LAC's: Chance me please!! No EC's !

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hola amigos,</p>

<p>First of all I'm a Honduran (Central America...).
My SAT I scores are 790 -CR, 730 -Math, 670 - Writing.
SAT II - I'm taking Physics and World History in December, I hope 750 on each.
GPA: 3.70, Rank: 4/83. (I guess I have a low GPA but I graduated in the top 5% of my school. Maybe Number 1 has a GPA of 3.8)</p>

<p>EC's: Not much. My Honduran high school had no school activities whatsoever. My only real EC is really good though. It's traveling with some Christian missionaries (my father is a pastor, or reverend, or clergy member, I don't know the appropriate name in English) to a poor rural community a couple of miles from the Honduran capital city, Tegucigalpa.</p>

<p>My teacher rec's should be pretty good.
My essays should be OK too.</p>

<p>AP courses: None. My school didn't provide AP courses. Every student, mediocre or excellent, took the same classes.</p>

<p>I'm applying to many LAC's. Why? I need plenty of financial aid. Plenty-.</p>

<p>I'm applying to a wide range of LAC's.
Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Colby, Vassar, Middlebury, Macalester, Colgate U, Davidson, Grinnell, Hamilton, Bates, Berea, Bard, and a few more ...</p>

<p>I'm hoping at least one will take me in and offer me the financial aid I need.</p>

<p>What do you guys think?
Do I have a real shot?</p>

<p>Gracias.</p>

2

<p>Someone... !</p>

3

<p>To be perfectly honest, synching my thought patterns with the admission agents' has, heretofore, been out of my grasp. I'm applying to college this year too, also to a bunch of Liberal Arts schools (a few of the ones you're applying to), so I can try to make sense of your situation through a similar lens. </p>

<p>Here's my feeling, as a 17 year old New Yorker, you sound awesome. I mean, if I were an admission rep and it came down to: academically inclined, bright, totally different Honduran kid from a city whose name I couldn't even pronounce out loud and... a rich, white kid with lots of absurd EC's and high test scores... I'd go for the Honduran any day. I mean, colleges want diversity on campus. They want kids with completely different mental processes and lenses to ADD to the college experience of all the other kids on campus! </p>

<p>I'm maybe speaking from a really idealistic, naive standpoint, but it's one I feel should hold true. You should get into a good school because you're bright (as demonstrated by your test scores and GPA) and from a totally different world from the other students on campus. </p>

<p>Question though, why do you think Liberal Arts Schools are going to give you more money than regular colleges and universities?</p>

<p>Also, I assume your essay will be about your experiences traveling with those Christian Missionaries. That's something you should really push. Show them how different you are. </p>

<p>Hope that helped. Goodluck to the both of us.</p>