junior's chances at brown, sarah lawrence, swarthmore

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>so, i'm a junior in high school, and i'd really like to end up at a smaller school- probably liberal arts. i'm most interested in studying creative writing, comparative lit and religions.</p>

<p>right now, i'm at a high school for performing/visual arts. (think fame) i take 3 hours of art courses a day, so my academic options at school are pretty limited. </p>

<p>i haven't taken the SAT yet, but i will in late jan, so i'm freaking out a little bit for it.
right now, these are my stats:</p>

<p>GPA weighted: 4.35/5.00
(this is only low because i got 2 B's and one C in my online health/pe course, and 1 B in first semester biology. it's really awful. my first semester junior grades haven't gone into my GPA yet, so it'll go up because of straight A's in APs.)
PSAT: 223
class rank: top 10%
courses:</p>

<p>9th grade-
preAP eng 1, preAP w-geography, preAP bio, french 2, and preAP geometry (plus 3 art credits each semester)</p>

<p>10th grade-
preAP eng2, AP world history (4 on AP test. i had an awful teacher, the score was pretty much from prior knowledge), preAP chem, french 3, preAP algebra 2 (plus 3 more art credits each semester)</p>

<p>11th grad-
AP eng 3, APUSH, preAP pre-calculus, preAP physics, yearbook, (plus the art credits. yada yada yada)</p>

<p>12th (predicted)-
i'll probably take AP physics, AP english 4, AP calculus, technology (a required course), and more art credits. </p>

<p>ECs (this is where i'm strongest):
-3 summers worth of volunteering at the Houston Zoo (and next summer) (300 hrs so far)
-3 years volunteering at the science museum (and next year) (280 hrs so far)
-2 years volunteer service with houston pound (30 hrs)
-Girl scout for 12 years, has bronze award, working on gold award
-hebrew and art teacher at my synagogue for 2 years
-NHS 1 year
-vice president of gay straight alliance (1 year)
-founder of school literary magazine
-vice president of quiz bowl (1 year)
-accepted/attended summer creative writing workshop at the writer's workshop @ University of Iowa</p>

<p>and then just the aspect of my school. it's an audition only school with programs in visual arts (i'm in this), theatre, vocal music, creative writing, instrumental music, and dance. i'm really involved with the art community because of my school, and i've got a ton of arts credits. the school is small, my class is only about 150 kids.</p>

<p>schools that i would really love to go to:
-sarah lawrence
-princeton
-columbia
-brown
-oberlin
-pitzer
-swarthmore
-haverford
etc, etc.</p>

<p>almost all of those are reach schools for anybody, i just want to know what you think my chances are, and any other schools that would be good for my, in terms of grades and projected admission.</p>

<p>(just so you know, i'm white, jewish, and a girl, and i live in texas)</p>

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<p>bumpbumpbump</p>

3

<p>buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuump. (please?)</p>

4

<p>It’s kinda hard to say with no SAT scores. PSAT scores don’t matter that much, because I got a 218 on the psat while I got a 2280 on the sat, while my friend, who qualified for national merit semi finals got a 223 on the psat, but only a 2170 on the actual one.
Also, I wouldn’t necessarily call your ecs “strong”. While you have breadth, you lack depth. Perhaps focus on two or three and do them really, really well instead of spending your time doing everyhing but spending minimal time and effort on each… They don’t stand out compared to other applicants.</p>

<p>Gradewise, ia C definitely doesn’t look good regardless of the class. However, if you keep straight A’s this year, the upward trend will definitely help you.</p>

5

<p>Hopefully you’re a brilliant artist, your supplement is what should sell you. Nothing academic or among your ECs would suggest an ivy/swat admit, but it you’ve produced a brilliant body of work in Iowa or elsewhere, if you have support of noted authors, if you send things that blow away their lit gods…that would be your ticket.</p>

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<p>regarding ecs, i do have depth. i’ve spent around 600 hours doing volunteer work that i’m extremely passionate about in the area of animal education through a science museum and zoo. that’s what i devote my time to. the school things are just other areas that i’m interested in, but those summers and year round volunteer jobs are what i’m devoted to.
i’m not sure how that doesn’t constitute depth?
i don’t know.</p>

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<p>also, my unweighted GPA is around a 3.8, the weighted is only low because my art classes aren’t honors, so they’re all worth 4 points.</p>

8

<p>Sorry, didnt look at the numbers.</p>

<p>If you haven’t participated in any art competitions, I suggest you do. It will make your application look a lot better. </p>

<p>Why arent you planning to major in art though? I can guess, seeing as you attend an arts institute, that you have invested large amounts of time on it…</p>

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<p>i guess that’s the issue: i don’t really plan on majoring in art.
i’ve got a silver key and an honorable mention from scholastic arts
and next year i’ll enter again, along with the youngarts competition, for writing and/or art. </p>

<p>oh, and i’ve had 2 judges choice awards for a printmaking gallery show, but those aren’t really impressive awards. </p>

<p>otherwise, there aren’t too many art competitions for high schoolers that don’t focus on illustration or film, and i really make soft sculpture, conceptual art- not art that is necessarily based in aesthetics. </p>

<p>thank you for the advice!</p>

10

<p>and for why i’m not majoring in art: you’re right, i guess. i love it, but honestly, i’ve got a pretty solid foundation in it, and if i do go to a studio arts program at a college that isn’t an art-specific school, i’ll be relearning what i’ve had in high school for the first 2 years. i just want to study english, and/or ecology/wildlife biology while i have the chance.
plus, i would really like to go to graduate school for creative writing, at u of iowa, so this is where i can start learning from professional writers and develop skills. </p>

<p>it’s a complicated thing, i think.</p>

11

<p>bububump (i’d really like some more opinions! mostly, concerning how my school and ecs will impact admission)</p>

12

<p>any more input? sorry, but bump bump bump</p>

13

<p>Might i suggest the google contest? it’s fun, and if you win it will look pretty awesome :)</p>

14

<p>i haven’t heard of that one! OFF TO RESEARCH!
thank you so much!</p>

15

<p>bumbumbumpitybump</p>

<p>also, looked at the google award, and i’ll definitely enter when it opens up again</p>