Looking for help!

[sophin23]

I’m a junior in high school (in North Carolina) but want to have people chance me so that I can better myself and decide where I want to apply ED.

-Colleges I’m applying to: My ‘reach’ schools are Columbia and Swarthmore. My ‘level’ schools are Barnard, Carleton, and Davidson, and my ‘safety’ schools are Smith and GW.
My top three schools are Swarthmore, Barnard, and Columbia, in that order. I’ve visited Swarthmore and will be visiting the other two over spring break.
I need financial aid, but my parents and I will figure out a way for me to go to the school I want no matter what.

-Unweighted GPA 3.98

-Weighted GPA 4.8

AP Courses

• AP Human Geography - 5 on exam
• APES: 5 on exam
• AP German: have not taken the exam yet but I’m a projected 5.
• AP French: " "

I am an IB Diploma candidate, so I am taking:
IB Mathematics SL
IB Chemistry SL
IB History of the Americas HL (and this will be 20th century topics HL next year)
IB English HL
IB French HL
IB Art HL
TOK
My grades in my classes this past semester were:
Mathematics SL: 94
English HL: 95
Chemistry SL: 91
History HL: 93
AP German: 97
French HL: 97
TOK: 99

Next year I am taking all of the same IB Classes and Arabic 1.

-Class rank/size
I am ranked third in a class of 300.

-My ACT score is 32. The breakdown is MATH: 31 ENGLISH: 35 READING: 34 SCI.: 28. I got a 31 on the writing.
(I’m taking it again in March and will hopefully do in science.)

ECs

• Model UN, secretary/VP freshman year-present.
• Cross Country, Indoor Track, and Spring Track, freshman year - present (Except not track season of sophomore year and XC junior b/c of an injury). I’m on the varsity team.
• Youth For Human Rights Club, NC Chapter, Vice President.
• I am a youth leader in my church youth group and choir, and have been since sixth grade.
• I am a coordinator of Food For All. We fund-raise, buy food, make meals, and deliver them to people in the community who are hungry.
• Secretary of the French Club, freshman year-present
• More volunteering: I do a lot of volunteer work at my church and at food banks. I also am starting to volunteer at a nonprofit bookstore this semester and will be working there 3 hours a week for the foreseeable future.
• Piano: I have been classically trained in piano and have been taking lessons and giving performances since the fourth grade.
• Arabic: I studied abroad in Morocco this summer and spend 1 hour a week at Arabic lessons outside of school.

These are my main ECs, I’ve done a bunch of other stuff, but these are the most important to me.

-Employment
I babysit once a week. I’m probably not going to include this in my applications because it seems like fluff.

Honors/awards

• Model UN: Honorable Mention at UNC MUN, Excellent Delegate at App State MUN
• CIEE Global Navigator Scholar: I received a full (mostly merit) scholarship to study Arabic in Morocco last summer.
• Inducted into both the National Honors Society and French Honors Society.
• By the time I apply to college, I will have received a Presidential Service award.
• I should also be an AP Scholar by then.

Short explanation on recs

• For my recs, I’m having my French teacher and my math teacher do them. I’ve had French every year in high school and am a really strong student in class, and I’m a prominent member of the French Honors Society and French Club. I’m also very passionate about language and culture. My math teacher really admires my work ethic and I’ve shown a lot of improvement in a class that is not my forte.

Additional information

• Hooks: Studied abroad in Morocco
• Native German speaker/citizen (dual US citizen)
• Volunteer work

So what do you think my fit is at these three particular schools? Thanks!

[lostaccount]

I think your ordering of schools is unusual so I will focus on that. You say you are most interested in Swarthmore, Barnard, and Columbia, I can’t imagine what variable a student is most interested in if she is interested in either Swarthmore of Barnard/Columbia.

Swarthmore is a wonderful LAC with a most amazing campus. Visit it in Spring and you will be entranced by it. Like most LACs and especially top LACs, it focuses on undergraduates who are given experiences that are reserved for graduate students in most large universities. Because faculty members are active in their fields, they rely on undergrads to help them with their scholarship/research. By the time a student graduates they have strong relationships with faculty members and they have gotten a close view of what their major field is all about. They may also have publications. Classes are small so there is no hiding. Everyone is challenged. The quiet surroundings are conducive to studying and to thinking. Choices of focuses within topics is limited by the small number of faculty members in each area of study.

In contrast, Barnard/Columbia is huge and less college student oriented. Faculty members are retained and promoted on the basis of research/scholarship productivity and successful grantsmanship. Teaching is generally a lower priority. TAs are more common and in some large schools graduate students can be instructor of record. Classes are large and students have to work hard to get to know a faculty member or instructor. Students can get involved in research or scholarship with faculty members but they are often working most directly with graduate students. They may therefore be doing much of the less desirable tasks that are less closely related to the purpose of the research or scholarship. But they choose courses and other involvement from a huge list of possibilities. Whatever your interest is, you are likely to find it being studied or written about. The size of the school keeps there from being the type of cliques that develop in high schools. There is a club or a niche for everyone. Because the school is large you can “fit in” and simply observe. You won’t be under the kind of scrutiny that you would be in a LAC. That means there is more opportunity to skip classes and to focus your energies specifically on what you want to do without worrying too much about consequence. There is a lot more going on at a place like Barnard/Columbia than you’d find at a place like Swarthmore. New York City offers every type of activity imaginable. The activity on campus and hustle and bustle of the city may energize students.

I view these as polar opposites. I’m curious about what factors influenced your choice of these two as your top picks.