Middlebury, Hamilton or Amherst--do I have a shot?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey there. Middlebury, Amherst and Hamilton are my three "reach" schools, so don't think I would be stupid enough to apply only to these institutions. :-) At any rate, although I'm considering an ED application to at least one of the colleges, I'd like to know what you think my shots are for regular admission.</p>

<p>(A little about my resume...)
STATS
GPA: 3.78. (Subpar, I know, but our school makes an A a 93.5. Very annoying.)
SATs: 770 CR, 760 M, 780 Writing
SAT IIs: 740 US Hist, 780 Lit
Rank: My school doesn't rank kids, and I'm proud of that.
APs: Eng. Lang--5, World History--5, US History--4</p>

<p>CLASSES (the more important ones to me)
4 years of Honors/AP English
4 years of Journalism; Editor in Chief junior year, Managing Editor senior year
5 years of German; AP German this year
4 years of math; AP Calc AB this year
4 years of honors/AP History and Government</p>

<p>EXTRACURRICULARS:</p>

<p>Tutoring: For four years, I've gone in to an inner-city school to tutor students in whatever subjects they needed. (The school is MacFarland Middle in Northwest D.C.)</p>

<p>Episcopalian Youth Council: I've been a member of our church's youth group for four years, and am currently president this year. </p>

<p>Writing--I have written six books during my time in high school (though they are self-published, not published). (They can be viewed at Kenneth</a> Burchfiel's Storefront - Lulu.com ). Each is fictional and about 80,000 to 100,000 words in length. I also do a sizable amount of writing and designing on my own; for some examples, you can visit Schreiben</a> Depot . </p>

<p>Newspaper--Worked as a writer and designer for three years; as I mentioned earlier, editor in chief junior year, managing editor senior year. The paper has a circulation of 2,000, comes out 11 times a year and usually weigs in at 16-24 pages an issue.</p>

<p>Literary Magazine--I am a co-editor in chief on our school's literary magazine, the "Tartan."
Tennis--Varsity tennis freshman, sophomore year.
Skiing--something I love to do.
Finally: I've had some fun designing and mapping out a fictional city called "Albeit." You can take a look at that project here-- Albeit</a> Schreiben Depot</p>

<p>Awards and Honor Societies:
NCTE Achievement Awards in Writing 2008--winner
German Honor Society for three years
National Honor Society for two years
Quill and Scroll Honor Society for three years
Winner of our school's "Randolph Macon Book Award" for my English-related work
AP Scholar for my grades on the 3 AP tests I have taken as of the end of 11th grade</p>

<p>Other interests include meteorology and aviation--oh, and flight simulator. :-)</p>

<p>Also: I have legacy status at Amherst. Don't know if that makes a difference or not.</p>

<p>I might not have the best GPA, but I feel that I can demonstrate sufficient interest and achievement in writing to be considered for the colleges' English programs. Your thoughts? (Oh, and thanks in advance!)</p>

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<p>Oh–I should also mention that I’m a male from Virginia (albeit Northern Virginia). I feel that that might help a bit.</p>

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<p>Sorry to bump this, but I am hoping to get a response.</p>

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<p>you’re probably in at middlebury and for sure at hamilton. good shot at amherst as well. nice job.</p>

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<p>Are you sure? Middlebury and Amherst are some of the most selective schools in the country; I don’t know if I have enough. The same goes for Hamilton, of course. </p>

<p>I’m heartened by your reply, but I feel like you might be cutting me too good a shot. :-)</p>

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<p>I’d say academics are fine, ECs are focussed, but in my opinion, you lack a little breadth, i.e. in your essays, try and add a spin about your leadership qualities, teamwork skills, etc.
But overall I think you have a pretty good shot.</p>

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<p>I didn’t see your legacy at Amherst. You’re prob in there as well.</p>

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<p>Point taken, dhruv689. My main essay was on writing, skiing and religion (interesting mix, eh?), and most of my supplemental essays diverged into other topics as well.
Thanks for both of your responses!</p>

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<p>middlebury - yes
hamilton - most likely
amherst - probably</p>

<p>you’ve got impressive stats, i’m sure the schools will understand about how your gpa works, since they get info about your HS (you are also taking all honors/aps which will look impressive). your SATIIs are strong as well, and your ECs are good. Your essays sound really interesting, assuming they are well written, I’d say you’re in at all three.
thanks for chancing me</p>

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<p>From what I’ve heard, most schools don’t take the different grading scale into consideration. Though I made note of it in the applications, I’m expect the colleges to treat my GPA as if an A were a 90.</p>

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<p>Not at all. All schools take grading scale into consideration.</p>

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<p>Are you sure? It certainly goes against what the FAIRGRADE group has said; a lot of schools, it seems, treat GPAs as if they stemmed from the same scale.
I suppose smaller schools would pay more attention to it, but it’s hard to say.</p>

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<p>thanx bro
middlebury - high match
amherst - reach (u know amherst… u gotta work on ur ECs)
hamilton - don’t know…</p>

<p>I am chancing u in return thanx for chancing me!:D</p>

14

<p>Hey, I think you’ve got excellent shots at all of your schools. Your SATs are above-average for all maybe except for Amherst. Is Amherst your first choice? I wouldn’t worry about GPA at all. They’ll see your transcript and notices A’s in rigorous classes, plus they get information on your high school. Man, if my high school calculated GPA like that, I’d have a 3.0. Most of my A’s have been like 90%'s haha. Anyway, you’ll be fine :slight_smile: Good luck!</p>

<p>PS After looking at your EC’s again, I have to agree with yoonlee9 that Amherst may want to see more. So I’d move that to a high match. But hey, work on your essays and who knows what might happen?</p>

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<p>Thanks for being realistic–that’s what I’ve been looking for. I’m happy with the essays I’m sending in to Amherst, but it’s how THEY feel about them that matters. :-)</p>

<p>I’m definitely not getting my hopes up, though. I realize that all of these schools are extremely selective, and there’s no use stressing out over an application decision that’s not in my hands.</p>

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<p>Sorry for the bump. I’ve really appreciated the input everyone has given me; though I hate to get my hopes up, I do feel a little more confident now in my chances. (Of course, considering the selectivity of these schools, a rejection still seems more likely than an acceptance.)</p>

<p>If anyone else has a point to make or a comment to add, I’d love to hear from them.</p>

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<p>whats up thanks for your comment on my other chance thread… i dont know too much about hamilton but id say middlebury is a match, and amherst is a high match</p>

<p>i actually know someone who got into amherst last year and he told me its a great college so good luck</p>

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<p>I don’t know much about any but Amherst…your scores def makes you competitive with GPA bringing you down a little bit; the rigor of your classes will make up to some extent. As far as EC’s go, they are not bad at all, just a bit on the average side…so work on that and I’d be surprised if you don’t get in</p>

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<p>i feeel like your in at all except high match at amherst, but i’ve heard amherst looks at ECs and puts a lot of emphasis on that, so i think if you spark it up a little you’ll be good.
i see you are happy with your essays so your set</p>

<p>thanks for chance me ! and if you could elaborate on what part of the stats or part of me that im lacking since you said they are high matches and reaches, that would be great. i know they are luck of the draw schools, but i would love to know.</p>

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<p>Hamilton- dont know
Middlebury- high match
Amherst- low reach</p>

<p>you have great focus in you EC’s and good gpa and test scores. you have a great shot! good luck!</p>