<p>Hi everyone! I have a bit of a unique situation here (don't we all?) and I'm interested in hearing some opinions about my chances of getting into Middlebury. I am applying ED.</p>
<p>School type: Independent study
Graduated: 2010
Prospective major: Russian or another language
GPA: 3.18 UW, 3.23 W (explanation below)
Class rank: 8 of 109</p>
<p>Test scores:
I took the SAT without preparation (bad choice, I know) and received 1870 (660 R, 570 M, 640 W). I will take it again in about a month and I expect to receive around 2100, based on practice tests.</p>
<p>Course rigor:
I took one honors class as a freshman. After that, my school did not offer honors or AP classes. Most of my classes were college prep.</p>
<p>ECs:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>I ran a popular music website for all 4 years of HS. This involved managing a team of 7 people, conducting and coordinating interviews and photography opportunities with various bands, as well as other things.</p></li>
<li><p>I started to teach myself Russian in my last semester of HS. My interest in the language led me to attending Midd's Language Schools twice. I jumped from level 3 last year to level 7 (the highest level) this year with no other formal instruction.</p></li>
<li><p>3 years of voice lessons.</p></li>
<li><p>I love photography and have been practicing since 2005. I have sold prints of my work to benefit charity.</p></li>
<li><p>Worked in an office for 3 years.</p></li>
<li><p>Have been running 3x/week for a year, completed a half marathon last month.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Essay:
Still working on it, but I am a good writer and I'm confident that the essay will be strong. I have chosen to write about my views on current education systems in the US and my love of education for the sake of education. I am able to tie in a little bit of history about my high school situation (see below) and my previous experience at Middlebury.</p>
<p>Letters of recommendation:
I am getting one from a teacher at Middlebury, who witnessed a struggle and then an extreme success from me there last year. I will also be getting one from my main high school teacher who can also talk about how I was able to fight and succeed, despite all hardships.</p>
<p>Awards:
Received an award for academic and personal strength at Middlebury last year.</p>
<p>GPA explanation:
I am aware that 3.18 is ridiculous when it comes to the average Middlebury applicant and based on my GPA alone, I probably shouldn't be applying. However, I know that number does not accurately reflect my academic abilities.</p>
<p>This is a somewhat brief description of what happened in high school:</p>
<p>I went to a private Catholic school for preschool through 8th grade. After I graduated, I chose to attend the local public high school, but I didn't realize how different it would be. It was such a huge shock to me that in the second semester of freshman year I had to stop attending school because I couldn't handle it psychologically. I was put on a home/hospital program and I managed to salvage and pass half of my classes.</p>
<p>I transferred to independent study where I continued to struggle due to other issues (family and mental health), though I passed every class. I decided to try online school for the second semester of sophomore year but was ultimately kicked out through no fault of my own. The STAR tests are not mandatory, so I opted out of them, however the school failed to tell me until it was too late that they considered them to be mandatory anyway.</p>
<p>I started junior year at independent study again and treated it like a fresh start. I returned to my usual academic self and received almost all As until I graduated (my GPA for grades 11 and 12 would be 3.83). I completed 3 years of work in 2 years in order to graduate on time. In my last semester, I took 10 classes and aced all of them, save for one C in algebra.</p>
<p>Like I said in the EC section, I have been to Middlebury's Language Schools twice. I received an A last year, a B this year. I know that Middlebury is a good academic fit for me as I have experience with them already. I know that I am able to thrive in their learning environment and I love everything they stand for. I didn't think I wanted to go to college until I discovered the Language Schools, which helped me re-discover how much I love learning, something that was unfortunately ruined by my high school experience. Am I being absolutely crazy by applying?</p>
<p>I also plan on applying to:
University of California (LA, Davis, Santa Barbara)
University of Vermont
Williams College
Temple University</p>
<p>I'm so sorry for the long post but as you can see, there's a lot to explain here! Thanks in advance for any opinions or advice you can give! :)</p>
for uc schools if you are out of state the minimum gpa is a 3.4 so they still might be reaches for you. i think you could definitely get into temple and i have no clue about univ. of vermont. do not be disheartened by my opinion. i am sure you are a wonderful candidate and good luck with everything!</p>
I would much rather be on the east coast. I am definitely working on getting the SAT scores up as much as possible but I’m not sure what a realistic goal is if I’m already up 200+ points on my current practice tests… Would it be possible to gain another 100 within a month? Your opinion is not at all disheartening and is actually very helpful. Thank you!</p>