvard, etc.) Go for it!</p>

8

<p>you should apply to amherst or williams and maybe an LAC-ish Ivy like Dartmouth. I can’t see you being happy somewhere like Harvard just because it is a huge research university… Princeton might be okay but who knows. put a reach or two in there because you’re a high match - match to the schools you listed. schools consider you in the context of your surroundings, so it won’t hurt you that you went to a less-than-stellar school.</p>

9

<p>i would have to agree with the above posters that you have a good shot anywhere.</p>

<p>care to chance me back for williams and pomona?</p>

10

<p>I agree with what everyone is saying basically…in at the ones you have listed. Try throwing in a reach or two, like Brown or Dartmouth, just to aim higher. Anyways, good luck.</p>

<p>Please help me out?
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/617625-please-give-advice-very-desperate-junior.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/617625-please-give-advice-very-desperate-junior.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

11

<p>And good shot at Williams and Pomona</p>

12

<p>i think it important to note, amidst this chorus of “reach higher,” that if the schools on your list are where you’d like to attend, they’re wonderful places that would be at the top of many students’ lists. i think we all agree that your unique story and circumstances, if you invoke them well in your essay, will likely get you into even more selective schools. but it seems like your list is rather well thought out, and, as someone who sought out a new england LAC, and didn’t care for williams or amherst, think that it’s sufficient to say you’ll likely get into all of the schools on your list, including the most selective, but not to presume that you should go elsewhere. assuming that bowdoin and middlebury, vassar or wesleyan couldn’t be first choices for top students in this country is a warped perspective of this board alone.</p>

13

<p>You’re probably in everywhere.
Vassar is going to love you. You should come to Vassar. It’s fantastic.</p>

14

<p>The colleges on your list are pretty good. The reaches are suggested because they probably give better financial aid due to your family low income.</p>

15

<p>AFS is a very big deal.</p>

16

<p>Thank you to everyone for all the kind feedback. I have my sights set on Middlebury and Bowdoin as they are my current top choices. I did not want to apply to ivies because I wanted a small, intimate campus (hence all the LACs) and Amherst and Williams never appealed to me the same way that Middlebury and Bowdoin did because of all the nature and wilderness that surrounds Midd and Bowdoin. </p>

<p>And, isn’t Middlebury and Bowdoin considered a big enough reach? They admitted less than 20% of their applicants last year and that seems selective enough for me.</p>

<p>Are there any other suggestions and/or comments about my chances? They are extremely helpful and nerve-calming at this stressful time in the year.</p>

17

<p>I think what most people are saying is that it’s likely, given your story, that you’ll get into your reaches, which is a good circumstance to be in. they seem like big enough reaches since you came to apply to them through a thoughtful process. i had a similar process in applying to bowdoin. i wanted an LAC, not an ivy, and i didn’t find amherst or williams appealing. i think it’s a very good list, but we all think you have a great shot at all of them. but you’re right, you never know, it just seems silly that any school would pass on a student of your achievement and background.</p>

18

<p>While Dartmouth is an Ivy, it’s also very LAC-like, and it’s also got lots and lots of outdoor activities. Many students wind up torn between Midd and Dartmouth – they have many similarities.</p>

19

<p>It seemed like you have taken the best advantage of your socioeconomic and educational opportunities. That isn’t going to excuse everything, however, and your SATs are sub-par for prestigious colleges, but it is VERY understandable.</p>

<p>With your Great Recommendations, unique circumstances, I’m sure you can also write a great essay detailing some of your experiences and struggles in your community. These, all coupled together, might very well be the key to an Ivy! Remember that they like diversity, and they sure do want to hear what kind of struggles and obstacles you have overcome, despite your disadvantaged background, to achieve high standards in your area.</p>

<p>Remember, there are going to be similar disadvantaged people like you, who have as good or better test grades or GPA or course load than you. But that is where your essay really shines.</p>

<p>If you aren’t aiming for Ivy League schools, you have a definite chance at some of the other, great, Liberal Arts schools. Selective colleges, however, can be unpredictable and if you are applying for financial aid (I’m assuming), then it is going to put your application under scrutiny. I might even schedule an interview (sort of too late now for some colleges) and show them how hard you have been working.</p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

20

<p>Thanks again everyone.</p>

<p>Another quick question: In my case, how influential will the essay play in admissions?</p>