Junior - wondering about my class rank/GPA for Swarthmore...

Colleges and Universities A-Z Swarthmore College
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<p>Like many other juniors, I discovered that I really really like Swarthmore and it could potentially be a great school for me. The only thing that I've noticed is that everyone's GPA and rank seem to be really, really high and I'm worried that mine might keep me out....</p>

<p>My cumulative UW GPA at the end of junior year will be between 3.75 and 3.8....my school is a very competitive private school/hard to get good grades...we don't officially rank, but they do give GPA deciles. I might (just might) make it into the top ten percent...it depends on how my class is. For class of 2008, the top 10% was 3.77 to 4.0...class of 2009 had the highest grades the school has seen in a while, so it was higher. I think my class is more average than 09, but maybe better than 08? On Naviance, the average accepted GPA is 3.85, but there are really few applicants listed, so that might not be super accurate... </p>

<p>Here is a breakdown of my GPA; I think it might be helpful:</p>

<p>Freshman year: (I had a bit of a hard time adjusting initially...I came from a public school that didn't prepare me very well, but I ultimately overcame that)
History: 1st semester B, second semester A-
Science: B+, A
English: B+, A-
Spanish: A, A
Math: B, A-
Photo: B (just first semester)</p>

<p>Sophomore year:
English: A-, A-
Math: A, A
Spanish: A, A
Science: A, A
History: B, A-
Ceramics: A- (just first semester)</p>

<p>Junior year:
Chinese: A
Spanish (honors course, but prepares you to take AP lang test): A
Physics: A
Math: A
English: A
APUSH: A</p>

<p>So obviously, there is a rising trend...i think i can keep up the 4.0 this year.</p>

<p>I'm just wondering if that will make it impossible to get into Swarthmore...my ECs are pretty good, I think...I'm a very serious ballet dancer; 6 days a week. It pretty much takes up all my time. I also have a pretty good commitment with a local, very underprivileged elementary school - tutoring there and recruiting people to tutor... I can go into more detail about my ECs, I'm just more concerned about my grades and stuff. </p>

<p>I just feel that Swarthmore would be a really good fit, academically and socially. I really love everything I've heard about it. </p>

<p>Oh, and here are my SATs for backup...first try, I will retake and improve math, I think:</p>

<p>770 CR
670 M
780 W (73 MC, 12 E) </p>

<p>Thanks for any thoughts/suggestions!</p>

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<p>Your stats won't keep you from being accepted if they want you, but also won't be knock 'em dead.</p>

<p>Your stats are going to be "roughly average" for Swarthmore, which means that your application will have to, somehow, stand out from the large pile of "roughly average" applications. </p>

<p>I think your ballet dancing can be a strong application "identity". You really should contact the dance department, visit if you can, and just try to learn as much as possible and connect with the dance scene at Swarthmore. Probably a performance video would help.</p>

<p>I know for a fact that your tutoring can be an effective topic of an essay or something to highlight on your application.</p>

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<p>Hey, our stats are really similar. And I dance ballet too, but only 4 days a week. I think I jump to 6 next year, but we'll see. I tutored people at an underprivileged elementary school too, but I couldn't this year because our city school system is doing renevations and things are really wacky. So instead I tutor one advanced 7th grader one-on-one and several failing 7th graders in a program.
I hope we're both lucky! Swarthmore hasn't accepted anyone from my school in 20 years or so (but Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc have. We do better with Unis than with colleges). So I think you have a better chance than I do.</p>

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<p>unless you have some other real talent or are from a small state, of color, etc., it will be a real reach.</p>

<p>It is a great school and having a reach is a good idea anyway, don’t apply early</p>

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<p>^ This was posted 2 years ago.</p>

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<p>I wonder what happened to her…haha</p>

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<p>She’s at Carnegie Mellon.</p>